I recently wrote about the unicorn event of an open carrier having his firearm stolen by an armed robber. It was only the second such event that has been documented. Naturally, numerous pundits sided with those who want their political opponents disarmed. But an important detail was left out of the story . . .

Multnomah County, Oregon, which includes Portland where the robbery took place, requires that openly carried guns must be unloaded. The ordinance also makes it an offense to possess a loaded magazine or speed loader if you don’t have a concealed carry permit. As the open carrier was barely old enough to apply for a CCW permit, it’s highly likely that he didn’t have one yet. None of the is was mentioned in the news coverage.

From oregonfirearms.org:

Although the County website often removes or changes URLs, the most recent one containing the ordinance can be seen here.

While there will be more on this in coming days, including reports from OFF members who attended the hearing, here is the summary:

Open loaded carry will now be illegal in Multnomah County for non-licensees.

Only security guards who work at banks will be allowed to be armed. Armed guards elsewhere would be prohibited   (Apparently much of the “gun violence” is being committed by security guards.)

It will now be unlawful for a person without a CHL to have a loaded magazine or speed loader in any public place, including your car, anywhere in the county.

So a severe infringement on the Second Amendment legally required that the firearm owned by the victim wasn’t capable of being fired. Which means that the carrier was walking around with an inoperable gun. It reveals a new perspective on the case.

On a lighter note, did I mention that the pistol was a Walther .22?  Have you tried to find .22 ammunition lately?

©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Gun Watch

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66 COMMENTS

  1. One of the few laws in oregon I hate, firearm related atleast. Luckily it’s multnomah county and not the entire state, but still a shitty law no doubt. Yay living in Portland!… Atleast we have some great strip clubs and microbreweries…

    • Portland also has the highest concentration of hobos in America, and the lowest density of gas pumps in any metro area (due to the excessive cost of the bums who are required by law to run your self-serve pump)

      Yo,TTAG, the site’s unusable (again, still). Might want to tell the autoplay ads to chill for a bit…1 in 5 keystrokes register…

        • I had the same thing where I couldn’t even type. This site froze my new Ipad a few days ago also.
          It isn’t getting ridiculous, it IS ridiculous.
          I like keeping my computer lean with as few programs running in the background. If I find something that runs processes, other than Anti-virus, but something I don’t need, I uninstall it. I don’t have toolbars and other BS running on my browser, but because of THIS SITE, I reinstalled flashblock. The auto-play ads was the final straw. I absolutely hate those.

  2. So… he was open carrying an unloaded gun. That’s really, really dumb.

    The law is dumb too, but that doesn’t make the action less dumb.

    • What’s dumb is running armed security in a state where it’s known to be illegal for your guards to actually have operational weapons…Talk about inviting a snatch, even with a level 10 retention system (hand cuffed briefcase). They’ll have time to get a hack saw while you fiddle with that loose magazine.

    • True. But every troop you see in a military convey, carrying his individual weapon, has no rounds on him, in his vehicle, or typically anywhere in the convoy. Or for the stowed crew-served weapons. It still amazes me that the thugs of the world have not figured this out over the last 30+ years.

      • I’m pretty sure that’s not true. That’s a pretty broad claim. And a wrong one. Maybe in training they don’t have ammo, but in combat zones they’ll have it.

        • Ohio national guard rolls loaded, not in formation, but guards at the armory and convoys definitely have live ammo around here.
          Am i living in a combat zone? Bowling green ohio

          • I didn’t say they ALWAYS have weapons loaded. I said it’s NOT TRUE that they NEVER have ammo as the commenter said that I replied to. What’so hard to understand about that?

            • You need to get a grip, son. In CONUS troops only have ammo under controlled circumstances, in European stations and Korea troops only have ammo under even more tightly controlled circumstances. MPs, SPs and APs have ammo, since they are effectively police in all 3 circumstances. It has always amazed me that NG and RA troops in convoy with weapons in CONUS are not robbed since they rarely have MPs, APs or SPs with them, especially in CONUS.

  3. .22 is in every store that carries it in my town. Its all back to normal and has been for a year, if you cant find it now for normal prices someone is scamming you.

    • What prices are you seeing as “normal”? I have been expecting the .22 ammo bubble to burst for a couple of months. Any .22 ammo for under 4 cents a round/$20 a brick of 500?

      • Last week I scored a brick of 525 36 gr. Golden Bullet HPs for $25, one brick limit, at Bass Pro. Today I saw the same brick at my favorite online store for — wait for it — $89.95. Ninety freakin’ bucks! Shipping extra of course.

        • Where I am the best offer I’ve had was some guy who said I could have all the .22 I want in exchange for some loco weed. Kid you not. Welcome to California I guess.

        • I bought three bricks of the Golden Bullet crap, maybe four years ago, still have some of it. The only thing I can shoot it in is my Henry lever gun. I average about 2 to 3 miss fires per 100 rounds.

      • I’ve been shopping for “a bit” of centerfire ammo lately and am seeing a lot more .22LR in stock at around $10/50 round box. I haven’t been in enough LGSes lately to comment. As of a few weeks ago, the Super Walmart near me still didn’t even have an empty spot for it on the shelf. Apparently they get it in on Tuesday morning or whatever and just sell it right over the counter to the waiting crowds.

        Starting to see it back in stock online looks to me like the beginnings of a bubble bursting.

    • Well it is DEFINITELY not at any of the stores I frequent, be it LGS, Cabelas or Wally world. I have seen .22lr ONCE (and I got my 3 boxes) at Walmart since Gunpocalypse began. Every other brick and mortar store has wanted to price gouge me so bad I should have asked for lube and thats if they even had it.

      • The .22lr I mean, damn wordpress removing the edit button when I double click post!

        I have yet to goto a gun store that sells lube.

      • I am buying 22lr in bricks for 21$ on a weekly basis. I am in East Texas and Academy, by me, has it all the time. They have had in regular supply for several months now. My LGS also has it in stock all the time but they are around 40$ per brick. YMMV……….

      • Yo man if you are in Taylor TX the Cabelas in Buda has 22 it’s about 8/9 cents a round. CCI mini mags one per customer. I was in there yesterday.

    • .22 is certainly still missing in many places. I’ve only found boxes of 50 & 100 in my town (not seen a brick since early 2013) and I’ve got a bucket of .22 on back-order with Midway since December 2013. I wish it was all back to normal…

  4. There’s a special place in hell for the people responsible for enacting such dangerously insane laws!

  5. Just recieved 500 rounds of CCI Mini Mag .22 LR 36 grain HP which was $7.99 / 100 from Natchez. I believe they are out of stock now.

    • Ah yes, Natchez – another online store that decided not to sell to non-citizens, no matter that they may be permanent legal residents and Permit holders.

  6. It seems that “open carry” may be a bit of a misnomer in this case. I thought I read that he was showing it to a friend when he was robbed of it. So, this yoot is on the street at 2am showing off his new gat when another yoot decides he likes it better.

  7. Either way, totally dumb!

    And no, .22 ammo hasn’t become any more available here in MO.
    Still a bugger and limited to either one or two boxes of 50 or one bulk pack.
    That is if they even have any.

    • Cabelas in Hazelwood, MO had 500rd bricks yesterday afternoon . . . . they say they are getting it more frequently and think the supply issue is related to more profit on 9mm and other rounds. . . . now that the supply chain has worked thru those issues, the sales clerk thought the .22 LR supply would ramp up

  8. So instead of being robbed. He would have tried to draw on the guy and would have been murdered! Open carry is for idiots. Unless you’re hunting or Inna woods… Keep it in your pants.

    • If you don’t like open carry, don’t do it. I do. I carry a fully loaded 45, not an unloaded, neutered 22. There is more to this story than the kid is telling us. That thief knew he wasn’t going to get shot at 2 am on the street, somehow. People do NOT normally know that, especially in states with reasonable gun laws. So… if you don’t like it, keep it in YOUR pants, and wait for something to happen so you have to react. I’ll plan on the bad guys bypassing and looking for softer targets.

  9. Last weekend my wal mart had win black box (m22 I think?) $50 for 1000 round box. They had three boxes, I only bought one. . . . that’s right. . . . I’m a saint.

    • I found the same deal at a local Walmart. $51/1000 !
      A friend was looking for some so I sold it to him for $50. Lost a buck but hey, he’s a good friend.

  10. I don’t have a problem with open carry, but openly carrying an unloaded gun, in a jurisdiction where the thugs know it’s required to be unloaded… well, that’s a special kind of stupid.

    And let’s remember that the robbery occurred in the wee hours of the morning. If ever someone DESERVED to be relieved of his weapon, it’s William Coleman III.

      • … Well John if you want an example, I’d say the bank robber who gets his car stolen because he left it running outside the bank during the robbery. He deserves to have his car stolen.

        You take me too seriously. But you have to admit that someone stupid enough to do what William Coleman III did is not likely to do the gun-owning community any favors down the road.

  11. WA state is beginning to look better and better for handgun laws. Well that is unless 594 is passed. Really hoping that does not happen. But really, I thought OR was mostly conservative, except for Portland of course. But after reading some of the gun laws there they look almost as bad as CA now.

    • Californians have been migrating up to Oregon for years, mostly in Multnomah County. Multnomah County has pretty much taken control of the state. The “takers” in Oregon are starting to out number the “makers”, so I predict the state is due for some terrible economic times in the near future.

    • State law preempts all these silly local ordinances with a shall issue CHL. OR doesn’t even come close to how bad california is.

      • But they try. The progressive areas of the states use other ways to get around these laws. In Portland, if you print and someone calls the police, you may end up being charged with disturbing the police. Open carry is flat out banned in Beaverton. I forget which county, but if you carry in a public building, they will arrest you even though you are legally allowed to do so. They figure they have more money to take it to court than you.

  12. Regarding the supply of .22LR:
    I saw an interview with an industry spokesman who said that every manufacturing line for the stuff in the country has been running maxed out, but no one wanted to set up a new line because (this I don’t understand) it’s extremely expensive to install a line for rimfire ammo. But one manufacturer has decided to go ahead and set up a new production line, given the prices bricks are going for, and hopefully it will start churning out rounds in late fall.

    I’m still using bricks I bought when I ran into a sale, $4.49 for a brick, with no limit — two friends and I each bought a couple of dozen bricks.

    As for Multnomah County, the place is just evil — unless it’s changed recently, they have a DA who leans on the cops to make arrests even when there’s nil chance of a conviction, so his assistants will spend time losing in court… and gain a “fighting spirit”.

  13. I moved out of that crappy state in February. I got tired of crunchies moving up from California trying to dictate to me how I must live. Multnomah is the worst. I now live in Arizona, a truly free state. I now carry every single day, and my carry gun is always loaded. Oh, and here is the kicker: In Arizona, I can publically disagree with anyone’s political beliefs without losing a friend, my job, my safety, or my freedom. Life is good now.

  15. So in other words, like the rest of the open carry goobers, he was wearing a pistol as a fashion accessory to satisfy his exhibitionist needs, rather than as a defensive weapon.

    The reason you open carry nuts are not getting much support from pro-Second Amendment people is because your public face is idiots like this guy in Oregon.

    • For yet another time, no, he was not wearing it as a fashion accessory. He was reportedly showing it to friend. That much we know, if we actually read the reports. You might try doing that before you start labeling other people as “nuts”.

      • Mine certainly isn’t a fashion statement. It’s loaded and ready to go. Too bad some concealed carry snobs can’t get over the fact that other people like to carry differently. No better, no worse, just differently. And they use this bozo in Oregon, and, in all actuality, we have no idea what he was doing, to argue their weak point.

  16. I’m perplexed by this thought. Can’t have a loaded magazine anywhere in the county if its a public place. What about a public range? Here in WV we have some run by the DNR and theyre always open to the public and are on government land.

  17. Carrying any gun, in any manner, in a place where you are required to have it unloaded is stupid. Just as stupid as open carrying in a party atmosphere at 02:00. The stupid is just oozing out of this whole situation.

  18. Can’t have a loaded mag in your car in that county? Does that include rifle mags? Does it include having a mag in your car even if you don’t have a gun with you? Do people there actually consider themselves free citizens?

  19. Let’s see… Dirty Old Armorer says that a foolish action by one person who carries openly is representative of EVERYONE who carries openly, thus verifying his opinion that carrying openly is wrong and only done to show off.

    So, to be consistent in that thinking, if there are some individuals in America who act irresponsibly while carrying concealed, that must mean that all CC folks are irresponsible.

    That’s MDA “logic,” not rational thinking.

    I think we’ve seen a few irresponsible people in both categories, haven’t we? Doesn’t prove anything except that there are, and always will be some irresponsible people.

    • Pretty much, yeah.

      However, I thought we’ve already established through the comments section here that there are a number of people who post here who would firmly be entrenched in the anti position if they’d been raised differently.

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