News Jun 11, 2014 at 4:00 am

Pass Initiative 594, Close the Gun-Show Loophole, Protect Our Communities

A disturbed man with a shotgun kills one and wounds three at Seattle Pacific University. It was one of three shootings in Seattle in the first week of June. Kelly O

Comments

1
Awesome article. Thanks to Zach and the great people at Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility for giving us some hope in the midst of all this sadness.
2
So maybe send a few copies of this article to eastern Washington or even Tacoma and you might get a couple people to change their minds but I doubt it. I -594 is not going to pass even if every single person in Seattle voted for it, it's too poorly worded and lacks any real logical clarification on many issues that could end up turning lots of people into felons. Until we get something that makes sense instead of what just tends to be a knee jerk reactions and vanity activism I'll vote no.
3
While I don't have any particular opposition to this initiative, I do wonder how effective it will really be. How many shootings in Washington actually involved a gun that was purchased at a gun show by someone who would not have passed a background check? Did passing similar laws lead to a decrease in gun violence relative to other states or were they already less violent than states without similar laws? A law requiring background checks at gun shows is obviously not the only difference between Oregon and Tennessee. Convince me that this law will actually make me safer.
4
Unless your thought is to do something about mental health issues instead of focusing entirely upon guns, you aren't going to do much to cull violence.
5
We need to go the route of Washington D.C. and solve gun violence once and for all!
7
What a crock of shit.

This isn't about gun shows. This is 19 pages of new restrictions that criminalize simple, normal activities like taking a friend target shooting on your own land.

This isn't about protecting anything. The sponsors of this Initiative have ponied up several teary eyed spokespeople, who have all conveniently failed to mention that the people responsible for their tragedies *passed* background checks.

I'm looking forward to passing I-591, a simple 1 page Initiative that ties our gun laws to the national standard.

http://sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/init…

"It is unlawful for any government agency to require background checks on the recipient of a firearm unless a uniform national standard is required."
8
I agree with 2 & 4. It is hard to swallow but it's the truth.
9
I'd have probably voted for this, if they'd included "for a period of more than one hour" in the "transfer" prohibition. (Although, largely off topic, I'd have really preferred if they'd shortened the CPL renewal period to a year and allowed simply filing a form with the buyer's CPL and drivers license numbers in lieu of going to an FFL for a background check, which would achieve virtually the same assurance that the buyer is not "bad" while being vastly more convenient and cheaper for legitimate buyers who want to purchase more than one gun per year.)

But as it is written, if you let any person not in your family and not under age 18 (the blanket "education" and "sporting" exceptions apply only to minors) touch your gun in any situation that is not either hunting (meaning they have a hunting license and you are somewhere where you could legally be hunting) or at an "established" shooting range, you've committed a crime. Even if it's in your own basement. Done.

This is either an oversight of Eyemanesquely bad initiative writing, or a trojan horse intended to broadly criminalize normal gun owners. Either way, any gun owner or anyone who doesn't intend to harass legitimate gun owners would be a fool to vote for this.
11
You are all a pack of fools if you think gun laws will have ANY effect on gun violence. It's just more hassle for the honest citizen as you all try to make yourselves feel good. Ohh ohh look at US, we care!!
12
Gun violence is down over the last 25 years. The murder rate is about half of what it was in 1990 (see stats here: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/murder-r…). So apparently what we have been doing since then has been working. Long sentences (including 3 strikes laws) for violent criminals, record setting guns sales (especially for assault rifles) and expanding concealed carry laws to 49 states.
13
I-594 is a step in the right direction, but unfortunately it will not apply to the huge black market in firearms. The guns in the pockets of street thugs, gang-bangers and wanna-be's are not purchased in any lawful marketplace. Those weapons will continue to be handed around under the table.

One thing I would add to the conversation and that is we need to change gun culture a little -- lawful gun owners must secure their weapons. When they are not in your immediate personal control, lock them up in a secure gun safe. This prevents them from falling into that black market via theft, and it will have the added benefit keeping weapons out of the hands of children in the house or others who shouldn't have access.
14
I'm all for background checks but not under the initiative as its written. My buddy comes over to borrow my cordless drill. We're down in the basement and I show him my new Savage 30-06 with the Leupold sight. He picks it up and shoulders it. Just like that we are now two criminals.
15
How about this? We treat guns like dogs. Own all the guns you want. They're registered to you. You are responsible for safeguarding them. If anyone is hurt using one of your guns, you are responsible. Hint: Don't leave a loaded gun in your truck like the jackass who just got arrested in Kirkland for using a gun to threaten kids playing tag. http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/P…
16
@11 & @12: I recommend that you both find a more accurate source of information than FOX TV.
@13: While I agree with you that lawbreakers aren't likely to obey gun safety laws, there must be an effective way to stop illegal access to guns. Illegal gun sales need to lose their profitability.
Guns are getting into the wrong hands far too easily in the United States, and it's only going to get worse until it finally gets better.

Gun violence is everywhere, and our crumbling infrastructure, cuts in funding for education, housing, and mental health care are NOT helping this escalating national epidemic. Gun violence in the United States equals that to countries in the Middle East. I find that statistic chillingly disturbing.

Gun accessibility is far too easy, and those buying and / or selling guns, legally or not, must be held accountable.
This is just a small handful of what is already happening daily, and our local, state, and federal gun fatality statistics will only get worse if we don't put an end to the growing insanity NOW:

Grocery stores such as Fred Meyer are now offering gun and ammunition shops!

In Marysville, a police officer must live the rest of his life with the painful reminder that a child of his got fatally shot to death while sitting in the family car at a gas station because the officer's issued firearm, cocked and loaded, was left unattended in the vehicle and within seconds, in the hands of the then-seven year old daughter's three-year-old brother.

Most recently, a gunman with known mental problems announced going on a killing spree and could have done far worse had a brave student worker at Seattle Pacific University pepper-sprayed the man, and then restrained the armed killer while he was reloading his shotgun until police arrived on the scene.

26 innocent school children and adults were senselessly slaughtered by a mentally disturbed individual just before Christmas in Newtown, Connecticut.

We, the people of the United States will become like ducks in a shooting gallery until our local, state, and federal government breaks free of the stranglehold that the NRA has over Congress and Washington, D.C.
This is criminal insanity, and not something to be proud of.
I am definitely voting for I-594 this November.
17
Yeah it's the gun lobby that spreads fear and paranoia.
18
Isn't gun violence already pretty illegal? Can it be *more* illegal?
19
Does author Zack Silk have any sort of reference for the claim that 16 states and DC, with background checks on private sales, have lower gun crime rates than Washington State and other states?

Washington State already has a significantly lower gun crime rate than the national average. Comparing our rate to those of gun control heavens such as DC and CA and IL only serves to show what is wrong with existing gun controls.

The mention of DC is especially perplexing. During its three decade handgun ban, it was often the nation's murder capital. Even now, legal private sales are essentially impossible. Even retail purchases are incredibly difficult and time consuming. Readers who doubt this should read Washington Post editor Emily Miller's series 'Emily Gets Her Gun', detailing the trials, tribulations, costs, delays, and official misinformation she had to wade through to legally purchase a handgun. It makes the long banned literacy tests for voting look like a cakewalk.
20
Why do crimes committed with a firearm need to be called "gun-crimes" or "gun violence"? Assault is assault and murder is murder regardless of the tools used.
21
The persons who want to get guns to do stupid things are going to find a way to get them, despite the efforts of Govt. Let Darwin's theory take over and maybe all the republican nut jobs with arsenals will shoot each other and be done with the problem.
22
@21 longwayhome: I have been wishing, praying, and hoping Republicans and Tea Party gun-totin' nut jobs would all do just that---shoot each other dead. They've already killed and eaten Eric Cantor---all because he wasn't ultra-wrong-wing neofascist NRA nutjob ENOUGH!

SO--GOP vs. Tea Party: open fire on each other until you wipe each dying party out, already. Let the mass pig extinction begin.
THEN could we get our country back? Please?

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