Reduce gun violence by 30-50% in 5 years

Ceasefire Oregon and the Ceasefire Oregon Education Foundation have detailed three key strategies to achieve this goal.

  1. Require higher standards for gun ownership.
  2. Enhance accountability of federally licensed firearm dealers.
  3. Improve safety standards for guns and gun ownership.

Require higher standards for gun ownership

Recommendations for requiring higher standards for gun ownership include:

  • National universal background checks for all firearm sales 12
  • Prohibition of gun ownership for 10 years if a person has multiple offenses involving misdemeanor violence, alcohol or drug abuse, domestic violence, a domestic violence restraining order or serious juvenile offense.567
  • Secure weapons storage 89101112
  • Standardized training for concealed handgun license applicants that includes marksmanship proficiency, active shooter training, and conflict resolution1314

Enhance accountability of federally licensed firearm dealers

Ceasefire Oregon supports Dr. Webster’s recommendations to reduce gun violence by enhancing accountability of federally licensed firearms dealers (FFLs). The pipeline of crime guns can be stopped by:

  • Requiring security cameras,15 computerized sales inventory, and other anti-theft measures as are required by other purveyors of dangerous substances such as pharmacies16
  • Limiting gun purchases to one gun per month to reduce trafficking and straw purchases 1718
  • Repealing the Gekas amendment of the 1994 Brady Bill that allows FFLs to sell a gun without a background check if the check is not complete in three business days 1920
  • Imposing a waiting period of two weeks between time of sale and possession to deter suicide and impulse shootings. 21

Improve safety standards for guns and gun ownership

Affordable and effective technology exists today that would improve safety standards for guns and gun ownership. This includes:

  • A microstamped code on each bullet that links it to a specific gun 22
  • Magazine disconnect mechanisms (MDM) that prevent a gun from loading a bullet in the chamber 23
  • Loaded chamber indicator (LCI or CLI) to show that bullets are still in the gun 24
  • “Smart guns” with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or biometric recognition (fingerprint) capability. 25
  1. Enough is Enough: A Comprehensive Plan to Improve Gun Safety. 2015. Retrieved from http://blumenauer.house.gov/images/pdf/enough_is_enough.pdf ↩
  2. Webster DW. “America’s Path to Fewer Gun Deaths.” Retrieved from http://www.tedmed.com/speakers/show?id=309062 ↩
  3. Quinnpac University Poll, Sept. 17-21, 2015 http://www.pollingreport.com/guns.htm↩
  4. State Background Check Requirements and Rates of Domestic Violence Homicide. http://everytownresearch.org/state-background-check-requirements-and-rat....↩
  5. Sorenson SB and Webster DW. “What Works, Policies to Reduce Gun Violence. Gun Violence: Prediction, Prevention and Policy," APA Panel Of Experts Report. American Psychological Association, 2013, pg. 30. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/pubs/info/ reports/gun-violence-prevention.aspx.↩
  6. Wintemute G. “Broadening Denial Criteria. Updated Evidence and Policy Developments on Reducing Gun Violence in America." Editors Webster DW, Vernick JS. Baltimore, 2014. pp. 13-17. Johns Hopkins University Press. Retrieved from http://www.jhsph.edu/research/centers-and-institutes/johns-hopkins-cente....↩
  7. Seventy percent of gun owners and 76.1% of non-gun owners support a gun policy prohibiting a person convicted of two or more crimes involving alcohol or drugs within a three-year period from having a gun for 10 years. Barry CL, McGinty EE, Vernick JS, Webster DW. “After Newtown — Public Opinion on Gun Policy and Mental Illness." N Engl J Med. 2013;368:1077-1081. March 21, 2013. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMp1300512. Retrieved from http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1300512#t=article↩
  8. Safe Storage & Gun Locks Policy Summary. Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. Retrieved from http://smartgunlaws.org/safe-storage-gun-locks-policy-summary/↩

Help us achieve our goals:

Donate to Ceasefire Oregon

Your support enables Ceasefire Oregon to continue working toward a stronger, safer Oregon for all of us. Donations can be made to either our educational foundation or our political action fund.

Stay informed by signing up for our newsletter

Joining the Ceasefire Oregon mailing list is an easy way to keep up with the gun violence prevention movement in our state.