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State Capitol security to install metal detectors, start checking visitors for weapons

Oregon State Capitol (Caleb Wolf/Special to Salem Reporter)

New safety measures intended to keep guns and weapons outside of the Oregon Capitol building will take effect Jan. 27.

Anyone entering the building will have to pass through a metal detector, and bags and other items will either go through an X-ray machine or “visual bag search,” according to a press release issued Wednesday by the offices of Senate President Peter Courtney and House Speaker Tina Kotek.

Security at the building’s entrances will check for weapons, “similar to security practices at county courthouses throughout the state,” the press release said.

The precautions come after the Legislature in 2021 passed a bill prohibiting firearms and dangerous weapons in public buildings, including the Capitol, and court facilities. 

According to data from the National Conference of State Legislatures, Oregon will become the 34th U.S. state to use metal detectors at state capitol entrances, the press release said.

Due to construction at the capitol, including at the front steps and State Street entrances, visitors should use the North ADA entrances to go into the building.

-Ardeshir Tabrizian