SALEM — When Oregon State Sen. Bill Hansell told a colleague he was planning to show up to work on March 25, he received a firm warning.

“His immediate words to me were, ‘Bill, you’ll be crucified,’” the Athena Republican said.

Hansell was one of six Senate Republicans who showed up to the floor on March 25 as the chamber took up a proposal to ban firearms in state buildings and lay the foundation for other bans.

The bill passed despite opposition from Hansell and other Republicans, who fought the bill for more than six hours on the floor, pointing out holes and sections they considered unconstitutional, Hansell said. Now, several Republicans, including Hansell, have received backlash for showing up and not leading a walkout.

“We’ve gotten some very nasty emails,” Hansell said. “Even to the extent that we’ve had to turn over some of the emails to the state police because we were threatened to be shot.”

Hansell said the Oregon Firearms Federation had requested Senate Republicans deny the quorum prior to March 25 with a walkout. He caucused with other Republicans about the proposition. Some agreed to walk out, but Hansell said he, and five other colleagues, decided to “stand and fight, rather than run and hide.”

Since then, Hansell said his constituents have been contacted to gather signatures to recall him, though they have so far declined to do so.

“I’ve been told by others that they’re trying to get a recall for me,” he said. “But it’s not going to stop me from doing what I believe is the right thing for me to do in order to serve the people that have elected me to the office I hold.”

Democrats hold 18 seats in the Senate, with a required quorum of 20 members. Hansell said he is unwilling to consistently deny a quorum on bills he doesn’t agree with.

“For us to deny a quorum, we’re going to have to come back at some point,” he said. “And the bill will still be there. It didn’t make any sense to me to deny a quorum over this one bill this early in the session.”

By showing up, he felt that he was upholding essential parts of the democratic process.

“The people have a chance to vote on it,” he said, adding that being on the floor allowed him to go on the record challenging the bill. “If they don’t like what the Legislature has done — and I don’t, I’m not supporting the bill, I voted no and I’ll vote no every time — they have a chance to raise the signatures and do it.”

Hansell isn’t the only Republican facing recall threats from showing up on March 25. Senate Minority Leader Fred Girod, who has held the Senate seat since 2008, is facing similar efforts, though recall petitions against state legislators and Gov. Kate Brown in the past few years have fallen short.

Hansell said that Girod facing a recall effort seems like “friendly fire” and described it as “shortsighted.”

“You want to take out somebody that votes the way you want 99% of the time but on one bill?” he said, describing Girod as a “great leader.”

Hansell added the focus of the opposition should be placed on the bill writers and promoters, rather than Republicans who oppose it.

“The battle is not over yet,” he said. “For us to recall somebody because they chose to stay and fight rather than run and hide on one bill out of the whole legislative process is very shortsighted. It makes no sense whatsoever to me.”

In addition, Hansell said that, with the Legislature moving ahead to make plans and redraw 2020 political districts, it is especially important that Republicans show up. The Oregon Supreme Court on Friday, April 9, ruled unanimously that the Oregon Legislature would have the right to redraw boundaries for the state’s 90 House and Senate seats.

“If we don’t show up and that committee continues to meet, lines are going to be drawn without any input from people from” places like rural Oregon, he said. “There is just too much at stake to not show up.”

Hansell described the walkout tactic as a “valuable tool in the tool belt” to be used sparingly. He said if the tactic is abused, “you run the risk of being further in the minority” because moderate voters in both parties “don’t feel this is a tactic that should be done.”

“It’s more of your far right, if you will,” Hansell said of people who largely support walkouts. “I suspect if the Democrats were in the minority, it would be more of the far left.”