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Oregon SB 554 requires that firearms be locked and locked when not in use.
PORTLAND, Oregon. – A new law goes into effect in Oregon on Saturday mandating the safe storage of guns when not in use.
Senate Act 554 Requires Oregonians to keep guns with a trigger or cable lock in a locked container or in a gun room, except in certain circumstances. It also allows places like the state capital, airports, schools, and universities to ban firearms in buildings.
The law goes into effect the day after another horrific scene of gun violence in Portland. One person was killed and others injured by the gunfire at Silver Dollar Pizza on Northwest 21st Avenue early Friday morning. Countless others in nearby bars ran away frightened.
“All we heard was bang, bang, bang, and you see the whole place just duck,” said the witness Sukhreet Cheema. “It was pretty scary.”
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More than three months before the end of 2021, there were already more than 920 shootings in the city of roses. That’s an increase of 388 for all of 2019. The dramatic increase has not gone unnoticed.
“My heart is breaking and bleeding for the people of Portland,” said Oregon State Senator James Manning Jr. “Portland is a great city, but we need to get this under control.”
Sen. Manning is one of the main sponsors of SB 554.
“It breaks my heart to know how many innocent lives we have lost and continue to lose,” said Senator Manning.
Senator Manning knows this bill will not necessarily solve the gun violence plaguing Portland, but he believes it is a step in the right direction.
“It’s about accountability and hopefully we’ll get to a place where we don’t have all this gun violence and innocent people are killed,” Senator Manning said. “We have a lot to do and a long way to go.”
RELATED: 9 Year Old Girl Urges Portland City Guides To End Gun Violence
The hope is that the work won’t take too long, at least that’s what the people who live near Silver Dollar Pizza on Northwest 21st hope. The neighborhood now understands all too well the devastating effects of gun violence.
“The violence up here is finally intervening, and you would never think so,” said neighbor Avery Lemons.
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