Fresh off a victory in Washington state, a leading gun control group backed by billionaire Michael Bloomberg is hoping to make Oregon its next prize in a campaign to require gun sales to go through universal background checks.
Everytown for Gun Safety backed a voter-approved initiative in Washington last year that made the state the 17th in the country to expand background checks past the federal standard applying only to licensed gun dealers.
“This is our top priority,” said the group’s spokeswoman Erika Soto Lamb.
The organization came out of a merger last year between Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. It has been spending tens of millions of dollars on political operations.
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State police currently conduct about 19,000 background checks a month and deny about 190 of them, Prozanski said.
While private transactions don’t require a check, sellers have an incentive to do them. If a gun they sell is used in a crime, they can be liable if no check was done. They are protected if a check was done.
Prozanski said he hopes that, with the increased number of Democrats favoring gun control in the Senate, he can overcome Johnson’s opposition. The gun control group contributed $75,000 last year to Democratic Sen. Chuck Riley of Hillsboro, who defeated a Republican incumbent opposed to expanded background checks, and $250,000 to the governor.
State records show the NRA made no contributions in the race, though it gave $21,700 to candidates overall.
