Oregon Concealed-Gun Permits Soar After Restrictions Relaxed -- Change Part Of Deal For Waiting Period On Sales Of Firearms

PORTLAND - Vera Katz was speaker of the Oregon House in 1989 when she helped win passage of legislation that relaxed a law on carrying concealed handguns in the state.

She is now mayor of Portland, where thousands more walk the street with hidden pistols thanks to the change in the law.

About 37,390 Oregonians, about one in every 50 people older than 21, have a license to carry a concealed handgun. In Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties, the number of people legally carrying concealed handguns has mushroomed from 414 in 1990 to 16,827 last month.

Police say that number will take off again this month, with the law changing to allow residents of neighboring states also to get licenses to carry concealed handguns in Oregon.

Cordell Blockson is one of those licensed to carry a concealed weapon. Alan DeNoble, 24, didn't know that when he challenged Blockson outside a Gresham restaurant and bar Oct. 7.

Blockson and DeNoble had argued inside. Once outside, Blockson was prepared for trouble. Pulling a .357-caliber revolver out of a back holster, Blockson fired one shot into DeNoble's jaw.

DeNoble fell to the road and died. A grand jury declined to indict Blockson.

"There's so many people out there with guns right now, you don't know who's armed and who isn't," says Gresham police Sgt. David Lerwick.

Four years ago, licenses for concealed weapons were unusual. There were just 14 in Multnomah County, for example. To get one a person had to convince the county sheriff it was essential to his safety. Some sheriffs, particularly in the Portland area, made that difficult.

But in 1989 Katz agreed to greatly relax concealed-handgun restrictions as part of a deal to push through a 15-day waiting period for gun purchases.

Katz defends that trade-off.

"We set a criterion that was to be standard throughout the state and still give the sheriff discretion to deny permits if there appeared to be a pattern of behavior on the part of the applicant that endangered the community," she says.

She contends the proliferation of permits occurred largely in the Portland area because sheriffs in the three-county area had been so tough on handing out licenses before 1990.

However, the numbers show some rural counties also have seen big increases in licenses. For example, Jackson County went from 725 licenses in 1990 to 2,200 last month. Deschutes County reports 1,500 licenses, up from 400 in 1990.

Katz defends the program as a responsible one with safeguards.

"I don't think the concealed-weapons permit is a problem," she says. "The people getting them have been thoroughly checked out. My concern is the people getting guns illegally."

Laws on concealed handguns vary in other Western states.

In Washington, which has a liberal law similar to Oregon's, there are 241,606 licenses. A person does not have to live in the city or county issuing his license.

In California, which has 10 times more people than Oregon, 33,345 people have licenses to carry concealed weapons, about 4,000 fewer than Oregon.

Clackamas County sheriff's Capt. F. Sherwood Stillman, who coordinates the statewide licensing program, says no license holders have been convicted of a crime involving a gun since the change in the law.

"People assume we just hand these out like all-day suckers, but we're not," he says. "The people who get these concealed-handgun licenses are not people we should be concerned about having firearms. These are law-abiding citizens."