Knute Buehler has come out against a pair of proposed gun control measures seeking to qualify for the November ballot.

Buehler, the Bend state House member who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, sent out a Twitter post late last month that he opposes IP 43, the proposed initiative that would limit assault weapons in Oregon.

In their submission of the proposed initiative to the Secretary of State, supporters have called it “Promote Public Safety for All Through the Reduction of Assault Weapons and Large Capacity Magazines.”

“There should be no confusion about my position on IP 43 — I oppose it,” Buehler wrote on Twitter on March 24. “There are sensible ideas to promote school safety & reduce gun violence, but IP 43 goes too far. It intrudes on basic freedoms & is likely unconstitutional.”

Buehler was pointing to the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which Buehler said he supports. Though the Revolutionary War-era militias referenced in the Second Amendment are an anachronism, courts in the modern era have interpreted the amendment to bar the government from most limits on individual possession of most firearms.

Buehler campaign manager Rebecca Tweed on Wednesday said Buehler also opposes IP 44, the proposed initiative that would make gun owners liable for the misuse of firearms and require they lock, safely transfer and limit use of their firearms. Supporters call that proposed measure “Oregonians for Safe Gun Storage and Reporting Lost/Stolen Firearms.”

Gov. Kate Brown supports both proposed initiatives. Buehler’s main opponents in the Republican primary, motivational speaker Greg Wooldridge, of Portland, and businessman Sam Carpenter, of Bend, oppose both proposed initiatives.

Both proposed initiatives are in the early stages of trying to qualify for the ballot. Supporters have until July 6 to get the issue before voters for the Nov. 6 primary.

Buehler’s position on IP 43 was clouded by a widely circulated interview of former Buehler campaign aide Jonathan Lockwood, which was published in the March 29 issue of the Eugene Weekly alternative newspaper.

In the article, Lockwood criticized Buehler for not taking an early position against the initiative, which he cast as a litmus test for Republican primary voters.

Buehler’s use of Twitter to make his positions known is not unusual for the candidate, who often does not make higher-profile announcements on policy and political matters, such as press releases or press conferences. For example, he used a personal Facebook post to criticize President Donald Trump’s response to the white supremacist march last year in Charlottesville, Virginia.

— Reporter: 541-525-5280, gwarner@bendbulletin.com