PORTLAND -- A war of words has erupted between Portland Mayor Sam Adams and a local gun lobby over proposed gun law changes.
Several recent shootings have caused fear in North and Northeast Portland neighborhoods.
While police beef up patrols on the streets, the mayor, who also heads the police bureau, said he was building a plan to crack down on illegal guns.
"Portland has, for years, been swimming in the use of illegal guns by criminals, " said Adams.
The plan has five major points, including creating new penalties for failing to control childrens' access to guns, increasing penalties for convicted gun offenders, and imposing a curfew for juvenile criminals.
But one local gun lobby says the proposals will not work.
"They are laughable and pathetic, " said Kevin Starrett, Oregon Firearms Federation Director. "That's what Sam Adams wants to do is to turn Portland into Chicago. More regulations and more crime."
The Oregon Firearms Foundation isn't just attacking the plan, they are attacking the mayor, calling him a disgrace and a self-admitted liar.
Mayor Adams countered back by calling the gun lobby "bullies" during a city hall interview.
"We can't continue to sit on our hands. It's the bullying tactics like the Oregon Firearms Federation that stalls gun safety legislation in Salem."
But according to the Oregon Firearms Federation, guns aren't the problem. They said the problem is the behavior of the criminals, and if they don't use guns, they'll use another type of weapon.
