Gun Owners of America was able to score a solid victory on July 29, 2021.
Teaming up with Gun Owners Foundation and the Oregon Firearms Federation (OFF), GOA defeated anti-Second Amendment organization Everytown for Gun Safety and successfully upheld a Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinance (SASO) before the Columbia County Circuit Court. Voters of the county originally approved the ordinance.
The whole case started when the Columbia Board of County Commissioner made an attempt to acquire a court review of the voter-approved SASO. This was a clear effort on the part of the Columbia Board to go against the will of the voters and carry out Everytown for Gun Safety’s agenda.
But the court threw a wrench in the Columbia Board’s anti-gun action, declaring that it lacked “a justiciable controversy” and landed on the side of GOA and GOF. Erich Pratt offered his take on the matter:
The Columbia County Commissioners and Everytown for Gun Safety tried to diminish the credibility of Second Amendment Sanctuary Ordinances but failed to show any actual controversy before the court.
As over 60 percent of municipalities in the United States have passed SASOs, this case marks a huge victory for not only gun owners in Columbia County, Oregon, but Second Amendment supporters nationwide.
Liberty conservatives living in blue states will have to get creative with their activism. They simply can’t rely on normal legislative action to enact their policy agenda.
Local and state level courts will be vehicles of change that liberty conservatives can use to fight against despotism coming from DC or petty local bureaucrats. But as they say, use it or lose it.
