Maybe…

KATU’s website tells us today that Oregon lawmakers want to ban smoking in privately owned vehicles carrying passengers under 16 years of age.

Are you kidding me? I am not a smoker, and I support fully the efforts to ban smoking in public places. However, I’m not about to get into a smoker’s car and tell them that they can’t smoke just because I don’t like it.

I can understand putting limits on cell phone usage in a vehicle for safety reasons. I can understand seat belt requirements - it saves lives. However, telling someone that they cannot smoke a cigarette in their own vehicle in the presence of anyone under 16 is outrageous. This simply goes too far.

Back in my home state of Georgia, you were able to carry a handgun in your car on the front passenger seat without need for a concealed weapon permit. A person’s vehicle was considered an extension of their home. As long as the handgun was not stuffed in some compartment then it wasn’t considered concealed. Oregon seems to have a similar definition, although a state appeals court has recently ruled that a person’s vehicle, while not public itself, utilizes a public street and acts as a container for a handgun whether visible on the seat or stuffed in a compartment.

This ruling is contrary to the common interpretation of Oregon law, according to the Oregon Firearms Federation: “It has always been our position that open carry in a vehicle was clearly protected by Oregon law. ORS 166.250 clearly states that except for CHL holders, it is concealed carry in a vehicle that is prohibited. It further states that the prohibition against concealed, loaded carry in a vehicle does not apply to ‘a recreational vessel or recreational vehicle while used, for whatever period of time, as residential quarters.’”

Is your vehicle an extension of your home? Should you be limited to when you can smoke in your vehicle?

The bigger question is, are we going too far with this drive to ban smoking? Can this be considered an invasion of some sort?

In the fall of 2008, Portland Community College initiated phase one of a two-phase plan to ban smoking on all campuses. Phase one moved previous smoking areas off the common campus grounds away from high traffic areas. Phase two set for fall 2009 will complete ban smoking anywhere on any campus. I have to assume this also includes while sitting in your parked car on their property.

I feel that the steps taken by PCC are extreme, an effort to ride the anti-smoking wave that has now hit Oregon. It seems that our state legislators also want to capitalize on the negative public sentiment of smoking.

So, what do you think?