What It Was Like on the Bus Delivering Gun Control Signatures to Salem

The bell rang 98 times at Augustana Lutheran Church last Friday, once for each person in Oregon who has died from gun violence, excluding suicides, this year. The tolling of the bell was part of a rally for Initiative Petition 17, which asks voters to ban the sale of high-capacity magazines and requires gun buyers to get a permit.

IP 17 stands poised to make the ballot after delivering 159,565 signatures. The petitioners needed 112,020 to be valid—registered voters with no duplicates—to qualify for the ballot. It’s the result of an unlikely grassroots movement to bring gun control to the ballot—an effort that, in the words of the Rev. Mark Knutson, chief petitioner, was run from “a little church basement, where people worked for months, energy everywhere—that’s where the great movements come.”

The groundswell was fueled by Oregonians’ grief and fury at the rise of fatal gunfire—both in high-profile massacres across the country and in regular violence at night in Portland. But it was run by volunteers who, on July 8, gathered to ferry the last batch of signatures by school bus to the Secretary of State’s Office in Salem.

This reporter boarded the bus with them.

At a rally, Knutson, along with other speakers, discussed the importance of gun control and emphasized how remarkable their success was. “IP 17 is the only one of 60 initiatives [this year] that started the process and made it all the way to the ballot, driven by volunteers all over the state,” he said.

The Rev. J.W. Matt Hennessee, senior pastor of Vancouver Avenue First Baptist Church, was the closing speaker: “We haven’t been praying as if this was just a possibility; we have been praying as if it’s done.”

After the speeches, people slowly filed their way into the bus, where the temperature was pleasantly cool and everyone was chatting to the demonstrators beside them. There was a faint buzz of excitement in the air.

A month ago, many thought this ride would have gone differently. Lift Every Voice had less than half the signatures to meet its goal of 140,000 signatures, let alone reach the ballot, just a few weeks earlier. “Three weeks ago or four weeks ago, we had 65,000 signatures, I thought we were never going to make it,” Barbra Gungle told WW. “It’s been a phenomenal last month.”

After an hour-and-a-half ride, people slowly filed out, joining other demonstrators in a plaza. The temperatures in Salem were much warmer than in Portland, with the sun coming out in full force. The demonstrators got in a circle and introduced themselves to each other, while others were setting up speakers.

Once the speakers were set up, Knutson announced they had well above Lift Every Voice’s goal of 140,000 names. The crowd behind Knutson clapped and cheered.

Over the next 10 minutes, demonstrators delivered speeches. One student from Grant High School who led the Students for Gun Reform club said, “Gun violence is so prevalent as a young person, it’s easy to feel hopeless about this issue, but Lift Every Voice Oregon and this initiative have given us hope.”

Then the crowd of supporters marched to the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office, singing songs as they marched. After the crowd entered the building, a few demonstrators carried the final boxes of ballots into the office. The crowd cheered. For them, weeks, months and, for some, years of campaigning had come to fruition.

Over and over and over again, the crowd chanted, “Rise up, brand new day, you know that love will find a way!”

“We are going to make this happen, Tom Peck told WW. “There’s going to be some strong opposition, but we’re prepared to meet that challenge.”

Back in the bus 30 minutes later, people were more subdued, both from the heat and emotional overload. The bus quickly stopped at a gas station and a restroom area, and demonstrators started sharing snacks and water. The bus ride back to Portland was quieter than the ride down.

Ron Cobata said he had a lot on his mind. “As much as this is the cause of celebration, what brought this about, though, is the necessity to deal with the situation of gun violence in this country,” he said. “That was just my personal mixed reaction to the sense of accomplishment but, again, not forgetting the original situation that necessitates this effort.”