Beaverton looks at tighter code on loaded guns
The City Council hears a proposal outlawing the carrying of unconcealed firearms in public places

Tuesday, January 25, 2000

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By Aaron Fentress of The Oregonian staff

BEAVERTON — Carrying a loaded firearm in a public place will be against the law in Beaverton if a proposed ordinance is adopted.

The City Council held a first reading Monday night of the new ordinance.

Those falling under the exception would include police officers, National Guardsmen and those with concealed weapons permits.

The law is similar to one in in Portland, said Officer Mark Hyde, spokesman for the Beaverton Police Department.

“We don’t want people to unload their weapons in Portland and then load them back up when they come into Beaverton,” he said.

Mayor Rob Drake said the ordinance is not in response to an incident last year when two people were accused of carrying guns into City Hall.

Police arrested a Hillsboro man and wife and accused them of taking loaded semiautomatic pistols and a knife into the mayor’s office to complain about police harassment. The couple did not threaten to shoot anyone. A jury found them not guilty of the incident after the two said in court that they did not have guns on them.

“Portland has had this in effect for five years,” Drake said. “It worked well for them. We think it will be very effective for us.”

In fact, public buildings such as City Hall and schools already are covered in city code as unlawful places to carry loaded firearms. The new ordinance would extend that law to places such as streets, parks, playgrounds and other areas accessible by the public.

What did start the ball rolling on the ordinance, said Drake and Hyde, is the rise in workplace and school shootings across the nation.

It is legal for a person to carry a gun as long as it is not concealed, unless that person has a concealed-weapons permit. But the sight of someone carrying a gun, legal or not, can strike fear into those around him, Drake said.

“It is very upsetting to people to see someone packing a gun other than a police officer,” Drake said.

Hyde said that officers sometimes run into people who are legally armed. Police also get calls from residents who see others in town who are carrying guns legally.

Drake said the ordinance is not designed to restrict the right to bear arms. But he would like people to keep them at home or conceal them legally.

“Anything we can do to improve safety in the community, we’ll do,” Drake said.

A second reading of the ordinance is tentatively scheduled for the Feb. 7 City Council meeting