Reduce gun violence in Oregon by voting for Ballot Measure 114

The Oregon-Idaho Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action encourages everyone to vote for Ballot Measure 114 in the November Election.

The key elements of Measure 114 are:

• Measure 114 will help reduce gun violence in Oregon by requiring a permit to purchase a gun, hands-on safety training, fingerprints and a positive background check. Currently, if a background check is delayed, a person is allowed to purchase a gun without a background check.
• Measure 114 will also ban future sales of large capacity magazines. It will prohibit the manufacture, sale, transfer, and possession of magazines over 10 rounds, with limited exceptions.

The prophet Micah casts a hopeful vision of the future where nations will “beat their swords into iron plows, and their spears into pruning hooks.” (Micah 4:3) Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” (Matthew 5:9)
The United Methodist Church urges “congregations to advocate at the local and national level for laws that prevent or reduce gun violence.” Some of those measures include:

• Universal background checks on all gun purchases
• Ratification of the Arms Trade Treaty
• Ensuring all guns are sold through licensed gun retailers
• Prohibiting all individuals under restraining order due to threat of violence from purchasing a gun
• Prohibiting persons with serious mental illness, who pose a danger to themselves and their communities, from purchasing a gun
• Ensuring greater access to services for those who have mental illness
• Establishing a minimum age of 21 years for a gun purchase or possession
• Banning large capacity ammunition magazines and weapons designed to fire multiple rounds each time the trigger is pulled
• Promoting new technologies to aid law-enforcement agencies to trace crime guns and promote public safety (Book of Resolutions, 3428)

Learn more at the UMC Justice website. As you prepare to vote in the next days ahead, we urge you to check out the information at Lift Every Voice Oregon website. How does this ballot measure fit with your faith and your values?
 
 ~ Oregon-Idaho Chapter of MFSA