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December 15, 2008

Your Car is Now "Public Space"

In a new decision, the Oregon Appeals Court has ruled that the inside of your car is "public space." The particulars of the case may not raise some people's hackles the way it does mine - it pertains to the right to have an unconcealed loaded firearm in your vehicle - but the repercussions of this decision could reach into an area that does concern you.

ORS 161.015 defines public place this way:

(10) "Public place" means a place to which the general public has access and includes, but is not limited to, hallways, lobbies and other parts of apartment houses and hotels not constituting rooms or apartments designed for actual residence, and highways, streets, schools, places of amusement, parks, playgrounds and premises used in connection with public passenger transportation.

None of that sounds descriptive of a privately owned vehicle to me. I can assure you that the "general public" would not be particularly welcome hopping into my car whenever they wanted to, and you probably feel the same way.

I can immediately think of an example of why the Court's decision is obviously brain-dead anti-gun judicial activism run amok. If your car is "public space," then all those people who break into vehicles and steal private property could argue that some numbskull left that property unattended in "public space," and it's only natural to take something of value if it's left lying around, right?

In light of the ruling, the Oregon Firearms Federation is asking an excellent question that should really concern everyone: "If your car is now considered a "public place" will a law enforcement officer need a warrant to search it?"

The very thought ought to have every freedom-loving Oregonian up in arms. Though not in your car, of course.

Posted by Becky at December 15, 2008 09:24 AM