By Dave Workman
The Portland, Oregon City Council is giving serious consideration to an ordinance which would ban licensed concealed carry in “certain city-owned buildings where official government meetings are held,” according to published reports, igniting a bristling reaction from Second Amendment advocates.
KPTV News is reporting the proposal would remove the current exemption for concealed handgun license (CHL) holders, after state lawmakers in Salem last year vote to allow local governments to add restrictions.
Derek LeBlanc, founder of the Oregon Gun Owners Action League (ORGOAL), told TGM via email, “The Portland City Council is a group led by Democratic Socialists, common communists, and others who believe that they can create a magical utopia within their borders. The problem is that they do not realize or take any accountability for failed policies that have created a perfect storm for increased violence and lawlessness.
“What is their solution, you ask,” he posited. “Banning the guns of arguably the most law-abiding part of our society, concealed carriers! Based on what: feelings or fear of an inanimate object? It is this type of policy and division that is causing responsible, tax-paying citizens to flee the Rose City.”
The lengthy proposal may be read here. If the council adopts the changes, it will do this: “As required by SB 243, the City will post clearly visible signs at all normal points of entry to the buildings and will post notice of the City’s website identifying all buildings subject to this policy. The City Administrator is expected to implement the code amendments.”
As KGW reported, “Loaded and unloaded firearms are already prohibited in city buildings under several sections of Portland City Code, but people with valid concealed handgun licenses currently have an affirmative defense under state law. The proposed ordinance would remove that legal defense in designated buildings used for official city meetings.”
The Democrat-controlled Oregon legislature watered down its own state preemption law in 2025 to allow for these restrictions, via passage of Senate Bill 243, which was dubbed the “Community Safety Firearms Act.”
But LeBlanc’s perspective about that is obviously the exact opposite of what the council is considering.
“Portland has been a war zone for many years now,” he said, “and the rates of violence will never increase because of policies.
“Disarming concealed carriers actually makes the public meeting spaces more dangerous,” he contends, “and all data will support this claim. It also disenfranchises citizens from getting involved in the civic process because they will need to choose their safety over making their voices heard at council meetings. Portland Police Bureau staffing is at an all-time low due to officers leaving Portland in droves. Making lawful self-defense more difficult will never lead to lower rates of violence because they cannot regulate evil intent. This is a feel good measure and will do nothing but be an annoyance to law-abiding citizens.”
ORGOAL is a state affiliate of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, a national gun rights organization which recently announced plans to expand its grassroots footprint.
Workman is editor-in-Chief at TheGunMag.com
