Second Amendment Foundation Helps Defend Oregon Teacher's Right to Bear Arms

On Friday, the Second Amendment Foundation--the nation's oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms which boasts over 600,000 members and supporters-- announced that it is supporting a lawsuit filed by an Oregon high school teacher against the Medford School District.

The teacher, who is being kept anonymous, is licensed to carry a concealed firearm under Oregon state statute. Her ex-husband, against whom the teacher has a restraining order, has been contacting her with threats, and she is thus afraid for her safety and that of her students; she wants to bring her gun to school and keep it on her person.

School officials are refusing to allow her to bring her gun on campus; however, it seems Oregon law permits her to.

State Democratic Senator Ginny Burdick, who is an anti-gun advocate, plans to introduce legislation that will exempt Oregon public schools from the state's pre-emption law.

"This is a case where the issue seems crystal clear. Here is a woman who has taken all the proper, legal steps for her own safety, and quite possibly the safety of her students and fellow teachers. Oregon's pre-emption law appears to be on her side, and so are we. We are confident that the court will make a decision based on the clear wording of the Oregon statute, rather than on political correctness. There is no good reason why a school district can simply ignore state law, much less the safety of one of its employees," said SAF founder Alan Gottlieb.

None other than one of the greatest founders of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, famously said, "No man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government."