Mayor Sam Adams this afternoon clarified one of the major unresolved questions hanging over his plan for three gun-crime exclusion zones in Portland, sidestepping an expensive and potentially unconstitutional hurdle: Only newly convicted gun offenders—not current convicts—will be required to keep away during the duration of their parole or probation.

The police bureau also announced a target date for the exclusion zones—in Northeast Portland, downtown, and the far Eastside—to take effect: April 15. That's close to five months after the city council unanimously approved the zones, along with a package of other gun laws pushed by Adams, and only a few weeks after the city attorney's office and police bureau told me they couldn't even guess when the zones would take effect.

"We've taken our time to get it right," Adams said at a press conference where the gun laws, as well as Adams' new gun crimes task force, were discussed.

That's not to say there aren't important wrinkles that have yet to be worked out. Mike Riedel of the Multnomah County District Attorney's Office told me after the event that procedures for notifying new convicts of the exclusions have yet to be firmed up. But he said the office, despite cutbacks, would "aggressively" prosecute any trespassing violations that would emerge from the zones.

Officials also had to confirm, as I've previously reported, that there have been no arrests or charges yet in connection with the other ordinances. Lt. David Hendrie of the bureau says that's "weather dependent."

Meanwhile, officials also touted the success of the new gun task force—and how many guns it's plucked off the street. So far, since the unit started up in October, it's confiscated 62 guns. (Relevant handouts here and here.) Details also emerged about a gun turn-in event set for this Saturday.