The gun control debate operates in this strange nebulous zone in which there’s simply no way to commit mass murder except through firearms.
Local media is taking some sort of strange victory lap after the Multnomah Athletic Club bombing.
Oregon’s extreme risk protection order law, also known as the “red flag” gun law, is one of the least-used protective orders in the state, according to a 2023 state report.
But it may have been a key safeguard in the case of the man suspected of driving a car packed with explosives into the Multnomah Athletic Club early Saturday — and a reason no one other than the suspect died in his alleged attack.
He set off a car bomb that did massive amounts of damage. It’s lucky no one was killed, but it’s certainly not for lack of potential deadliness.
Investigators believe that the former employee rented a black Nissan Rogue on Friday, which he used to drive into the building, careening around the first floor before setting off the explosive devices, believed to be a mix of propane tanks and pipe bombs, according to a law enforcement source.
Some of the devices detonated and some did not, Sgt. Jim DeFrain, who heads the Metro Explosive Disposal Unit for the police bureau, said at a Saturday afternoon press conference.
The ground floor of the building was “completely destroyed” and suffered “millions of dollars in damages,” said one of the law enforcement sources, who requested anonymity because the investigation is still ongoing.
The main thing the red flag order did was take away Whitman’s guns after he tried to commit suicide. That didn’t stop him from killing himself and nearly killing a bunch of other people anyway.
Gun control didn’t stop the attack. Neither did red flag laws. They might have made it worse.
Daniel Greenfield
Daniel Greenfield, a Shillman Journalism Fellow at the David Horowitz Freedom Center, is an investigative journalist and writer focusing on the radical Left and Islamic terrorism. Daniel became CEO of the David Horowitz Freedom Center in 2025.
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