In Florida, a grown man can shoot an unarmed child, and walk free.

In Washington, an otter attacks woman and child, and is subsequently hunted down and neutralized.

I'm not even sure what that means, if anything. . . But, it is interesting to look at side by side.

Yes, Robin Williams' suicide is a wakeup call for mental illness. In case you'd already forgotten about Adam Lanza, Elliot Rodger, or the wierdo/family friends who go around sexually assaulting 6 year old girl from the trailer park next door.

@5: Fuck off ChefJoe. Your stereotyping of people with mental illness as either people who commit suicide or mass murder is a major part of the problem.

WTF with Green Lake? Is there a Loch Ness monster or something? How do you drown in a lake? Did they decide to go for a swim and not know how to swim? Did one of them have a seizure or something and the other one drowned while saving him? One person accidentally drowning in a lake I can understand, but two people is just freaky.

I-594 has money because it's backed by out of state billionaires. I-594 is also OPPOSED by the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs, who recognize that it's 18 pages hide deceptive wording, pile on requirements of an already overly burdened system, and make "insta-felons" of law abiding citizens.

I-591 will reinforce our state's background check laws while upholding the 2nd Amendment rights of citizens.

@6, direct some of that anger about classification of mental illness to Frizzelle.

"And here's a reminder that his death is a wakeup call for mental illness."

@7 You're probably on the right track there. They'd both just participated in strenuous exercise, one cramps and is in trouble, the other tries to help but isn't well trained on drowning rescue. Someone struggling in the water can be pretty dangerous, in a panic they will attempt to climb anything to get to air. Once you're under, it is pretty hard to stop from going there yourself too.

@8 thank you for the update from opposite-world.

Not sure what is opposite there. 594's backers include Michael Bloomberg (Former mayor from NYC) and now Steve Ballmer, who despite his current control of Microsoft is not a Washingtonian. WACOPS released their public statement on I-594 two weeks ago.

This update brought to you from the land of facts.

@7: I vacation at a beach where there are no lifeguards, and the currents and waves are deceptively strong, and as such I have pulled several children and more than a few adults out of the ocean over the years, and often people who are panicking will latch onto you and drag you under as well.

My guess would be that one person got injured or something, and the other tried to save him and they both got pulled under.

@13--of course the ocean is dangerous and rivers can be too. But lakes are pretty straightforward, usually. They don't have currents or waves. One must have drowned while trying to save the other, as you say.

@12 it warms my heart that your best arguments against sensible background checks are:

Ballmer runs Microsoft (false)
Ballmer isn't a Washingtonian (false).

Keep those "facts" coming

Marshawn Lynch under investigation by the Bellevue PD for assault and property damage:

http://blog.seattlepi.com/football/2014/…

Lynch has been under investigation for various crimes every year since he entered the NFL in 2007, by the way.

@16 He's a CEO, which is a leading position in a company, is it not? Ballmer was also born in Detroit. Nice sidestep of the Bloomberg backing, by the way, and ignoring of the FACT that Washington state police don't endorse 594.

And no, those aren't my best arguments against "sensible" background checks. I'm a CPL holder. I've passed multiple background checks, and while I don't like them (if I had my druthers, they'd be gone), I understand the public's want for making sure that guns don't fall into the nebulous phrase "the hands of the wrong people".

What I DO have a problem with is multi-billionaires from the other side of the country flooding a deceptive and misleading bill with dollars, then claiming "grassroots" and proclaiming themselves the voice if the people.

What I DO have a problem with is a bill that will effectively make me a felon for handing a firearm to a friend in the course of safe and recreational shooting or hunting. That will make me a felon if I loan a firearm to a friend to protect him or her from a stalker, or an abusive ex.

And all these extra background checks? Who's going to perform them? NICS has already said that they won't be able or willing to handle the extra traffic. More tax dollars spent? What was once a process taking a few hours (or at worst a couple days to a week if given a "delay") could now take weeks. Months. Just to exercise a right guaranteed by the Constitution. Yes, I have a problem with that.

@18 again with your 'facts'
Ballmer stepped down as CEO in Feburary. He only now just sits on the board.

This was a development I was unaware of. Thank you for enlightening me. Now kindly respond to my other quite salient points.

A. I have no desire to get into a discussion with a gun nut who feels so paranoid he has to have a CPL. Especially one who can't pay attention to big local news like this.
B. I am also not the original poster questioning your 'facts' but the fact that reading comprehension fails you is of no surprise to me.

Thanks @18 you convinced me to vote Yes on 594 and stick it to the gun nuts

@21 I am well aware of who is responding to what, but my comment to you would have pertained to him just as well.

@22 The fact that you see law abiding citizens as "gun nuts" makes me sad. We're all just Americans.

They should put the woman and her son down too, if that poor animal has to die for acting like, gasp, a wild animal in its own natural habitat.

@14: Don't say that bullshit in front of a Chicagoan, buddy.

@23 ok then...please explain to me why any right thinking American NEEDS to carry a gun at all times?

Who wants to swim in Green Lake anyway? Yuck!

@27, even though you refuse to respond to my questions, I will happily respond to yours.

I carry to protect those I love, plus of course myself, and those innocents around me. We live in a safer city than many in the world, and many in our nation, but this is not a crime free utopia. Within the last 5 months, there have been twelve armed robberies within two miles of my apartment building. Several of those have been inside of supposedly "secure" buildings. An armed attacker (knife OR gun) can cause devastating damage within seconds. In 2011 the average police response time for a high priority call was 6.1 minutes. My own response time with my own weapon is much faster than that. I recognize that having a gun doesn't render me invincible, nor does it act as some kind of talisman, but I am also aware that my chances of walking away from an encounter increase dramatically when armed.

I carry most of the time. Not everyone who possesses a CPL does. Since I typically open carry, having the license itself isn't technically needed. I obtained it to save myself the hassle of unloading and storing the weapon every time I enter a private motor vehicle (which by the law makes my pistol concealed).

It sounds to me like you would not carry a gun, were you given the option to do so. That's fine, we each have our own political and cultural standpoints. I don't take issue with your dislike for firearms. I take issue with the need to force similar views on those of use who feel differently.

So again I stand by my stance. You are just a paranoid nut job who thinks the world is out to get you. You with a gun will protect everyone around you. How quaint.

"The world" isn't out to get me. But there do exist bad people out there, and telling yourself that there aren't is just lying to yourself. As I said, I hold no illusions of the "mythical" powers of the gun. The gun is a tool that adds a force multiplier to the equation. No more, no less. I don't expect myself to magically become a hero who saves the day, but it does give me better odds. Your insistence on ridiculing me isn't a very good sign of the validity of your argument.

Back to the original topic, I'll say again, 594 would do nothing but add an unnecessary burden on an already overworked system, as well as making felons out of otherwise law abiding citizens. Do you have anything to say to refute that? Or to explain why the leading police organization in the state publicly opposes said Initiative?

If the world isn't out to get you, then what the fuck are you afraid of so much that you feel the need to add more fuel to the fire of gun paranoia in this country?
As for me ridiculing you, I do the same to all beings of such low maturity. When you grow up and can have a debate without being such a child who feels the need to carry a device which only purpose is to murder, then I will address your claims.

You and people like you are the reason we are in this shit storm. More regulation? I am all for it. Tax the shit out of you hate mongers. Make owning a gun something archaic and ridiculous that no one would ever want one.

I'm attempting to have an intelligent debate right now, you're the one throwing insults and claims of immaturity. Does my carrying in my private life affect you so much that it renders my writings on the internet invalid? I hardly think so.

This is increasingly the problem I am seeing. Any attempt to debate the subject like the adults we supposedly are is simply met with fear, anger, and outright hatred. You call me a hate monger? I see nothing but animosity in your posts.

Hatred? Damn right I do. How many deaths could have been prevented by idiots like yourself not having a gun in the house? Anyone who feels the need to carry a gun is a hate monger. Plain and simple.

There is no debate to truly have. Every time we rational people consider changing anything about how guns are handled in this country we are met with vitriol and noise from idiots like you claiming some god given right by the constitution to arm yourself. Especially when you have no reason ever to do so. You can see it clearly in this comment section from you yourself.

@18 you are lying, and I don't get into debates with liars.

Here is what I see.

I see myself, who chooses to defend himself and his family with the most modern means available to him. I am not a perfect man, but I am a member of society and a citizen of the United States, and as deserving of rights as much as you are (I'm assuming that you are yourself a citizen, as I have no reason to believe otherwise).
I see yourself, who seems to hate those who feel like I do (and believe me when I say, there are a lot of us) and wish us to be disarmed.
I see an Initiative that is being put forth to this state that will not in fact solve any of the problems commonly accepted with guns in America, that will instead inconvenience both gun owners directly and non gun owners indirectly.
I see a clearly written Amendment to the Constitution that indicates a right to keep and bear arms by citizens of the United States (it's the one right after the one guaranteeing the right to free speech).

@35 If I am lying, do me a favor and prove it.

@36 so you belong to a well regulate militia then?

Guess what else is in that mighty original constitution you love to quote. Slavery, women can't vote, and a few other things that the founding fathers got wrong and we have had to fix over the years. Here is one more that needs a serious re-visit but that will never happen with fools like you continuing the myth that you need a handgun.

According to the US Justice Code http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/1… , any able bodied male between the ages of 17 and 45 is a part of the Militia of the United States.

The Founding Fathers lived in a different yet similar world than we do. Many of the ideas they held are now outdated. Yet many of them ring as true today as they did in 1776. Do you agree that we have the right to freedom of speech and religion? How about the right to unreasonable detention/arrest/search? These things are essential to what we are as an American people, and included among them is the right to keep and bear arms. You can choose not to exercise it, that's your own business. But don't sit on your "high ground" and tell me that I cannot.

@37 anyone capable of reading I-594 knows you're lying.