In this short legislative session, two lawmakers are focusing on bills related to handguns. Rep. Kim Thatcher (R-Keizer) introduced legislation that would allow concealed weapons permits to be themselves concealed from public records requests. This is an issue that came up in 2008 after the the Jackson County sheriff initially refused a public records request from the Medford Mail Tribune for concealed weapons permit-holders' names. This was part of an investigative piece the newspaper was doing at the time and, eventually, the paper sued and won the rights to the records. The investigative story was about a school teacher who challenged a campus-wide ban on guns.
Sen. Ginny Burdick (D-Portland) has introduced legislation that would address that issue directly. She's sponsoring a bill that would ban guns and other "dangerous weapons" on school grounds and another that would ban them in all public buildings. Burdick told the Oregonian her bills are a reaction to Thatcher's bill.
Do you have a concealed weapons permit? Do you work at a school or in another kind of public building? How would these bills affect you?