Speakers at a pro-gun rally Saturday outside Medford City Hall urged “respectful” opposition to a pair of statewide firearms initiatives and touted a possible Jackson County ballot measure to protect gun rights locally.
Speaking to a crowd reported at 60 to 100 gun-rights supporters who attended the “Rally Against the Oregon Gun Confiscation,” Jesse Holcomb of Medford advocated they take a respectful tone in their opposition of the proposed statewide initiatives. Oregon Initiative 43 would make ownership of certain high-capacity semiautomatic firearms a felony and Initiative 44 would require trigger locks and make gun owners liable for injuries caused by a weapon not used in self-defense or defense of another person. Neither has yet qualified for the November ballot.
“It’s really easy to blow up against someone who opposes your view,” Holcomb said. “What we need to do is be respectful of their opinion, engage in more of a dialogue and not a shouting match, because that’s not going to convince anybody.”
Ryan Mallory, moderator and co-owner of the popular crimewatching Jackson County Scanner Facebook group, told the crowd of plans to gather signatures for a Jackson County ballot measure that would make protections of gun rights part of the county charter, which he said is modeled after a similar Josephine County initiative that passed in 1994. He plans to issue details through a website he’d obtained, PatrioticRevolution.com, which he said would go live Sunday, and a Patriotic Revolution Facebook page he’s organized.
“Three of my friends are going to file this ballot measure so it’s independent of anything I do because that might bring noise with the Scanner Group stuff,” Mallory said.
Mallory, who is working as a campaign manager for sheriff candidate William Froehlich, also encouraged
