On May 27 1968, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy stopped in Roseburg during his campaign swing through Oregon. He stood on the steps of the Douglas County Courthouse and was confronted by hecklers who disliked his gun control bill.
Roseburg last week became the center of another debate over gun control, after a gunman killed nine people and then himself. The shooter, who had amassed 14 guns, all purchased legally, also wounded nine others.
The New York Times reported: "The Senator's face was grim as he stepped to the microphone of the Douglas County courthouse to address a crowd of about 1,500." Signs in the crowd read: "Protect your rights to keep and bear arms."
The Times quoted him as saying, "I see signs about the guns. I'm wondering if any of you would like to come and explain." A "heavyset man wearing a lumberjacket" stepped forward. The Times identified him as Bud Stone.
According to The Oregonian's archives from 1968, Bud Schoon of Sutherlin presented Kennedy with a petition against his measure, which "forbids mail order sale of guns to the very young, those with criminal records and the insane," The Oregonian said at the time. Kennedy's brother, President John F. Kennedy, had been killed by a man who received the gun through mail order.
The Times story quoted Kennedy as saying: "All this legislation does is keep guns from criminals and the demented and those too young. With all the violence and murder and killings we've had in the United States, I think you will agree that we must keep firearms from people who have no business with guns or rifles."
Kennedy said, according to The Oregonian, "There's nothing in it that infringes on any citizen's right to bear arms."
A man in a cowboy hat booed loudly, the Times reported, and gave an argument that continues today: "They'll get them (guns) anyway."
Kennedy lost the Oregon primary that May 28 and left the state for California. There he was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan, using a .22 caliber revolver, on June 5.
-- The Oregonian/OregonLive
