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By Joshua Underwood

We’re proud to call Oregon our home. We appreciate that Oregonians don’t quite follow the same footsteps as others. That’s why the firearms we make at Radian Weapons aren’t ordinary. They’re the very best we can make from Oregon, by Oregonians.

Imagine our surprise when we learn our lawmakers in Salem are following other states in considering legislation to ban entire classes of rifles and ammunition magazines. We’re told this will reduce the criminal misuse of guns. We have a different view.

We’re a small-business gun-maker, making rifles for law-abiding Americans who value quality, their rights and the ability to choose the firearm that best suits their needs for hunting, recreational shooting and self-defense. We employ 40 Oregonians who care deeply for their communities and want real solutions. These proposals, though, aren’t it.

The ideas being considered in Salem have been tried and shown to miss the mark. This legislation will not reduce criminal misuse of firearms. It will, however, erode our legal right to buy and own the firearms of our choosing.

Our employees, and Oregon’s gun owners, hunters and recreational target shooters are law-abiding, contributing members of our communities. We should all do our part to help reduce crimes committed with firearms. To do that, we must be able to see the problems clearly and identify real solutions that will make our communities safer.

Those who follow the law aren’t the problem. Today’s law-abiding gun owners are our neighbors, friends and family. We know that women are the fastest growing group of hunters and gun owners. We also know that the modern sporting rifle that is intentionally mislabeled and wrongly vilified as an assault weapon is uniquely adaptable. It’s a rifle that meets the needs of today’s target shooters and hunters. More than 16 million of them are legally owned by Americans, and they are increasingly used to harvest wild game that feeds our families.

The problem lies with criminals who would prey on our communities. They don’t care about the law. A U.S. Department of Justice surveys tell us they illegally obtain their guns, either through theft or on the black market. Criminals fire less than four rounds on average in the commission of their crimes, far below the arbitrary 10-round limit being discussed in Salem. Law-abiding Oregonians should never be put in a position where criminals have the advantage in an attack.

The ideas being debated in Salem aren’t new. Congress put in place a so-called Assault Weapons Ban from 1994 to 2004. The Centers for Disease Control found it had no demonstrable effect on crime. In fact, the overall crime rate continues to fall, even as firearms ownership grows. Today, the modern sporting rifle that some of Oregon’s lawmakers want to ban is the most popular selling rifle.

Restricting the rights of those who obey the law does not make our communities safer. But there are measures our lawmakers can support that have proven to be effective. First, we must ensure our state is submitting all disqualifying mental health and criminal records to the FBI to make the national background check system work as intended. We can urge our community law enforcement to educate gun owners to properly store their firearms when not in use through free gun lock programs like those funded by the firearms industry. We must insist authorities lock up criminals who would illegally “straw purchase” guns for those who can’t because they’re disqualified.

When our lawmakers attempt to convince us we’re safer by restricting rights instead of putting criminals in prison, they turn a blind eye to addressing the problems. That’s why we at Radian Weapons, along with fellow Oregon-based Noveske Rifleworks, are organizing and supporting the “Defend the 2nd Rally” on March 23, at the Capitol Building in Salem. We urge all Oregonians to join us, and make your voices be heard that our rights, and our safety, isn’t negotiable.

Joshua Underwood is the CEO at Radian Weapons, manufacturer of hand-assembled AR-15 rifles based in Redmond, Oregon.

This article originally appeared in the Bend Bulletin and is reprinted here with permission.

For coverage of yesterday’s Defend the 2nd Rally, see here, here, here, and here.

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28 COMMENTS

  1. pa·ter·nal·ism
    /pəˈtərnlˌizəm/
    noun
    the policy or practice on the part of people in positions of authority of restricting the freedom and responsibilities of those subordinate to them in the subordinates’ supposed best interest.
    “the arrogance and paternalism that underlies cradle-to-grave employment contracts”

    • com·pro·mise

      [ˈkämprəˌmīz]

      VERB

      1. settle a dispute by mutual concession.

      2. accept standards that are lower than is desirable.

      3. bring into disrepute or danger by indiscreet, foolish, or reckless behavior.

      “Liberals want gun owners to compromise on gun safety reform.”

  2. in·fringe
    /inˈfrinj/
    verb
    actively break the terms of (a law, agreement, etc.).
    “making an unauthorized copy would infringe copyright”
    synonyms: contravene, violate, transgress, break, breach, commit a breach of, disobey, defy, flout, fly in the face of, ride roughshod over, kick against; More
    act so as to limit or undermine (something); encroach on.
    “his legal rights were being infringed”
    synonyms: undermine, erode, diminish, weaken, impair, damage,

  3. au·thor·i·tar·i·an
    /əˌTHôrəˈterēən/
    adjective
    1.
    favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government, at the expense of personal freedom.
    “the transition from an authoritarian to a democratic regime”
    synonyms: autocratic, dictatorial, totalitarian, despotic, tyrannical, autarchic, draconian, absolute, arbitrary, oppressive, repressive, illiberal, undemocratic, antidemocratic; More
    noun

  4. Hey Joshua Underwood;
    You put into words better than anyone of us could have explained the meat of this issue. Thank you.

  5. Authoritarianism
    Form of government
    Description: Authoritarianism is a form of government characterized by strong central power and limited political freedoms. Individual freedoms are subordinate to the state and there is no constitutional accountability and rule of law under an authoritarian regime.

  6. Any law that is repugnant to the Constitution is NO LAW and should be ignored…
    DO NOT COMPLY…

  9. Well said, but the political class already knows all of this. They persist in their efforts to destroy the Bill of Rights because they know our rights restrict their power. Tyrants always seek to disarm those they intend to enslave.

  10. I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but I feel I must reiterate the point that these anti-gun laws are not really meant to reduce crime or affect criminals. These laws are directed at the gun owning public as part of a long term plan to erode and eventually eliminate gun ownership. The plan is going into high gear due to incidents like that in New Zealand and the recent events in the US.

    • “Honest opinions don’t count????”

      POS trolls like you don’t count…

      *snicker* 😉

  12. You get what you vote for Oregone ,,, This is the Democrats & a couple R I N Os doing this too you,,,
    Until you get rid of the liberal politicians it’s just going to get worse,,, Oregone used to be a great state before the dems took over,,, go ahead & let the I-5
    Corridor run the state like it has been for 30 yrs,,,
    This is what you end up with… WORD…!!!🖕🏿

    • It’s not the I-5 corridor, it’s mostly 4 counties that comprise the Portland metro area and Eugene. Here in Douglas County (Roseburg) we have strong 2nd Amendment feelings and passed a ballot initiative to prove it. The problem is the voters in Central and Eastern Oregon that vote for democrats who voice support for the 2nd Amendment, but then vote in lock step with their democrat city legislators. They keep getting elected year after year because they’re supposedly good people. Well good people don’t work to take away constitutional rights just because 1% of the population don’t and never will act like good citizens.

      • I have family in Central Oregon. They’re Republicans. The other bunch in Portland and Eugene are Democrats. I agree with you on some of them voting for Democrat that they know who are nice people. Same thing happens in rural Wisconsin. “But, I know him. He’s such a nice guy, and he hunts etc.” They don’t see the big picture, and how it hurts us all.

      • We’ve been Californicated here in Colorado and in our case it IS the I-25 corridor that runs north to south from Fort Collins down thru Denver and on to Colorado Springs where the bulk of the leftist liberals live and who have done the majority of the damage here. That fairly narrow strip geographically comprises a relatively small portion of Colorado but a large portion of its population, especially the liberals. And that’s where the situation is VERY similar to that taking place in Oregon. Rural Colorado voters have been largely asleep at the wheel as have been Republican voters statewide. Hence geographically speaking the tail DOES wag the dog.

  13. Politicians aren’t logical, they like to prey on emotions. And it seems most of them can’t reason or they wouldn’t screw with the Constitution the ways they do. I just heard one the other day who wants to introduce a bill that would back up a statute of limitations. Apparently hasn’t read nor is he aware of the no ex post facto law clause of the Constitution, Article 1, section 9, clause three, which is only one line; “No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed”.

  14. Another thought. We need to stop using the phrase “law abiding gun owner”. We don’t say law abiding knife owner, car owner, chainsaw owner. If you’re not law abiding, you’re a criminal. Would they call you a “non-law abiding citizen”, then? We are all law abiding until they prove otherwise. The same goes with immigrant. They blur the line (or ignore the line) between illegal and legal immigrants. They are really good at twisting words. I gotta give them credit for that.

    • Yep. That’s why I always say I’m a PEACEFUL gun owner. A peaceful person. They can redefine law-abiding until only the insane would abide, but peace remains the same.

      I won’t be the one to break the peace; I’ll continue minding my own business and letting you mind yours; but anyone who breaks the peace and *makes* me fight, will find to his great dismay that peaceful does not mean defenseless.

  16. Vote the infringers out,
    then disobey any such laws,
    then when they take you to trial plead the 5th amendment.
    make them pay to convict you…….
    This should be used by the old, infirm and terminally ill, then the government will pay for your medications, give you a room and 3 squares a day, clean linen, free T.V. and a group to socialize with.
    Can’t beat that!

  17. Respecting Radian as an Oregon based manufacturer of firearms, given the antics of Oregon political types and elected representatives, the company might want to consider the feasibility of continuing operations there. As to the law abiding gun owners of Oregon, they might wish to reconsider the people they elect to public office, especially respecting what appear to be the antics of the current crop of elected law makers.

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