SALEM — Citing time constraints, supporters of an initiative petition to impose new storage requirements on gun owners say they won't try to put the issue before voters this year after all.
Supporters of Initiative Petition 44 are withdrawing the petition, they announced Wednesday, June 20. They plan to refile for the 2020 ballot and lobby the legislature to pass the measure in next year's long legislative session.
Supporters of the petition said they didn't have enough time to collect the 88,184 signatures required to get the measure on the ballot by the July 6 deadline.
"We are not discouraged and look forward to working with legislators to pass this important measure in the 2019 session," Henry Wessinger, one of the chief petitioners, said in a prepared statement.
Another petition that would place restrictions on what types of firearms Oregonians can own — Initiative Petition 43 — faces the same deadline.
Its ballot title is still caught up in the courts, so the petition can't be circulated for signatures yet.
As of two weeks ago, supporters of that campaign were still sanguine about their prospects to gather the needed signatures in time.
Initiative Petition 44 would have required gun owners to secure their firearms in a lock box or using a trigger or cable lock. It would also require them to report if one of their guns is stolen or lost within 24 hours of learning of the theft or loss.
Failure to comply would be considered a violation.not a crime.
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