Man Who Fled Communism Blasts Oregon Lawmakers For Gun Control Attempt

Manuel Martinez, who narrowly escaped Cuba in 1962 after being imprisoned for opposing Fidel Castro, passionately defended the Second Amendment in front of Oregon’s Senate Judiciary Committee, comparing the state’s attempts to pass gun control to moves made by his former government.

“Don’t sell me this. A very powerful man tried to sell me this 50-something years ago, I didn’t buy it,” Martinez said. “This is Marxism, plain and clear.”

The legislation, Senate Bill 1551, proposes massively expanding background checks to almost every private sale, somehow expected to force criminals to voluntarily submit to a records check.

“They put this dog and pony show saying hey, we are going to protect you. No, what they did was enslave a country,” Martinez said. “They destroyed a country the same way that this country is going to be destroyed if we continue in this fashion. This is what you’re selling here!” Martinez said, holding up old communist magazines from Cuba.

Martinez was joined by others opposed to the legislation, as well as several supporters including national gun control advocate Capt. Mark Kelly. A vocal critic of “assault rifles,” Kelly was caught purchasing an AR-15 last March in Arizona. After investigators contacted Kelly’s gun control group to question the purchase, Kelly suddenly announced he never intended to keep the firearm, but instead bought the rifle in order to hand it over to police.

Others such as Oregon Firearm Federation Director Kevin Starrett attacked the state’s obvious attempt at gun registration, which has already been used to implement confiscation in several states.

“We all know what this bill is about. This is a gun registration and confiscation bill,” Starrett said. “Let’s not tell the same lies we told in New York and California.”

Despite the obvious move towards registration, the bill’s author, Democratic Sen. Floyd Prozanski, claimed no records would be kept past 10 days, calling Starrett a “conspiracist” for not blindly trusting the government’s claims.

Following the passage of the New York SAFE act in 2013, registered gun owners began receiving letters demanding they hand over their firearms. Recent legislation in California produced similar results, with Justice Department agents confiscating firearms from law-abiding citizens all across the state.

Martinez made national news after confronting lawmakers last year as well, helping end similar attempts by Oregon legislators to restrict gun rights.

Although gun homicide has fallen 49 percent since 1993, a recent poll found that a majority of American’s believe it has risen, a clear indication of the establishment’s attempt to push a false narrative.

Outside of Oregon, President Obama has continued to threaten gun rights through executive action, pushing to chip away at patient privacy laws. Despite reassurances, the medical system continues to be fraudulently used for backdoor gun confiscation.