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SD public defense duties shift from counties to state; SCOTUS appears skeptical of restricting government communications with social media companies; Trump lawyers say he can't make bond; new scholarships aim to connect class of 2024 to high-demand jobs.

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The SCOTUS weighs government influence on social media, and who groups like the NRA can do business with. Biden signs an executive order to advance women's health research and the White House tells Israel it's responsible for the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

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Midwest regenerative farmers are rethinking chicken production, Medicare Advantage is squeezing the finances of rural hospitals and California's extreme swing from floods to drought has some thinking it's time to turn rural farm parcels into floodplains.

West Coast Wall: Groups Want Assault-Weapons Ban, Calif. to Wash.

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Friday, July 29, 2016   

PORTLAND, Ore. - Advocacy groups, lawmakers, even the governor are calling for reform of Oregon's gun laws. The group Ceasefire Oregon, along with its sister organization in Washington, are joining with others to help create a "West Coast Wall," an assault-weapons ban stretching from Washington to California.

Penny Okamoto, the executive director of Ceasefire Oregon, said the wall would amount to a regional ban, solving a problem illustrated in cities like Chicago.

"It has suffered horrifically from gun violence, even though it has really good gun laws," she said. "But the problem is that many, too many, guns are being brought in from either other parts of the state, or other states connected to Chicago."

Nearly 60 percent of guns recovered at crime scenes were from out-of-state, according to a 2014 report by Chicago law enforcement. Ceasefire Oregon stepped up its campaign to ban assault weapons after a shooting at a Clackamas mall in 2012.

This month, Governor Kate Brown announced "Oregonians United Against Gun Violence," outlining policy proposals for the state's legislative session in 2017. The executive order includes a ban on extended-capacity magazines, which enable shooters to fire a large number of rounds before reloading. Okamoto said it also would close what's known as the "boyfriend loophole," so that people convicted of certain domestic-violence crimes no longer have access to firearms.

"She has a work group set up for domestic violence, trying to see what we can do to reduce domestic violence, especially in terms of gun violence," she added. "Another thing she did was strongly urge Congress to pass an effective assault-weapons ban."

According to Okamoto, even gun owners are backing her organization and the policies proposed by Brown.

"The vast majority of gun owners support the actions that we do," she said. "And we know that around half of gun owners actually support an assault-weapons ban. They don't understand why people would have a rifle like that."

She adds Ceasefire Oregon is planning a campaign to educate the public on the assault weapons ban and West Coast Wall.


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