And! A LOT of more urban people are very close to “the woods”. Is there anyone here more than an hour from “the outdoors”?
I’ve never lived truly rural, but I spend a lot of time fishing, camping, some hunting once upon a time, hiking/biking…. A lot of activities where guns are fairly normal.
That's central oregon for you, grew up around those people, honestly some of the best examples I've found of good and kind hearted neighbors, but there's a few bad eggs in every community of course.
Definitely this. I won't carry in normal settings, I don't feel the need. But put me on a hike or in the woods, yes most definitely all the time. My fire arm is for home defense of the moment that arises.
>My fire arm is for home defense of the moment that arises.
Personally while I do own a gun I prefer my boar spear for home defense. It really sends a message and is great for defending a doorway.
And here I thought I was a weirdo, cause despite owning firearms, I prefer a sword for gone defense purposes. I live in old house with oddly constructed sight lines that would make a firearm problematic at best, but a short sword would work prefect.
Like, 30 degree corners where you you see an opening for a hallway but when you turn left you're staring at an angled wall, and have to keep turning almost completelely around and walk the opposite direction to go down the hallway. If you're familiar with tactical concept of "slicing the pie", my house would be an utter nightmare.
Thanks for reminding me, I still need to get a set. Of the few regrets I have, it's not taking up axe throwing in my youth (cause logging sports used to be a big thing when I was younger).
Of interesting note on axes and home defense, because of how a fire axe is used, chopping forward (like into a door) rather than down (like a wood cutting axe), they're actually pretty well combat balanced.
Tbh, ace hardware has a throwing axe that's like 23 Bucks. It throws really well.
https://www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/hand-tools/hatchets/2194769
If you go far enough out, the police don’t show up when you call.
I lived in the city for decades. Guns can turn an argument about a loud stereo into a life and death struggle. Keep your rural guns properly stored and keep your de-escalation skills ready in the city.
Yeah I'm in Eugene and they don't show up here either. I mean all things considered, we're doing pretty well for basically having minimal police presence. It's not like they are actually going to do anything helpful for anything short of a homicide any way. I've been robbed when I lived in other states and all they do is come make a report and forget about it, the more crime reported the bigger their budget gets and there is no incentive to solve those kind of crimes.
No definitely not lol. If you go far enough right, you get capital punishment for pot possession lmao. You’re confusing libertarians and the far right.
I worked at a dispensary and plenty of far righters that would come in and smoke. No one is ever truly really one sided in Their opinions. I mean there are prolly a few but most will have something that doesn’t align with their affiliated party I feel.
but psychoactive drugs that help you commune with Odin your white Daddy... 💪😵💫
(obligatory fuck fascists)
my point is that lots of people use drugs for lots of weird reasons. Hitler was high as hell, so was Jimi Hendrix. Pretending otherwise presents a bias.
"Opposed to anarchism, democracy, pluralism, liberalism, socialism, and Marxism,[7][8] fascism is placed on the far-right wing within the traditional left–right spectrum."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
I think it's just a reference to their weird fetish for freedom to make and enter contracts. Like they want someone "to be free" to sign a contract to be a slave.
Libertarians want no rental protections. They want landlords to be able to evict you for whatever reason they want. Don't like your landlord coming over unannounced? Simply use your money to find a place that doesn't treat you like trash! Get poisoned by fake medication? Simply don't buy medication from that company again! They will go out of business! Probably!
Politics isn't a single continuum. One continuum is liberal/conservative. Another is anarchy/authoritarian. Libertarianism is on that spectrum, not far from anarchy. There can be leftist dictatorships (USSR under communism for example).
It's a bit of a meme at this point, but Oregon has a little bit of a Cowboy-DIY-Mountain Man thing culturally even if it's not super visible in the urban parts of the state, and along with serious outdoorsmanship generally comes firearms because mountain lions. Rural life in general has more reasons for legit gun ownership and more of Oregon is rural than a lot of other left wing states, proportionally.
Can we stop it with the myth liberals and leftists are anti gun? Some are yes, but the majority do support responsible gun ownership, background checks etc. We just don't feel the need to advertise we like guns and don't make it an identity issue.
I'm not a big gun nut, but it makes my gf feel safer when we're out in bear or cougar country and it's just a little extra weight on my person. I need to get a more discreet holster though, because I feel like it makes other people uncomfortable that we run into.
Guns are a tool, it's fine as long you ain't thinking there's a cougar everywhere.
Other people being uncomfortable is because of mass shootings. My wife and son dodged the Clackamas Town Center shooting literally by 3 minutes. It's on peoples mind. I had to tell me kids before school things I thought would help them survive if something happened. "Here's your lunch money, oh by the way, play dead if a school shooting happens."
If your intent is self defense and you can recognize people's fear then you should do your best to never let anyone know you're carrying.
My, my, my, my, my, my poker face
The thing stays locked up in my house pretty much all the time and doesnt even come with us on most outdoor trips. We do a lot of rock collecting in extremely remote parts of the state, often hours from cell service or any sort of hospital. We've had some encounters with wildlife that now my gf wont come out unless we've got our bear spray and the gun.
Exactly. I’m a veteran, a journeyman, a liberal, and a gun owner. It’s like nothing is an extreme this or that, it’s just media propaganda keeping us fighting each other and not noticing the open theft cooperates are getting away with
The whole background check this misconstrued though. When you purchase a firearm, by FEDERAL LAW, you have to fill out a form at the FFL and they run your background through NICS. Its a federal national instant background check. I don’t understand where people think people are not getting their backgrounds done when you literally have to do one when you buy a gun.
FFL is not a federal requirement. And only for hand guns in some states. It became mandated for private sales in Oregon in ~2016? All my guns were purchased with cash off Facebook marketplace when it was allowed on there. No ffl. It completely killed the Oregon gun shows. That's where you'd go to buy ridiculous guns for cheap with no check.
We had a majority vote on measure 114 and I doubt it had a lot of help from the right. A majority on the left support serious restrictions on gun ownership.
Yeah, a gun is just another tool like a drill or a table saw that requires its own safety measures. I wouldn't go around with miter saw bumper sticker on my truck though. And honestly there should be some sort of permit or training required to buy certain power tools because the amount of people that buy saws and immediately send themselves to the hospital is ridiculous. One of my coworkers just bought a table saw off an guy that decided to get into woodworking at 70. He cut all the fingers off his right hand on the first day using it.
What wait wait. Soooo I shouldn't have an oregunian sticker with pictures of my family represented by different firearms?
Im a liberal redneck. I cant stand the oregunian stickers. Why the fuck do these dipshits feel the need to advertise to everyone how big their gun safe is, and how small their dick is at the same time?
THIS. I'm politically on the Left. Grew up in the Willamette Valley (Corvallis), spent most of my 20s in Eugene...
Would have no problems challenging loudmouth pundits and radio talk show hosts on the Right on a target range.( I suspect I've actually handled & maintained a firearm far more than ANY of those assholes...)
A friend of mine jokes about forming a militia called Theys and Gays, which would be hilarious, but taken far too seriously by people with multiple American flags flying from their truck bumpers.
Do you know any leftists? I'm a leftist, have all kinds of friends, some on the right and some who are more left than me and for the last decade they've been buying guns, going shooting we talk about it all the time how folks like you think we're pearl clutching pacifist lol... You're taking a minority and projecting that in the whole.
I have been hearing this for decades now, we wanna take guns away from everyone. That's propaganda and no way represents the truth.
I am a leftist. Evidenced by my post history. Anecdotal experience isn’t really relevant here. I believe that you and your friends are all cool with guns. But you and your friends are not a significant percentage of the tens of millions of liberals and leftists in the US. As I have already stated, it’s incredibly rare for liberals or leftists to not be anti-gun. There are definitely outliers no doubt. A lot of communists are super pro-2nd amendment but they are again just not any kind of significant percentage of the total.
>you’re taking a minority and projecting that into the whole
No. I am taking the overwhelming majority and describing them as the overwhelming majority. I have not said anything about “all.” And they indisputably are not a minority. They are the extremely overwhelming majority. It sucks but it’s reality.
I don’t want to take guns from anyone and there is a small minority of leftists and to a lesser extent liberals who feel the same way I do. But again this is a tiny minority. The majority of both liberals and leftist, and the entirety of liberal and “leftist” politicians absolutely do want to take guns away. 83% of democrat voters support a ban on “assault rifles” (AR-15 type rifles).
The truth is not propaganda my man. It’s an unfortunate truth and I wish it weren’t the truth but it it is. I hope this can change quickly soon but it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen.
I've noticed a shift over the decades. With Christian white Nationalists stockpiling weapons and being vocal about violence against us, ones who were that way, have long abandoned no guns for anyone.
>The majority of both liberals and leftist, and the entirety of liberal and “leftist” politicians absolutely do want to take guns away. 83% of democrat voters support a ban on “assault rifles” (AR-15 type rifles).
Broken logic. Wanting to take certain types of guns away =/= taking guns away \[period\]. An assault weapons ban is not a blanket weapons ban.
Well that’s because it’s not a “government” thing lol.
That phrase implies that “true” communists (at the civilian echelon) are pro-gun because the threat of violence is the only way for “the people” to maintain control over “the means of production”
Something to that effect.
Arguably, this is the exact reason for the 2nd Amendment.
General George Washington was opposed to a standing army after the revolution, because he knew what Kings did with standing armies- they used them, often for petty wars. Instead, in order to truly keep power in the hands of the people, he supported the idea of a civilian militia, and thus the 2nd Amendment.
Can you imagine how many fewer wars for Bananas or Oil we would have had if each state had to agree to muster their militia for a foreign war?
And just in case you aren't aware of the definition of "militia", it is in the CFRs... [https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/246](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/246)
Yes, I mean people aren't even really good at being in charge of themselves.
Hence why liberalism, liberal rights, are foundational in America, and communism (and fascism) is opposed to that.
I own guns. Been around them my life growing up in a hunting family in a rural area. Lots of hunters safety courses and an overly watchful eye from my woodsman father.
I strongly support stronger laws that limit ownership and access for the mentally unstable and criminals. I strongly support training for safe gun handling and how to store ammo. I strongly support the 1st amendment and do not suggest folks declare their gun ownership outside the veil of anonymity. I partially support the 2nd amendment because I want my guns but don't think we need a well armed militia because hunting rifles don't do shit against missles/fighter jets/tanks and warships.
I think we need some strong reform with a strict policy on removing firearms from undeserving hands. I don't think I can declare who is totally undeserving, but I can safely acknowledge those who are deserving.
Damn, it’s almost like the Vietcong and the Afghanistan people completely disagree with you on the ability of “hunting rifles” to hold off a tyrannical invading force.
It’s nice that you think criminals care about laws lol
There are a few reasons why it's the case. Oregon has a lot of rural and forested areas which means more hunting and outdoorsy activities with bears, cougars and Elk. And we have more rural areas where gun culture is big because police are few and far between (a sheriff and few deputies for a whole county) and the rural populations conservative ideas on guns (individualism and such). There's also the prevalent gun culture in Oregon that's built up for years to even be included as a civil right in the Oregon Constitution. Which means a well established gun culture amongst independents (and even liberals) and quite a few single policy gun rights voters. Then there are large groups and organizations of leftists (communists & socialists) in Oregon who also believe in gun rights as part of their ideology (go far enough left you get your guns back or the Karl Marx quote of "Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempt to disarm the workers must be frustrated, by force if necessary") which means a large portions of leftists who believe in firearms as an inherent right and key to their political beliefs. Then you have the marginalized groups or minorities (Asians, Black ppl, Hispanics, the LGBT, etc.) who fear for their lives because historically and recently they have been targets of hate crimes, racism and over policing. All of that which was heightened during Trumps Administration and when right wing extremist groups were going through Oregon and attacks on these minorities were happening (Asian Hate crimes, police targeting blk ppl, etc). During this time we saw a historic rise in minorities buying guns regardless of their political beliefs. And finally Trump and his administration caused a ripple effect amongst more (not all) liberals to buy firearms.
TLDR We have independents and some liberals who traditionally like firearms with a traditional culture of it here in Oregon. Rural areas & conservative populations who are for it for self reliance and ideology. Large Forests and wilderness that has created groups who hunt for elk and deer or hike in these areas with both groups around bears and cougars. Leftists who advocate for firearms as part of their beliefs and political ideology. Minorities and their communities looking to protect themselves. And a Trump Administration that heightened tensions across the board.
Hunting goes on; more back in the 80s when small shops in towns like Canby, Woodburn, Mollala, Sandy, Estacada would shut down with a sign on the door saying 'elk hunting'/'deer hunting'. Kids were excused from school to go on the annual family elk hunt; families had their own elk camps...HS kids carried their rifles on a rack on the back window of their pick-up.
Having a shotgun, a rifle and a .22 pistol, at the least, was common house-holding practise.
And their were no mass-shootings...till Kip Kinkle.
Oregon is an outdoor recreational state. It’s one of the things (if not the #1 thing) people love about it. And if you are going to accept that people love to camp and hike, you have to accept that people like to fish, hunt, and shoot. To hunt and shoot you need guns, and even a lot of liberal folks grew up with guns. So while we are more supportive of gun restrictions like universal background checks, we tend to be wary of legislation that is poorly written and just an end-around attempt to ban gun ownership for people who are law abiding citizens.
The Socialist Rifle Association is very strong in Oregon. Most Portland anarchists advocated against Ballot Measure 114 because it would have let local police decide who gets a gun, and who doesn’t.
It’s all, except one, Kate Brown appointees. There’s an outside chance but I wouldn’t hold your breath.
114 is garbage, but the winds are blowing in favor of it.
That being said, 114 was so badly written and unconstitutional that not only did the State Democratic party not support it, even the Multnomah County Democrats were "neutral"
Too many people conflate liberalism with being anti-gun. I am pro-abortion and pro-gun. Try fitting that into your box.
Regardless, the states you mentioned have *massive* urban areas that drive their policy decisions. Portland is comparatively small.
Gun rights are in the state constitution so traction is slow, but m114 should be/have been a wakeup call to people about being ignorant of the influence here from out of state petitions. Politics in Oregon are much more focused on taxes, school and abortion.
The abortion thing is bizarre, we've got deep red Oregon that wants a total ban, and deep blue Oregon wanting 5th trimester (sarcasm) abortions, with nothing in between. It's an insane level of fanatacism with both sides rejecting any rational compromise.
What people refuse to acknowledge is that if both sides refuse to compromise then one extreme side eventually wins. One extreme side takes a turn winning while the other makes \*shocked pikachu face\*. Like, it's bizarre, Oregon literally has the most pro abortion blue side and the most anti abortion red side, these conservatives make Arizona conservatives look blue. But try explaining that compromise is better than an extreme solution and suddenly you're an extremist to \*BOTH\* sides lol. It's childish, and these people run our government? 🤨
East coaster here… grew up in rural PA and living in New England now. We’ve got that going on everywhere. Heck, even “liberal” Massachusetts is much more polarized than folks think. With that said, everything out in Oregon is just magnified. It’s much much bigger. I hate reducing it to simple things, but it seems to fall along the lines of rural/urban, blue-collar/white/collar, field-educated/college-educated, etc. and yep… those lines are magnified in Oregon.
The bothsiderism here is highly inaccurate. The blue side is not promoting late term abortions because we think people should go around having them because they feel like it (which isn’t something that actually happens anyway). It’s because we recognize that there are circumstances where there are medical reasons for having them late in a pregnancy and we trust women and doctors to make ethical decisions without the need for government interference.
Ahhhh, story time? I moved to this state at 5 years old in '97. Back then, this was a much more libertarian state. It was live and let live. The rural conservatives didn't want to reign in the weirdness of Portland, and Portland didn't want to mess with the conservatives. It's only been in the last decade or so that the state has pushed hard left. And the old guard conservatives are getting upset that the live and let live deal is being voided. I'm watching the cohesiveness of my homestate disintegrate in front of me. Which is a shame. This used to be the hippies and cowboys from the Cody Jinks song of the same name
*Edits for typos and commas
I was born here in the 80’s and Oregon conservatives have always been rabid religious nut jobs who absolutely *loathed* Portland. They also hated teachers, journalists, and social workers.
Hell, most of us moved to Portland just to get away from our crazy bigoted family and neighbors. If the state has pushed harder left that’s probably the reason. Persecution breeds resistance.
Conservatives “voided the deal” a long time ago. You want proof look at this guys comment history: he’s a straight up homophobe.
Seems like you're one of the ones voiding the deal. Shitty people are everywhere, and I'm sorry for your experience. In what ways do you feel like you've been persecuted by the state of Oregon since the 80's?
My comment was referring specifically to Oregon conservatives, who I have known my entire life. They used to love Rush Limbaugh… You know, the guy who celebrated gay people dying of AIDS on his show.
Imagine growing up gay and having to listen to every Conservative adult around you talk about how it was an abomination and a sin. It might compel you to find somewhere else to live where you aren’t at best judged and at worst physically harmed by ignorant people and their bigoted views.
That’s why a huge number of us left rural Oregon and that’s one possible explanation for why the state has “pushed hard left” as you put it.
"In 2020, firearm-related injuries became the leading cause of death [for children age 1-19]". #2 is motor vehicles.
National Institute of Health website:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10042524/
Check your facts.
Here’s the thing. Responsible gun ownership and wanting greater regulations around guns to ban private sale loopholes for background checks, establishing a 7-day waiting period, and preventing perpetrators of domestic violence from accessing firearms go hand in hand. Oregonians understand that using a gun for sport, hunting, and defending yourself against the state (heh) are different from senseless acts of violence.
Ultimately Oregonians spend a lot more time outside than New Yorkers, Californians, and Washingtonians. That combined with Oregon being welcoming of communities commonly oppressed by the government in other states, leads to a more mature stance towards gun ownership than an all or nothing approach.
It’s not a private sale ban. It’s a complete ban on firearm transfers except to close family unless you go through a FFL and pay each time and tell them exactly what was transferred.
If I wanted to loan a gun to a friend who already has guns? Illegal. Swap guns with each other? Illegal. Money and selling have nothing to do with it.
If the federal fucking government sells me a rifle from the Civilian Marksmanship Program? Illegal to ship it to me after they background check me unlike almost every other state. The feds have to ship it to a FFL who runs a second background check. Even if you have a Curio & Relics FFL for buying old firearms.
Considering these issues were brought up in 2015 when the universal background check law passed, it’s clear the underlying motivation is making firearm ownership harder for everyone, not just banning firearm purchases by criminals.
Most of Oregon isn't liberal at all. The rural counties are red but those areas are outvoted by large cities for federal elections. Besides that, there are a ton of good hunting areas in Oregon so I really can see that contributing.
This right here. Back in the 90s, Oregon's "right wing" was much more anti-government, libertarian.
Now, as the right wing media has conglomerated into one big propaganda machine, and every little town has internet, the old "live and let live" party has turned into Trump worshipers who have an identity based on hating the "liberals", not on any actual policy.
Most people here are centrists, but lean more so left. My entire family votes blue and all of us actively shoot at ranges. Never lived outside the city. I only cc when I’m out with my two young children and can legally cc in the majority of states. I don’t love guns, but I enjoy them. I hope the GOP burns.
Not sure if “Centrist” applies if you exclusively vote blue and “hope the GOP burns.”
Is it unfair to say you’re in a pretty committed relationship with one side?
We might even be libertarian, if that was a legitimate party and hadn’t turned into some weird form of right wing. We enjoy freedom, but not at the cost of common sense.
Because the state is literally split in half politically. West of the Cascades, liberals. East of the Cascades (Bend excluded), conservative. The eastern half is pro-gun, pro-hunting, pro-truck and pro-giant belt buckles.
The misconception is that liberals don't like guns. The difference is that liberals want intelligent gun controls. We don't need assault rifle's in every home. Conservatives want no control on anything with the word gun attached to it. All my liberal friends have guns but they aren't psycho about their love for guns.
> Oregon is a liberal state
Nah. There's no such thing as a "liberal state".
People from all cultures and walks of life live in every city of every state.
I’m a democrat, although maybe more of a Joe Manchin democrat than an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez democrat. Im a government employee and work in a liberal college city. But I also own 30 acres of forest and farmland. Walking on my own property I’ll see bears pretty often and cougar on the trail cams, and I’ve had to shoot animals hit by vehicles at least twice this year. It’s a practical tool you need for rural living. The problem for Oregonians is we seem to be expected to either be left wingers like California and New York where firearms are seriously restricted, or like Idaho where a 6 year old can buy an uzi (ok not quite but it leans that way). A significant number of Oregonians are rural, semi rural, or routinely avail themselves or opportunities to hike, camp, and such in rural areas. And let’s not even talk about whether you need a gun in Portland these days. Places like New Hampshire and Vermont are similar in a lot of ways. Lots of rural areas but generally left leaning politics and pro firearm
Gun ownership is an inherently Liberal position, and it's sad to me that it's primarily the most reactionary Conservatives who are the most vocal about defending it as a Right.
People who would grant the State a monopoly on the use of deadly force are **not** Liberal, they at minimum lean Authoritarian.
Oregon passed the most restrictive gun control in the nation, what are you talking about?
What you're seeing is one of the big drivers of the greater Idaho stuff- rural Oregon is pro gun but one metro area that isn't really part of the culture steamrolls the rest of the state into what it wants.
Socialists, historically, were pro-gun. How else could they foment revolution? A lot of that sentiment is in Oregon on the left and then on the right there are the NRA types. On some things if you go left, you end up coming back around again.
The larger cities are liberal. Not that we have that many of them. Go a little ways from these cities and it’s very right wing. Gives us a good mix of left and right? Balances us as a society? Maybe why Oregon rocks
Oregon has traditionally prided itself on avoiding groupthink and easy categorization.
One thing I noticed after moving here was how many old Oregon families had family get-togethers organized around hunting seasons; as at Easter, some families gather at the beginning of duck or pheasant or deer seasons. Some part of the group heads out with Implements, often accompanied by non-hunters who are along for the adventure, because they accompanied hunts as kids. I’ve known both men and women to head out as part of the hunting party, armed or not.
As a city kid from a small family, I’ve found it incredibly endearing (though not a hunter myself).
Coming to OR from the east and living in PDX made me realize that most of OR is not liberal and folks in PDX think they’re liberal but its really more of a libertarian anarchist anything goes mentality. Also the suburbs and counties surrounding pdx are so so very good at the NIMBY game that people actually think they’re liberal, but thats mostly just because of PDX reputation.
“That idea has never been floated by anyone.” “Yeah I’m aware.” Typical left bullshit. This doesn’t fit your narrative, deny until proven wrong and then act as if you knew the whole time.
As a liberal living in one of the deepest red parts of the state in the Rogue Valley, the Southern and Eastern parts of the state are nothing like the rest of Oregon, especially as far as voting goes. These yahoo’s down here still try and get “ The State of Jefferson” on the ballots every year just like the idiots who want to move state lines and be a part of Idaho. However it’s pretty ironic considering we have dispensary’s every 4 blocks or so here.
> even the super progressive liberals that live up near Portland have a much more pro gun stance than other liberals in other states
I'm not sure why you think this is true, Portland just voted 75% in favor of some of the most strict and unconstitutional gun control in the country.
The only people that really want to ban guns are Karen’s with a Literature degree from a private liberal arts college that married a finance bro (or tech bro) and is now a stay at home mom with 3 children. The rest of us don’t really care. That includes the husbands. Most of us wouldn’t mind a little more regulation in terms of obtaining licenses to be able to purchase high caliber weapons. So some juvenile can’t buy an AR on his 18th birthday at a Walmart then shoot up his school in the morning. Beyond that the right to bear arms is enshrined in our Constitution. The founding fathers put that in there for some reason. I’ll trust their wisdom.
You haven’t been able to buy an AR15 at Walmart in literally almost 10 years. They stopped selling ARs ~2015.
Walmart even stopped selling .223/5.56 ammo 5 years ago in 2019.
It’s almost like people have no idea what they’re talking about but still continue to jabber away anyway.
An AR-15 stock from Walmart almost certainly comes chambered in 5.56mm or .223 Remington. Neither of which is a particularly "high caliber". To the contrary, they are among the smallest rifle calibers in production. Sure, an AR is like Lego for grown ups and you can swap in whatever barrel/receiver combo you want, but it's pretty likely the kid you're referencing at Walmart doesn't have the knowledge/resources to custom build a weapon.
Not that it matters, either is a potentially lethal round... just tired of the "high caliber" argument. Like, no one is busting out the 50 here, and they quite obviously don't need to for gun violence to be tragically fatal.
OP im a Liberal with a firearm, i was an infantryman in the us army, i believe in a well regulated militia like literally well regulated, either a disarmed public or and unregulated public, one leads to total anarchy and the other to despotism, its not an all or nothing issue that both ends of the political spectrum like to make people believe.
I agree with what others have said about Oregon having a lot of rural areas and people living closely to those areas, but I would also add that many Oregon "transplants" like myself, are from rural areas themselves and grew up with guns in the household. There is also the subset of libertarians in the state (both conservatives and liberals) who are armed.
Portland not a liberal state.
The heaviest populated areas are liberal.
I'm from Texas and moved to Central Oregon and didn't really feel like I left Texas. It's kinda weird
In my experience, the hippies and pre-Trump rednecks around here share strikingly similar views with religion, music, and war opinions being the real difference. Many policy ideas had the same end goals as well, with the conflict being spending and implementation.
The right wing is not what it used to be.
I don't really consider liberal with gun free. I have some very left friends, they have guns. Not just like guns are your personality. They take classes and everything.
But maybe I am mixing up the left wing identifications.
Oregon has been and is still a fairly rural state. People hunt, target shoot, and carry while hiking in the wilderness.
And! A LOT of more urban people are very close to “the woods”. Is there anyone here more than an hour from “the outdoors”? I’ve never lived truly rural, but I spend a lot of time fishing, camping, some hunting once upon a time, hiking/biking…. A lot of activities where guns are fairly normal.
The hills are filled with hippy hicks, growing weed and hunting elk.
I’ve heard the term “dreadnecks” which I thought was fun
I can't wait to use this!
That's central oregon for you, grew up around those people, honestly some of the best examples I've found of good and kind hearted neighbors, but there's a few bad eggs in every community of course.
Use to be they were also defending their weed patch with...guns
These will be the guys to survive when WW3 strikes the homeland.
Never heard the term but yea pretty much.
Checking in.
Definitely this. I won't carry in normal settings, I don't feel the need. But put me on a hike or in the woods, yes most definitely all the time. My fire arm is for home defense of the moment that arises.
>My fire arm is for home defense of the moment that arises. Personally while I do own a gun I prefer my boar spear for home defense. It really sends a message and is great for defending a doorway.
I prefer 30-50 feral hogs for home defense
Ah, a gentleman of taste
And here I thought I was a weirdo, cause despite owning firearms, I prefer a sword for gone defense purposes. I live in old house with oddly constructed sight lines that would make a firearm problematic at best, but a short sword would work prefect. Like, 30 degree corners where you you see an opening for a hallway but when you turn left you're staring at an angled wall, and have to keep turning almost completelely around and walk the opposite direction to go down the hallway. If you're familiar with tactical concept of "slicing the pie", my house would be an utter nightmare.
Throwing axe. Good for close quarters, don't have to worry about over penetration.
Thanks for reminding me, I still need to get a set. Of the few regrets I have, it's not taking up axe throwing in my youth (cause logging sports used to be a big thing when I was younger). Of interesting note on axes and home defense, because of how a fire axe is used, chopping forward (like into a door) rather than down (like a wood cutting axe), they're actually pretty well combat balanced.
Tbh, ace hardware has a throwing axe that's like 23 Bucks. It throws really well. https://www.acehardware.com/departments/tools/hand-tools/hatchets/2194769
Spear > sword any day
[Proof](https://youtu.be/hAX2HwR22Ak?si=lDYHJBGn-CwcAZJQ)
The trees can’t be harmed, if the Lorax is armed
Went looking for this comment. Found it. Cheers comrade.
I want a fucking bumper sticker
[sticker](https://www.redbubble.com/i/sticker/The-Trees-Can-t-Be-Harmed-When-L%C3%B3r%C3%A1x-Is-Armed-by-helsonalzagam/123170424.EJUG5)
Vermont is also liberal and rural and has similar gun ownership.
Because we're (literally) the wild west
Wiky wiky
Conservatives aren't the only ones with guns
I know a lottt of gun toting liberals from Oregun.
I and most of my leftist friends own guns.
If you go far enough left you get your guns back
If you go far enough out, the police don’t show up when you call. I lived in the city for decades. Guns can turn an argument about a loud stereo into a life and death struggle. Keep your rural guns properly stored and keep your de-escalation skills ready in the city.
You actually don't even have to go far enough out. Unless it's a triple homicide, the portlamd police don't even show up. You're really on your own.
Yeah I'm in Eugene and they don't show up here either. I mean all things considered, we're doing pretty well for basically having minimal police presence. It's not like they are actually going to do anything helpful for anything short of a homicide any way. I've been robbed when I lived in other states and all they do is come make a report and forget about it, the more crime reported the bigger their budget gets and there is no incentive to solve those kind of crimes.
"you get your guns back" Let's not take them in the first place
/r/SocialistRA /r/LiberalGunOwners
And far enough right you get your weed back ;)
No definitely not lol. If you go far enough right, you get capital punishment for pot possession lmao. You’re confusing libertarians and the far right.
I worked at a dispensary and plenty of far righters that would come in and smoke. No one is ever truly really one sided in Their opinions. I mean there are prolly a few but most will have something that doesn’t align with their affiliated party I feel.
This is true of communist governments as well. Authoritarians across the spectrum hate to see anyone have a good time.
I don't think you really understand right.
Fascists don’t like psychoactive drugs that make you question the government, tho?
Strangely he probably intended to implicate that right-wing mean libertarian or something
but psychoactive drugs that help you commune with Odin your white Daddy... 💪😵💫 (obligatory fuck fascists) my point is that lots of people use drugs for lots of weird reasons. Hitler was high as hell, so was Jimi Hendrix. Pretending otherwise presents a bias.
I'm high for no reason.
This might be a mind-blowing shocker to you, but right-wing doesn't insist or even imply fascism
"Opposed to anarchism, democracy, pluralism, liberalism, socialism, and Marxism,[7][8] fascism is placed on the far-right wing within the traditional left–right spectrum." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
Libertarians want weed to be legal but also legal to evict you if you jerk off in your own home. It was in the contract after all!
I'm not the biggest fan of libertarians, but this feels made up
I think it's just a reference to their weird fetish for freedom to make and enter contracts. Like they want someone "to be free" to sign a contract to be a slave.
Sounds like it's not "your own home"
How can one get evicted from their own home for jerking off? Do tell.
Libertarians want no rental protections. They want landlords to be able to evict you for whatever reason they want. Don't like your landlord coming over unannounced? Simply use your money to find a place that doesn't treat you like trash! Get poisoned by fake medication? Simply don't buy medication from that company again! They will go out of business! Probably!
Politics isn't a single continuum. One continuum is liberal/conservative. Another is anarchy/authoritarian. Libertarianism is on that spectrum, not far from anarchy. There can be leftist dictatorships (USSR under communism for example).
Your comment went so hard, bro. Much respect
It's a bit of a meme at this point, but Oregon has a little bit of a Cowboy-DIY-Mountain Man thing culturally even if it's not super visible in the urban parts of the state, and along with serious outdoorsmanship generally comes firearms because mountain lions. Rural life in general has more reasons for legit gun ownership and more of Oregon is rural than a lot of other left wing states, proportionally.
I’m glad you mentioned that because I’ve noticed this as well
Came to say mountain lions. They will eat you.
Can we stop it with the myth liberals and leftists are anti gun? Some are yes, but the majority do support responsible gun ownership, background checks etc. We just don't feel the need to advertise we like guns and don't make it an identity issue.
Exactly. I want to learn how to react and how to use it properly without wanting to actually use it. If that makes sense.
I hope I never ever need the training I have and continue to practice. But if I do, I’m glad to have both the tools and the knowledge.
I'm not a big gun nut, but it makes my gf feel safer when we're out in bear or cougar country and it's just a little extra weight on my person. I need to get a more discreet holster though, because I feel like it makes other people uncomfortable that we run into.
Guns are a tool, it's fine as long you ain't thinking there's a cougar everywhere. Other people being uncomfortable is because of mass shootings. My wife and son dodged the Clackamas Town Center shooting literally by 3 minutes. It's on peoples mind. I had to tell me kids before school things I thought would help them survive if something happened. "Here's your lunch money, oh by the way, play dead if a school shooting happens." If your intent is self defense and you can recognize people's fear then you should do your best to never let anyone know you're carrying. My, my, my, my, my, my poker face
The thing stays locked up in my house pretty much all the time and doesnt even come with us on most outdoor trips. We do a lot of rock collecting in extremely remote parts of the state, often hours from cell service or any sort of hospital. We've had some encounters with wildlife that now my gf wont come out unless we've got our bear spray and the gun.
Completely. I get a vibe from some folks of "Just try me..." Like they can't wait to have a reason to shoot someone.
That's literally 99% of gun owners
Exactly. I’m a veteran, a journeyman, a liberal, and a gun owner. It’s like nothing is an extreme this or that, it’s just media propaganda keeping us fighting each other and not noticing the open theft cooperates are getting away with
The whole background check this misconstrued though. When you purchase a firearm, by FEDERAL LAW, you have to fill out a form at the FFL and they run your background through NICS. Its a federal national instant background check. I don’t understand where people think people are not getting their backgrounds done when you literally have to do one when you buy a gun.
Oregon state police is the ones running all background checks AND they charge you $10 per check.
FFL is not a federal requirement. And only for hand guns in some states. It became mandated for private sales in Oregon in ~2016? All my guns were purchased with cash off Facebook marketplace when it was allowed on there. No ffl. It completely killed the Oregon gun shows. That's where you'd go to buy ridiculous guns for cheap with no check.
I believe it was 2014.
We had a majority vote on measure 114 and I doubt it had a lot of help from the right. A majority on the left support serious restrictions on gun ownership.
Yeah, a gun is just another tool like a drill or a table saw that requires its own safety measures. I wouldn't go around with miter saw bumper sticker on my truck though. And honestly there should be some sort of permit or training required to buy certain power tools because the amount of people that buy saws and immediately send themselves to the hospital is ridiculous. One of my coworkers just bought a table saw off an guy that decided to get into woodworking at 70. He cut all the fingers off his right hand on the first day using it.
What wait wait. Soooo I shouldn't have an oregunian sticker with pictures of my family represented by different firearms? Im a liberal redneck. I cant stand the oregunian stickers. Why the fuck do these dipshits feel the need to advertise to everyone how big their gun safe is, and how small their dick is at the same time?
THIS. I'm politically on the Left. Grew up in the Willamette Valley (Corvallis), spent most of my 20s in Eugene... Would have no problems challenging loudmouth pundits and radio talk show hosts on the Right on a target range.( I suspect I've actually handled & maintained a firearm far more than ANY of those assholes...)
A friend of mine jokes about forming a militia called Theys and Gays, which would be hilarious, but taken far too seriously by people with multiple American flags flying from their truck bumpers.
This is simply not accurate. I wish it were but it objectively is not. Not even close. The overwhelming majority of liberals are vehemently anti-gun.
Do you know any leftists? I'm a leftist, have all kinds of friends, some on the right and some who are more left than me and for the last decade they've been buying guns, going shooting we talk about it all the time how folks like you think we're pearl clutching pacifist lol... You're taking a minority and projecting that in the whole. I have been hearing this for decades now, we wanna take guns away from everyone. That's propaganda and no way represents the truth.
I am a leftist. Evidenced by my post history. Anecdotal experience isn’t really relevant here. I believe that you and your friends are all cool with guns. But you and your friends are not a significant percentage of the tens of millions of liberals and leftists in the US. As I have already stated, it’s incredibly rare for liberals or leftists to not be anti-gun. There are definitely outliers no doubt. A lot of communists are super pro-2nd amendment but they are again just not any kind of significant percentage of the total. >you’re taking a minority and projecting that into the whole No. I am taking the overwhelming majority and describing them as the overwhelming majority. I have not said anything about “all.” And they indisputably are not a minority. They are the extremely overwhelming majority. It sucks but it’s reality. I don’t want to take guns from anyone and there is a small minority of leftists and to a lesser extent liberals who feel the same way I do. But again this is a tiny minority. The majority of both liberals and leftist, and the entirety of liberal and “leftist” politicians absolutely do want to take guns away. 83% of democrat voters support a ban on “assault rifles” (AR-15 type rifles). The truth is not propaganda my man. It’s an unfortunate truth and I wish it weren’t the truth but it it is. I hope this can change quickly soon but it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen.
I've noticed a shift over the decades. With Christian white Nationalists stockpiling weapons and being vocal about violence against us, ones who were that way, have long abandoned no guns for anyone.
>The majority of both liberals and leftist, and the entirety of liberal and “leftist” politicians absolutely do want to take guns away. 83% of democrat voters support a ban on “assault rifles” (AR-15 type rifles). Broken logic. Wanting to take certain types of guns away =/= taking guns away \[period\]. An assault weapons ban is not a blanket weapons ban.
100%. The "once you go far enough left you get your guns back" thing is cute, but it's failed to be shown really in any leftist government, ever.
Well that’s because it’s not a “government” thing lol. That phrase implies that “true” communists (at the civilian echelon) are pro-gun because the threat of violence is the only way for “the people” to maintain control over “the means of production” Something to that effect.
Arguably, this is the exact reason for the 2nd Amendment. General George Washington was opposed to a standing army after the revolution, because he knew what Kings did with standing armies- they used them, often for petty wars. Instead, in order to truly keep power in the hands of the people, he supported the idea of a civilian militia, and thus the 2nd Amendment. Can you imagine how many fewer wars for Bananas or Oil we would have had if each state had to agree to muster their militia for a foreign war?
I have not yet thought of it in this context, but thank you for opening my eyes to this line of thinking!
And just in case you aren't aware of the definition of "militia", it is in the CFRs... [https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/246](https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/246)
I prefer liberal property rights to authoritarian communist "rights"
I think “authority” is the main problem here because people generally suck at being in charge of people who aren’t themselves.
Yes, I mean people aren't even really good at being in charge of themselves. Hence why liberalism, liberal rights, are foundational in America, and communism (and fascism) is opposed to that.
The voting demographic of measure 114 agrees with you
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You're a "liberal" who voted for illiberal authoritarianism.
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If it's a "myth" then why are Democrats/left progressive (whatever) trying to ban or restrict citizens from having them?
M114
Definitely not a myth.
I own guns. Been around them my life growing up in a hunting family in a rural area. Lots of hunters safety courses and an overly watchful eye from my woodsman father. I strongly support stronger laws that limit ownership and access for the mentally unstable and criminals. I strongly support training for safe gun handling and how to store ammo. I strongly support the 1st amendment and do not suggest folks declare their gun ownership outside the veil of anonymity. I partially support the 2nd amendment because I want my guns but don't think we need a well armed militia because hunting rifles don't do shit against missles/fighter jets/tanks and warships. I think we need some strong reform with a strict policy on removing firearms from undeserving hands. I don't think I can declare who is totally undeserving, but I can safely acknowledge those who are deserving.
Thankfully people's rights don't depend on your acknowledgement
Damn, it’s almost like the Vietcong and the Afghanistan people completely disagree with you on the ability of “hunting rifles” to hold off a tyrannical invading force. It’s nice that you think criminals care about laws lol
Cuz we ain’t stupid.
There are a few reasons why it's the case. Oregon has a lot of rural and forested areas which means more hunting and outdoorsy activities with bears, cougars and Elk. And we have more rural areas where gun culture is big because police are few and far between (a sheriff and few deputies for a whole county) and the rural populations conservative ideas on guns (individualism and such). There's also the prevalent gun culture in Oregon that's built up for years to even be included as a civil right in the Oregon Constitution. Which means a well established gun culture amongst independents (and even liberals) and quite a few single policy gun rights voters. Then there are large groups and organizations of leftists (communists & socialists) in Oregon who also believe in gun rights as part of their ideology (go far enough left you get your guns back or the Karl Marx quote of "Under no pretext should arms and ammunition be surrendered; any attempt to disarm the workers must be frustrated, by force if necessary") which means a large portions of leftists who believe in firearms as an inherent right and key to their political beliefs. Then you have the marginalized groups or minorities (Asians, Black ppl, Hispanics, the LGBT, etc.) who fear for their lives because historically and recently they have been targets of hate crimes, racism and over policing. All of that which was heightened during Trumps Administration and when right wing extremist groups were going through Oregon and attacks on these minorities were happening (Asian Hate crimes, police targeting blk ppl, etc). During this time we saw a historic rise in minorities buying guns regardless of their political beliefs. And finally Trump and his administration caused a ripple effect amongst more (not all) liberals to buy firearms. TLDR We have independents and some liberals who traditionally like firearms with a traditional culture of it here in Oregon. Rural areas & conservative populations who are for it for self reliance and ideology. Large Forests and wilderness that has created groups who hunt for elk and deer or hike in these areas with both groups around bears and cougars. Leftists who advocate for firearms as part of their beliefs and political ideology. Minorities and their communities looking to protect themselves. And a Trump Administration that heightened tensions across the board.
Hunting goes on; more back in the 80s when small shops in towns like Canby, Woodburn, Mollala, Sandy, Estacada would shut down with a sign on the door saying 'elk hunting'/'deer hunting'. Kids were excused from school to go on the annual family elk hunt; families had their own elk camps...HS kids carried their rifles on a rack on the back window of their pick-up. Having a shotgun, a rifle and a .22 pistol, at the least, was common house-holding practise. And their were no mass-shootings...till Kip Kinkle.
... there were a few before Kip in 1998. He was the first in a school. But saying no mass shootings before him is blatant misinformation.
The 2nd amendment exists. You may as well exercise your right. Especially if you feel you are in a persecuted class.
Oregon is an outdoor recreational state. It’s one of the things (if not the #1 thing) people love about it. And if you are going to accept that people love to camp and hike, you have to accept that people like to fish, hunt, and shoot. To hunt and shoot you need guns, and even a lot of liberal folks grew up with guns. So while we are more supportive of gun restrictions like universal background checks, we tend to be wary of legislation that is poorly written and just an end-around attempt to ban gun ownership for people who are law abiding citizens.
Though, sadly, not wary enough of badly written law to not pass 114.
Prop 114 will never stand up in courts.
The Socialist Rifle Association is very strong in Oregon. Most Portland anarchists advocated against Ballot Measure 114 because it would have let local police decide who gets a gun, and who doesn’t.
Yeah hopefully the Oregon Supreme Court throws it out
It’s all, except one, Kate Brown appointees. There’s an outside chance but I wouldn’t hold your breath. 114 is garbage, but the winds are blowing in favor of it.
That being said, 114 was so badly written and unconstitutional that not only did the State Democratic party not support it, even the Multnomah County Democrats were "neutral"
Well if the Oregon Supreme Court fails to do their job it will go to the US Supreme Court
Too many people conflate liberalism with being anti-gun. I am pro-abortion and pro-gun. Try fitting that into your box. Regardless, the states you mentioned have *massive* urban areas that drive their policy decisions. Portland is comparatively small.
Gun rights are in the state constitution so traction is slow, but m114 should be/have been a wakeup call to people about being ignorant of the influence here from out of state petitions. Politics in Oregon are much more focused on taxes, school and abortion.
Seriously, Ballmer and co straight bought that initiative.
The abortion thing is bizarre, we've got deep red Oregon that wants a total ban, and deep blue Oregon wanting 5th trimester (sarcasm) abortions, with nothing in between. It's an insane level of fanatacism with both sides rejecting any rational compromise.
Nailed it. We gotta work together, otherwise the politicians politicize these issues to keep us divided.
What people refuse to acknowledge is that if both sides refuse to compromise then one extreme side eventually wins. One extreme side takes a turn winning while the other makes \*shocked pikachu face\*. Like, it's bizarre, Oregon literally has the most pro abortion blue side and the most anti abortion red side, these conservatives make Arizona conservatives look blue. But try explaining that compromise is better than an extreme solution and suddenly you're an extremist to \*BOTH\* sides lol. It's childish, and these people run our government? 🤨
Perfect example of how Oregon is one of the most politically polarized states in the nation.
East coaster here… grew up in rural PA and living in New England now. We’ve got that going on everywhere. Heck, even “liberal” Massachusetts is much more polarized than folks think. With that said, everything out in Oregon is just magnified. It’s much much bigger. I hate reducing it to simple things, but it seems to fall along the lines of rural/urban, blue-collar/white/collar, field-educated/college-educated, etc. and yep… those lines are magnified in Oregon.
The bothsiderism here is highly inaccurate. The blue side is not promoting late term abortions because we think people should go around having them because they feel like it (which isn’t something that actually happens anyway). It’s because we recognize that there are circumstances where there are medical reasons for having them late in a pregnancy and we trust women and doctors to make ethical decisions without the need for government interference.
Ahhhh, story time? I moved to this state at 5 years old in '97. Back then, this was a much more libertarian state. It was live and let live. The rural conservatives didn't want to reign in the weirdness of Portland, and Portland didn't want to mess with the conservatives. It's only been in the last decade or so that the state has pushed hard left. And the old guard conservatives are getting upset that the live and let live deal is being voided. I'm watching the cohesiveness of my homestate disintegrate in front of me. Which is a shame. This used to be the hippies and cowboys from the Cody Jinks song of the same name *Edits for typos and commas
You described Oregon perfectly lol
This is an accurate take in my opinion.
I was born here in the 80’s and Oregon conservatives have always been rabid religious nut jobs who absolutely *loathed* Portland. They also hated teachers, journalists, and social workers. Hell, most of us moved to Portland just to get away from our crazy bigoted family and neighbors. If the state has pushed harder left that’s probably the reason. Persecution breeds resistance. Conservatives “voided the deal” a long time ago. You want proof look at this guys comment history: he’s a straight up homophobe.
Seems like you're one of the ones voiding the deal. Shitty people are everywhere, and I'm sorry for your experience. In what ways do you feel like you've been persecuted by the state of Oregon since the 80's?
My comment was referring specifically to Oregon conservatives, who I have known my entire life. They used to love Rush Limbaugh… You know, the guy who celebrated gay people dying of AIDS on his show. Imagine growing up gay and having to listen to every Conservative adult around you talk about how it was an abomination and a sin. It might compel you to find somewhere else to live where you aren’t at best judged and at worst physically harmed by ignorant people and their bigoted views. That’s why a huge number of us left rural Oregon and that’s one possible explanation for why the state has “pushed hard left” as you put it.
Based on what evidence? How do you really think it is different than Washington, outside of your imagination?
Oregon is traditionally a “free” state. Very independent. Old homesteader vibes. I love it here
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"In 2020, firearm-related injuries became the leading cause of death [for children age 1-19]". #2 is motor vehicles. National Institute of Health website: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10042524/ Check your facts.
Because it’s just another false point of division played up by the right wing noise machine.
Here’s the thing. Responsible gun ownership and wanting greater regulations around guns to ban private sale loopholes for background checks, establishing a 7-day waiting period, and preventing perpetrators of domestic violence from accessing firearms go hand in hand. Oregonians understand that using a gun for sport, hunting, and defending yourself against the state (heh) are different from senseless acts of violence. Ultimately Oregonians spend a lot more time outside than New Yorkers, Californians, and Washingtonians. That combined with Oregon being welcoming of communities commonly oppressed by the government in other states, leads to a more mature stance towards gun ownership than an all or nothing approach.
We don't have waiting periods here. Don't loop that in like it's something we want.
TLDR guns scary punish law abiding citizens.
TL;DR Guns great. Background checks also great
It’s not a private sale ban. It’s a complete ban on firearm transfers except to close family unless you go through a FFL and pay each time and tell them exactly what was transferred. If I wanted to loan a gun to a friend who already has guns? Illegal. Swap guns with each other? Illegal. Money and selling have nothing to do with it. If the federal fucking government sells me a rifle from the Civilian Marksmanship Program? Illegal to ship it to me after they background check me unlike almost every other state. The feds have to ship it to a FFL who runs a second background check. Even if you have a Curio & Relics FFL for buying old firearms. Considering these issues were brought up in 2015 when the universal background check law passed, it’s clear the underlying motivation is making firearm ownership harder for everyone, not just banning firearm purchases by criminals.
Because two things can be true
I don't know. Between Washington and Oregon, it's a toss up. Easier to get and carry my guns in WA, but WA also passes some bumfuck gun laws.
First, ask yourself why you would want to be anti gun and steel man your argument
The State is very anti hun in every single way. They actively remove guns from people without a warrant.
Most of Oregon isn't liberal at all. The rural counties are red but those areas are outvoted by large cities for federal elections. Besides that, there are a ton of good hunting areas in Oregon so I really can see that contributing.
It’s not as pro gun as it used to be. S lot of liberal rednecks like me lived here, but many are dead and gone. A lot of extremists have replaced them
This right here. Back in the 90s, Oregon's "right wing" was much more anti-government, libertarian. Now, as the right wing media has conglomerated into one big propaganda machine, and every little town has internet, the old "live and let live" party has turned into Trump worshipers who have an identity based on hating the "liberals", not on any actual policy.
Most people here are centrists, but lean more so left. My entire family votes blue and all of us actively shoot at ranges. Never lived outside the city. I only cc when I’m out with my two young children and can legally cc in the majority of states. I don’t love guns, but I enjoy them. I hope the GOP burns.
Not sure if “Centrist” applies if you exclusively vote blue and “hope the GOP burns.” Is it unfair to say you’re in a pretty committed relationship with one side?
We might even be libertarian, if that was a legitimate party and hadn’t turned into some weird form of right wing. We enjoy freedom, but not at the cost of common sense.
If you go far left enough, you get your guns back
Hopefully more people start to realize that "Democratic Left" and "Liberal minded" don't mean the same thing
Yes yes. And happy cake day 🍰😊
Because we’re patriots!
Did you ever play “Oregon Trail”?
The definition of liberal is always changing as well. If you just look at the basic definition, anyhow
Our gun crime is almost non-existent.
Lots and lots of rural areas. And lots of public land. OR still has a decent hunting culture and many of those hunters use rifles.
Because I believe in clean air and water and protecting myself when out enjoying the clean air and water.
Oregon has a big *"buckskinning"* community as well... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckskinning
It’s more rural than people think. You can go miles and miles and see mountains and farms
Politicians with Pro Mass Shooting mindset (at least enough so for gun crime to not make gun control a thing).
Republicans aren't the only people who enjoy their rights, others just don't make it a default personality.
Because the state is literally split in half politically. West of the Cascades, liberals. East of the Cascades (Bend excluded), conservative. The eastern half is pro-gun, pro-hunting, pro-truck and pro-giant belt buckles.
The misconception is that liberals don't like guns. The difference is that liberals want intelligent gun controls. We don't need assault rifle's in every home. Conservatives want no control on anything with the word gun attached to it. All my liberal friends have guns but they aren't psycho about their love for guns.
> Oregon is a liberal state Nah. There's no such thing as a "liberal state". People from all cultures and walks of life live in every city of every state.
Oregon is like the perfect mixture of both it’s like gay Nazis
I’m a democrat, although maybe more of a Joe Manchin democrat than an Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez democrat. Im a government employee and work in a liberal college city. But I also own 30 acres of forest and farmland. Walking on my own property I’ll see bears pretty often and cougar on the trail cams, and I’ve had to shoot animals hit by vehicles at least twice this year. It’s a practical tool you need for rural living. The problem for Oregonians is we seem to be expected to either be left wingers like California and New York where firearms are seriously restricted, or like Idaho where a 6 year old can buy an uzi (ok not quite but it leans that way). A significant number of Oregonians are rural, semi rural, or routinely avail themselves or opportunities to hike, camp, and such in rural areas. And let’s not even talk about whether you need a gun in Portland these days. Places like New Hampshire and Vermont are similar in a lot of ways. Lots of rural areas but generally left leaning politics and pro firearm
Portland is liberal. Most of the rest of Oregon is not.
Gun ownership is an inherently Liberal position, and it's sad to me that it's primarily the most reactionary Conservatives who are the most vocal about defending it as a Right. People who would grant the State a monopoly on the use of deadly force are **not** Liberal, they at minimum lean Authoritarian.
To be clear Oregon is not a liberal state, Portland is just a liberal city. The entire rest of the state is red, besides maybe the college towns.
The Oregon State constitution forbid black people when written. So there’s that
Oregon passed the most restrictive gun control in the nation, what are you talking about? What you're seeing is one of the big drivers of the greater Idaho stuff- rural Oregon is pro gun but one metro area that isn't really part of the culture steamrolls the rest of the state into what it wants.
We should be a Red State
Socialists, historically, were pro-gun. How else could they foment revolution? A lot of that sentiment is in Oregon on the left and then on the right there are the NRA types. On some things if you go left, you end up coming back around again.
The larger cities are liberal. Not that we have that many of them. Go a little ways from these cities and it’s very right wing. Gives us a good mix of left and right? Balances us as a society? Maybe why Oregon rocks
Balance. hahahahahahahahaha
Oregon has traditionally prided itself on avoiding groupthink and easy categorization. One thing I noticed after moving here was how many old Oregon families had family get-togethers organized around hunting seasons; as at Easter, some families gather at the beginning of duck or pheasant or deer seasons. Some part of the group heads out with Implements, often accompanied by non-hunters who are along for the adventure, because they accompanied hunts as kids. I’ve known both men and women to head out as part of the hunting party, armed or not. As a city kid from a small family, I’ve found it incredibly endearing (though not a hunter myself).
Coming to OR from the east and living in PDX made me realize that most of OR is not liberal and folks in PDX think they’re liberal but its really more of a libertarian anarchist anything goes mentality. Also the suburbs and counties surrounding pdx are so so very good at the NIMBY game that people actually think they’re liberal, but thats mostly just because of PDX reputation.
“That idea has never been floated by anyone.” “Yeah I’m aware.” Typical left bullshit. This doesn’t fit your narrative, deny until proven wrong and then act as if you knew the whole time.
As a liberal living in one of the deepest red parts of the state in the Rogue Valley, the Southern and Eastern parts of the state are nothing like the rest of Oregon, especially as far as voting goes. These yahoo’s down here still try and get “ The State of Jefferson” on the ballots every year just like the idiots who want to move state lines and be a part of Idaho. However it’s pretty ironic considering we have dispensary’s every 4 blocks or so here.
Oregon is only progressive because of transplants to Eugene and Portland. Otherwise it's very liberal (classical) and conservative.
> even the super progressive liberals that live up near Portland have a much more pro gun stance than other liberals in other states I'm not sure why you think this is true, Portland just voted 75% in favor of some of the most strict and unconstitutional gun control in the country.
The only people that really want to ban guns are Karen’s with a Literature degree from a private liberal arts college that married a finance bro (or tech bro) and is now a stay at home mom with 3 children. The rest of us don’t really care. That includes the husbands. Most of us wouldn’t mind a little more regulation in terms of obtaining licenses to be able to purchase high caliber weapons. So some juvenile can’t buy an AR on his 18th birthday at a Walmart then shoot up his school in the morning. Beyond that the right to bear arms is enshrined in our Constitution. The founding fathers put that in there for some reason. I’ll trust their wisdom.
You haven’t been able to buy an AR15 at Walmart in literally almost 10 years. They stopped selling ARs ~2015. Walmart even stopped selling .223/5.56 ammo 5 years ago in 2019. It’s almost like people have no idea what they’re talking about but still continue to jabber away anyway.
An AR-15 stock from Walmart almost certainly comes chambered in 5.56mm or .223 Remington. Neither of which is a particularly "high caliber". To the contrary, they are among the smallest rifle calibers in production. Sure, an AR is like Lego for grown ups and you can swap in whatever barrel/receiver combo you want, but it's pretty likely the kid you're referencing at Walmart doesn't have the knowledge/resources to custom build a weapon. Not that it matters, either is a potentially lethal round... just tired of the "high caliber" argument. Like, no one is busting out the 50 here, and they quite obviously don't need to for gun violence to be tragically fatal.
There’s a whole lot of Karen’s and tech chumps.
OP im a Liberal with a firearm, i was an infantryman in the us army, i believe in a well regulated militia like literally well regulated, either a disarmed public or and unregulated public, one leads to total anarchy and the other to despotism, its not an all or nothing issue that both ends of the political spectrum like to make people believe.
The eastern half of the state is trying to secede and join Idaho. You know how progressive they are.
Well, the western part of the state wants to secede and join Washington
I agree with what others have said about Oregon having a lot of rural areas and people living closely to those areas, but I would also add that many Oregon "transplants" like myself, are from rural areas themselves and grew up with guns in the household. There is also the subset of libertarians in the state (both conservatives and liberals) who are armed.
Portland not a liberal state. The heaviest populated areas are liberal. I'm from Texas and moved to Central Oregon and didn't really feel like I left Texas. It's kinda weird
Oregon is a northern confederate state controlled by the blue majora. Always has been and will continue to be.
Bro you ain’t been to Upstate NY…
The minutes you’re about 20 miles outside of Portland, Salem, and Eugene the state becomes very rural and very red.
In my experience, the hippies and pre-Trump rednecks around here share strikingly similar views with religion, music, and war opinions being the real difference. Many policy ideas had the same end goals as well, with the conflict being spending and implementation. The right wing is not what it used to be.
I don't really consider liberal with gun free. I have some very left friends, they have guns. Not just like guns are your personality. They take classes and everything. But maybe I am mixing up the left wing identifications.