NRA Sues Over WA Anti-Gun Intiative

[Drang]

NRA-ILA | Washington: NRA Files Legal Challenge Against Misleading Ballot Title for Gun Control Initiative (https://www.nraila.org/articles/20180517/washington-nra-files-legal-challenge-against-misleading-ballot-title-for-gun-control-initiative#)



Yesterday, NRA filed a legal challenge in the Thurston County Superior Court objecting to the misleading and inadequate ballot title for Initiative 1639, which seeks to further restrict the Second Amendment rights of Washington's law-abiding citizens. The Thurston County Superior Court will review all legal challenges before the ballot title and summary can be finalized for the initiative.

Initiative 1639 (https://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/initiatives/finaltext_1531.pdf), filed by Michael Bloomberg’s front group, the Alliance for Gun Responsibility, is an egregious attack on Second Amendment freedoms and comes just months after failing to enact their gun ban agenda in Olympia. Proponents of this 22-page initiative will have until July 6th to get 259,622 valid signatures to place the initiative on the November ballot.

Please spread the word to your family, friends, and fellow gun owners about this latest attack on self-defense rights in the Evergreen State! Help protect Second Amendment rights in Washington and decline to sign this initiative petition.

The proposed initiative, if passed, would do the following:


Require a 10 Day Waiting Period for Commonly Owned Rifles. All semi-automatic rifle purchases and transfers would be subjected to a waiting period of 10 business days.
Establish a Government Registry of Firearms. Current law states the Washington Department of Licensing (DOL) “may” keep copies of pistol purchase applications. The proposed initiative would instead require the DOL to keep copies of these purchase applications, and would expand this government registry to include semi-automatic rifle purchases.
Require Completion of a Training Course to Purchase Rifles. This initiative would also require all purchasers of semi-automatic rifles to show they have completed a firearm safety training course within the last five years in order to proceed with the sale.
Impose up to a $25 Purchase Fee (GUN TAX) for Semi-Automatic Rifles. The Washington Department of Licensing would be allowed to charge up to a $25 fee for each semi-automatic rifle purchase.
Require Gun Owners to Lock Up their Firearms or Face Criminal Charges. Individuals would be required to lock up their firearms or potentially face a criminal charge of “Community Endangerment Due to Unsafe Storage of a Firearm” if the firearm is accessed by a prohibited person or minor. This intrusive proposal invades people’s homes and forces them to render their firearms useless in a self-defense situation by locking them up.
Restricts Adults Aged 18-20 from Acquiring Modern Rifles. Adults aged 18-20 would be prohibited from purchasing semi-automatic rifles and would not be allowed to receive them through a transfer or loan. The proposed initiative would deny a segment of law-abiding adults from access to the most modern and effective firearms for self-defense, thus depriving them of their constitutional rights.
Require “Warnings” for Firearm Purchases. All firearm purchases would come with a notification about the “inherent risks” of firearm ownership as an attempt to further stigmatize firearms.


Again, please spread the word for your family, friends and fellow gun owners about the latest attack on Second Amendment rights in Washington. Your NRA-ILA will continue to keep you updated on the status of the initiative, so please stay tuned to your email inbox and www.nraila.org.


EDIT to add: I have no idea what the chances are of this lawsuit getting the initiative yanked. I suspect the idea is that at best it will tie it up in court and prevent it being on the ballot, but that the NRA doesn't actually expect that to happen. Instead, they hope to drum up a lot of publicity which will pay of in the long run.

[Drang]

NRA-ILA | West Coast Plutocrats Target Washington State Gun Owners… Again (https://www.nraila.org/articles/20180525/west-coast-plutocrats-target-washington-state-gun-owners-again)



Washington State’s would-be oligarchs are attempting to buy Evergreen Staters’ rights again. Four years after West Coast elites dumped $10 million into the campaign for Initiative 594, which criminalized the private transfer of firearms, some of the same plutocrats are spending big bucks to back I-1639, an even more restrictive anti-gun ballot measure.

Gun control advocates and their media lapdogs are mischaracterizing I-1639 as a measure that would merely prohibit the sale of so-called “assault rifles” to those ages 18 to 21. In reality, I-1639 is a wide-ranging initiative that would impose new burdens on all Washington gun owners and severely curtail access to some of America’s most popular firearms.

Stretching the already prevalent misuse of the term “assault rifle” to new extremes, I-1639 defines “semiautomatic assault rifle” as, “any rifle which utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and chamber the next round, and which requires a separate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge.” This means that any semiautomatic rifle whatsoever, from an AR-15 to your grandfather’s tube-fed .22LR squirrel gun would be considered an “assault rifle” and subject to severe restriction.

As for those restrictions, all prospective semiautomatic rifle purchasers, regardless of age, would be required to submit to a gun dealer certification that they have completed a firearms training course. In order for the certification to be valid, the course must have been completed within the previous five years. This means that gun owners would be forced to repeatedly take firearms training courses in order to remain eligible to purchase any semiautomatic rifle.

Further, I-1639 would impose a 10 business day waiting period on the purchase of all semiautomatic rifles, extend the Washington State Department of Licensing’s handgun registry to cover all semiautomatic rifles, and authorize a $25 fee to be assessed to semiautomatic rifle purchasers.

In addition to new restrictions on all semiautomatic rifles, I-1639 would also impose criminal liability on otherwise law-abiding gun owners who fail to store their firearms to state standards.

For more on I-1639, click here.

According to articles from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and the Associated Press, at a May 21 luncheon hosted by the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, the group received two $1 million dollar donations to support I-1639.

Billionaire Microsoft co-founder and Seattle Seahawks and Portland Trailblazers owner Paul Allen was one of the $1 million donors. The other was tech venture capitalist Nick Hanauer. Some have labelled Hanauer a hypocrite (http://mynorthwest.com/996093/nick-hanauer-hates-big-money-but-just-donated-1-million-to-anti-gun-initiative/) for his massive contribution, given his purported support (https://www.facebook.com/NickHanauer/posts/959933017412484) for campaign finance reforms.

Reports indicate that mere millionaires were also in attendance. The Post-Intelligencer reported,


[The Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility’s] annual luncheon has become a kind of bidding competition of who can donate the most money… The event yielded three donations of $100,000, two givers of $50,000, three people donating $25,000, seven gifts of $10,000, plus 13 givers coming in at $5,000.

The identities of these big money donors have yet to be made available on the Washington Public Disclosure Commission’s (https://www.pdc.wa.gov/browse/more-ways-to-follow-the-money/committees/statewide?category=Committees) website.

If history is any guide, even more cash is forthcoming. Billionaire gun control patron Michael Bloomberg personally bankrolled I-594 to the tune of $285,000, while funneling another $2.3 million to the cause through his front group Everytown for Gun Safety. Hanauer dumped $1.3 million into the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility to support the measure, while Allen contributed $500,000. Former Microsoft CEO and current Los Angeles Clippers Owner Steve Ballmer and his wife Connie together spent more than $1 million to strip Washingtonians of their rights and were joined by fellow Microsoft Billionaires Bill and Melinda Gates, who gave more than $1 million combined. Rounding out the mega-contributors was Ann P. Wyckoff, widow of lumber magnate T. Evans Wyckoff.

With this deluge of billionaire cash, gun control advocates were able to outspend gun rights supporters by a margin of more than 10 to 1.

Despite the lopsided financial support that gun control initiatives receive from anti-gun tycoons, gun rights supporters should not lose hope. In the face of massive anti-gun spending in a series of background check initiatives, grassroots efforts by gun rights supporters have been able to shift public opinion on the topic, with the pro-gun position faring far better in election day results than the opinion polling touted by gun control supporters.

Case in point: Question 3 in Maine.

A little more than a month out from the 2016 election, a Portland Press Herald Poll showed that 61 percent of Mainers favored so-called universal background checks, with only 33 opposed. At the same time, gun owners faced what Reuters called an “avalanche of money,” where they were outspent 5 to 1. On Election Day, Maine’s gun rights supporters beat back the gun control effort 52 to 48 percent.

In explaining to the New York Times why the measure failed, Mainers for Responsible Gun Ownership Campaign Manager David Farmer said,


We know for a fact we lost the argument at the kitchen table and the bar and the bowling alley…The gun enthusiasts were talking to their friends and relatives and neighbors. They felt about it in a way that was so passionate that they won those one-on-one encounters, and they were very successful in bringing in people to their side.

Facing another “avalanche of money” Washington gun owners will need to muster the same sort of grassroots enthusiasm that carried Maine gun rights supporters to victory and has repeatedly shocked pollsters.

To find out what you can do to preserve firearms freedom in the Evergreen State, please visit https://www.nraila.org/grassroots/.
NOTE: I did not copy over all the links.

[BCG]

NRA-ILA | West Coast Plutocrats Target Washington State Gun Owners… Again

Washington State’s would-be oligarchs are attempting to buy Evergreen Staters’ rights again. Four years after West Coast elites dumped $10 million into the campaign for Initiative 594, which criminalized the private transfer of firearms, some of the same plutocrats are spending big bucks to back I-1639, an even more restrictive anti-gun ballot measure.


Facing another “avalanche of money” Washington gun owners will need to muster the same sort of grassroots enthusiasm that carried Maine gun rights supporters to victory and has repeatedly shocked pollsters.


Funny how conservatives were all "money is speech" and for "money in politics" and celebrating Citizens United (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC), until Leftist billionaires started pouring money into gun-owner-control legislation and ballot initiatives.

[Totem Polar]

I grow weary of the left side of the state coming up with this stuff. And Bloomberg... that guy is the ultimate busybody.

[joshs]

Funny how conservatives were all "money is speech" and for "money in politics" and celebrating Citizens United (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC), until Leftist billionaires started pouring money into gun-owner-control legislation and ballot initiatives.

We're not arguing that their speech should be restricted. It's a news piece to show how little "grassroots" their side has even though they claim Americans fully support all of their measures. It's also supposed to show how gun owners can defeat initiatives through hard work and actual grassroots support even where we are heavily outspent.

[Drang]

Washington: Court Orders Amendments to Misleading Ballot Title (https://www.nraila.org/articles/20180608/washington-court-orders-amendments-to-misleading-ballot-title)

Yesterday, in a defeat for Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Initiative 1639 proponents, the Thurston County Superior Court sided in part with the NRA and found that certain parts of the ballot title were deceptive and misleading. As a result, they ordered amendments to several key provisions of the initiative’s ballot title. While the ballot title remains inadequate to inform voters of the real effects of the initiative, the outcome of yesterday’s hearings did result in clarifying changes that more accurately describe the sweeping provisions of the initiative’s text.

With the title for Initiative 1639 now finalized, proponents of this 22-page initiative will have until July 6th to get 259,622 valid signatures to place the initiative on the November ballot.

As previously reported, NRA filed a legal challenge in Thurston County Superior Court contesting the ballot title language as prepared by anti-gun Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson. Yesterday, the court held a hearing on the legal challenges filed by NRA and other petitioners.

Some of the changes included:

Changing “enhanced” background checks to “increased”. Initiative 1639 would require state background checks on all purchases and transfers of commonly owned semi-automatic firearms.
Added “allows fees” to the description. The proposed initiative would allow the Department of Licensing to charge a $25 purchase fee (GUN TAX) on transfers of semi-automatic rifles.
Clarified the description for the storage mandate provision. If passed, Initiative 1639 would criminalize firearm owners that store firearms in a non-compliant manner if they are accessed by a prohibited person or minor.



Initiative 1639, filed by Michael Bloomberg’s front group, the Alliance for Gun Responsibility, is an egregious attack on Second Amendment freedoms and comes just months after they failed to enact their gun ban agenda in Olympia.

Your NRA-ILA will continue to keep you updated on the status of the initiative, so please stay tuned to your email inbox and www.nraila.org .

[Drang]

CCRKBA SAYS COURT BALLOT TITLE CHANGES TO WA GUN INITIATIVE A ‘SMALL VICTORY’ (https://www.ccrkba.org/ccrkba-says-court-ballot-title-changes-to-wa-gun-initiative-a-small-victory/)
Friday, June 8th, 2018

BELLEVUE, WA – Court-ordered changes to the ballot title of Initiative 1639, the Washington State gun control measure sponsored by the Seattle-based Alliance for Gun Responsibility, amount to a “small, but significant victory,” the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said Thursday.

CCRKBA and its sister organization, the Second Amendment Foundation, were supporting the ballot title challenge filed by Glen Morgan, a private citizen. A Thurston County Superior Court judge ordered changes in the ballot title language Thursday.

“The court’s changes show that the original ballot title needed work,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “It also suggests some bias in the Attorney General’s office for approving the original ballot title language. Attorney General Bob Ferguson’s endorsement last month of I-1639 smacked of bias, and we’re happy the court made changes that at least somewhat clarify what this extremist measure really would do.”

The new ballot title language reads as follows: “This measure would require increased background checks, training, age limitations, and waiting periods for sales or delivery of semiautomatic assault rifles; criminalize noncompliant storage upon unauthorized use; allow fees; and enact other provisions.”

“The court-altered language is not ideal,” Gottlieb observed, “but it does clarify that I-1639 includes age discrimination and that it criminalizes noncompliance and mandates a waiting period on the purchase of a legal firearm. This measure treats all gun owners, especially young adults, like criminal suspects. In short, Washington prides itself for being against discrimination, except when it comes to gun ownership. Then principle is sacrificed for political correctness, and social prejudice becomes acceptable.”

Paid signature gatherers, many who are from out-of-state, are already lining up to push this initiative over the weekend, he said. They have just under a month to collect more than 259,000 valid signatures.

“We encourage all people to take the time to actually read this 30-page initiative before considering adding their signature,” Gottlieb said. “The devil is always in the details, and you can find out more about this devil at decline2sign1639.com.”

[Drang]

These notices have started going out:

ACTION ALERT - DON'T SIGN I-1639 (https://mailchi.mp/85467b009533/alert-do-not-sign-i-1639?e=19bd584085)

Today a Thurston County judge approved some highly biased ballot language for I-1639; the newest billionaire-backed gun control initiative aimed directly at infringing on your ability to purchase, own, and protect yourself with a firearm -- even in your own home.

You'll likely see people as soon as this evening gathering signatures for the I-1639 ballot measure. These are paid operatives that get paid a lot of money to gather these signatures! Many of these folks are from out-of-state and will often lie about these initiatives simply to get signatures and get paid. I-1639 is a 30-page initiative and obviously most people will not read it before they suckered into signing.

The high-paid consultants and billionaires behind I-1639 are running an unethical scam and it's our civic duty to alert the public to it.

Your Mission: Decline to Sign I-1639!

Tell the same to your friends and family. And where you see these signature gatherers, you should definitely exercise your First Amendment Rights and tell others not to sign this highly deceptive and controversial initiative. There is no law or court decision against doing this if you're simply talking to people in a public place, ie., in a park, or outside the entrance to a store. You can find plenty of reasons to oppose this initiative in my first I-1639 alert posted on Monday.

If we get just a few hundred people out there at each of the locations debunking the paid operatives and warning people not to sign, we can actually shut them down! They need over 259,000 valid signatures from voters by July 6. If we can stop them, then this deceptive initiative will not be eligible to be on the ballot.

Don't give up the fight!
This is from an outfit calling itself "Save Our Security", which I never herd of until this started.

We saw some fragmentation of effort during the I-594 battle, and I can't believe it helps.

[Totem Polar]

Saw a guy with a table outside the local organic grocery today, hawking for signatures. He didn’t seem pleased with my response.

[Bart Carter]

This happened to us in Nevada - badly worded, misrepresented by out-of-state signature gathers. "You want to keep children safe from gun violence, don't you?" Makes me sick to my stomach.

It passed in Nevada by only about 1%, mostly from liberals that are overtaking Southern Nevada. The only problem is that they didn't understand Nevada law and wrote it so that the Feds had to do a background check. The Feds wouldn't do it and so they wasted millions for nothing. :p

[Drang]

I'll post an update when I get home from work this morning, but the summary of the latest is that many of the signature gatherers are using petitions with the old title, which invalidates the petition. Also, state law requires that the petition have the full text of the initiative, in an easily readable format,, and many of the petitions are also said to have the text of the initiative in such small type that it is NOT legible.

This is posted at my blog, if you can't wait.

[Drang]

Well, that took longer than it should have. Anyway.

SAF, CCRKBA WARN I-1639 SPONSORS THAT ‘UNREADABLE’ PETITIONS VIOLATE LAW (https://www.saf.org/saf-ccrkba-warn-i-1639-sponsors-that-unreadable-petitions-violate-law/)
BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today warned sponsors of anti-gun Initiative 1639 via a demand letter that their campaign “is utilizing unreadable petitions in violation” of state law, and demanded that this be corrected to “conform to the legal requirements.”

Olympia attorney Shawn Newman, writing on behalf of the two Bellevue-based organizations, noted, “The petitions for I-1639 have the proposed measure printed on the back of the sheets in such fine print as to be unreadable… Use of fine print is unconscionable.”

State law mandates that initiative petitions “have a readable, full, true, and correct copy of the proposed measure printed on the reverse side of the petition,” Newman’s letter warns.

“In the short time that I-1639 petitions have been in circulation,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, “SAF and CCRKBA have been contacted by several people who could not read the initiative language. I’ve always been warned to read the small print before signing anything. I-1639, as it appears on the back of each petition, is all small print. That should tell voters something about its content.”

Also:
I-1639 Petitions in Violation of State Law (https://mailchi.mp/785bd4feb611/i-1639-petitions-in-violation-of-state-law?e=19bd584085)
This is from a newer outfit, "Save Our Security", which bills itself as the "Official 'No on 1639' Committee."
A demand letter was sent today to I-1639 sponsors and the state advising the print of I-1639 petitions are likely in violation of the law.

As the official NO on I-1639 committee, we concur with these assessments and commend our allies at SAF and CCRKBA for pointing them out.

Attention around I-1639 has again shed light into the dark corners of the political class that propagate and place these billionaire-backed measures on the ballot.

In addition, we’ve also received reports of the paid (out of state, and even out of country) petitioners circulating petitions with the invalidated pre-hearing ballot title language. This would also invalidate any of the signatures applied to these petitions.
This one goes on to discuss two recent defensive firearms uses in Washington State, including one in which a woman in Tacoma "repelled boarders", which would have been problematic with the "safe storage" requirement in 18639.
Debatable, I know. Still a valid argument in a political debate with the minions of the likes of Soros, Bloomberg, Steyr, etc.

[Drang]

And, again: SAF, CCRKBA CONTEND I-1639 INVALID; ‘DOESN’T MEET LEGAL GUIDELINES’ (https://www.saf.org/saf-ccrkba-contend-i-1639-invalid-doesnt-meet-legal-guidelines/)
BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today raised serious new concerns about the validity of Initiative 1639, the gun control measure now gathering signatures, because petitions do not appear to meet state-mandated guidelines for having a “full, true, and correct copy of the proposed measure” printed on the back.

Having already raised the issue of readability as required by state law, the two organizations now believe that in its printed form on the back of each petition, I-1639 does not meet the “full, true and correct” requirement. SAF and CCRKBA examined the printed text on an official petition and discovered that language designated to be changed or removed is not “lined out,” nor are proposed new statutory additions underlined as they appear in the version submitted to the state and published on the Secretary of State’s website.

“We warned earlier this week that the tiny print on I-1639 petitions makes the document unreadable according to several people who have contacted us,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “If you look closely, which requires a magnifying glass, this new problem becomes obvious.

“We immediately advised our attorney about this,” he added. “He already reached out to the initiative sponsors about the readability issue, but they didn’t respond. If they are so careless about knowing what is, or is not, shown on their own petitions, how is anyone else supposed to know?

“They’re asking people to sign an initiative that is difficult, if not impossible to read,” Gottlieb observed. “And now we’ve discovered that even if people can read the fine print, it does not appear to be a ‘true and correct copy’ of the proposed measure as submitted to the state.

“What are voters supposed to think about this,” he wondered. “How are they supposed to know what they’re being asked to change? How can they tell the difference between what would become law, and what would be replaced? Are they simply expected to sign a document they can’t read and vote on a measure they don’t understand? That’s not democracy, that’s Trojan Horse politics.

“If these petitions, which are not compliant with state law, are turned in,” Gottlieb vowed, “our organizations will seek to have them invalidated by the court.”
There have ben reports of the signature collectors, upon being asked what is in the Initiative, replying that if you want to know, just Google it.

[Totem Polar]

Filed in WA state by Bloomberg. 75% funded by just 3 billionaire families. Any semi-auto is an "assault rifle."

Requirement to show "training" (without specifying by who) on explaining gun safety to kids and suicide prevention, among other topics

Very fucked up.

https://ballotpedia.org/Washington_Initiative_1639,_Changes_to_Gun_Ownersh ip_and_Purchase_Requirements_Measure_(2018)


Just get a load of the "top 5" (3) donors, and the amounts they dumped in, relative to the grassroots opposition. :mad:

[hufnagel]

This happened to us in Nevada - badly worded, misrepresented by out-of-state signature gathers. "You want to keep children safe from gun violence, don't you?" Makes me sick to my stomach.

It passed in Nevada by only about 1%, mostly from liberals that are overtaking Southern Nevada. The only problem is that they didn't understand Nevada law and wrote it so that the Feds had to do a background check. The Feds wouldn't do it and so they wasted millions for nothing. :p

Sure do. That's why my kid is a pretty decent shot with his Henry. He also has a hankering for Beretta pistols. :D

[blues]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/seattle-gun-storage-law-eminently-reasonable-judge-says-in-tossing-nra-gun-groups-lawsuit



A Seattle judge on Friday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the National Rifle Association and a local gun rights group against a law that will require gun owners to lock up their firearms when not carrying or using them.

King County Superior Court Judge Barbara Linde tossed the suit after the city argued that the plaintiffs lacked standing because the group could encourage its members to practice safe storage and that the law hadn't even taken effect yet, the Seattle Times reported.

“It seems the NRA jumped the gun in filing their lawsuit against this eminently reasonable legislation meant to protect children and the vulnerable,” Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes said in a statement.

Alan Gottlieb, president of the Bellvue, Wash.-based Second Amendment Foundation, who filed the suit with the NRA, suggested they would appeal the decision.

[Totem Polar]

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/seattle-gun-storage-law-eminently-reasonable-judge-says-in-tossing-nra-gun-groups-lawsuit

Sort of the plessy v ferguson of legal climates in this state right now:
Totally separate law, but equally fucked up.;)

If the WA inititive passes—and coastal voters passed the last one—then my wife’s 10/22, my 50+ year-old tube-fed Marlin 99M1, and my closer to 100-year-old Remington 24 will be "assault rifles," and we will theoretically be required to take kid’s safety and suicide prevention classes from ‘sumbody’ every 5 years to keep them. In theory.

[blues]

Don't know what the chances are of getting the appeal before a more sympathetic court...of if it would be something the SC would visit.

[Totem Polar]

9th circuit? The part of me that sees the glass as half-broken thinks SCOTUS, or bust. I suppose we will watch and learn.

[blues]

9th circuit? The part of me that sees the glass as half-broken thinks SCOTUS, or bust. I suppose we will watch and learn.

Yeah, that's what I was getting at. It's the only shot. But if they took the case and it didn't work out...guess what would be in store nationwide? Yay! More gov't management.

[FPS]

More kids die from poisons, swimming pools, and drugs and alcohol yet where are the laws requiring those things locked up? Preaching to the choir, I know, but any opportunity to expose the gun hating socialists...

If I didnt have such deep roots here I would love to move 30 miles east over the border into freedom.

[Totem Polar]

More kids die from poisons, swimming pools, and drugs and alcohol yet where are the laws requiring those things locked up? Preaching to the choir, I know, but any opportunity to expose the gun hating socialists...

If I didnt have such deep roots here I would love to move 30 miles east over the border into freedom.

Concur, all of it.

[Drang]

Don't know what the chances are of getting the appeal before a more sympathetic court...of if it would be something the SC would visit.


9th circuit? The part of me that sees the glass as half-broken thinks SCOTUS, or bust. I suppose we will watch and learn.

The 9th Circus has surprised a few times lately.

The thing is, this POS has been a soup sandwich form day one. They violated the law regarding initiatives multiple times in multiple ways, judges ordered it tossed, and then it was put back on by the state AG because "Well, it turns out there is no basis in the law as written to actually cancel an initiative just because it broke the law..."

[jetfire]

The 9th Circus has surprised a few times lately.

The thing is, this POS has been a soup sandwich form day one. They violated the law regarding initiatives multiple times in multiple ways, judges ordered it tossed, and then it was put back on by the state AG because "Well, it turns out there is no basis in the law as written to actually cancel an initiative just because it broke the law..."

And even with all of that, it’s going to pass. I am glad I don’t work elections in WA anymore.

[OlongJohnson]

Well, shit.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/gun-regulations-initiative-1639-takes-lead-in-washington-state/

https://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/initiatives/finaltext_1531.pdf

Here's hoping for a successful court challenge.


Interestingly, there's no operational reason why the word "assault" needs to be included in this definition or anywhere else in the initiative, as there is no distinction between a semi-auto rifle and a semi-auto "assault" rifle. Except that without the scary word, it might not have passed. Pure scaremongering at its finest worst:


(25) "Semiautomatic assault rifle" means any rifle which
utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge to extract
the fired cartridge case and chamber the next round, and which
requires a separate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge.

"Semiautomatic assault rifle" does not include antique firearms,
any firearm that has been made permanently inoperable, or any
firearm that is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide
action.

[Totem Polar]

"Assault Rifle, .22LR, ca 1928:"

[STI]

I'm trying to understand the specifics of implementation - any good sources

[Totem Polar]

I'm trying to understand the specifics of implementation - any good sources

Yeah... I’m not so sure that’s been entirely thought out.

I mean, according to the strict letter of the law, a guy like Matt Graham or Greg Hamilton needs to take child safety and suicide prevention training from an as-yet unspecified certified source (e.g. future NRA-certified unicorn/bunny instructor) to keep the guns they used to keep the country safe on the job back in the day—and tools that they have taught themselves for 200+ days a year for decades.

But, I dunno... again, IANAL.

[Totem Polar]

In other news, Marty Hayes just announced that FAS will be changing their name to "FAS: Feelz Academy of Seattle...”

;););)

[FPS]

So does this law take effect immediately? I can't decide whether to rush purchase a lower or wait a couple weeks to see how the deals shake out for Black Friday.

[Totem Polar]

So does this law take effect immediately? I can't decide whether to rush purchase a lower or wait a couple weeks to see how the deals shake out for Black Friday.

Oh, I don’t think anything will happen until after the first if the year. I am placing a call to my friendly LGS to see if he will set aside one of thise Ruger PCCs I was eyeballing. To be honest, a toy like that really wasn’t all that high a priority until this bill came up. As it stands, I’ve bought my last rifle that isn’t a bolt or lever, barring a wildly unforseen early retirement to Sandpoint, or somesuch.

Hope you’re doing well. Was thinking that it’s about time for me to treat you and the Mrs to a glass of wine or something. Maybe over the Holidays.
:)

[OlongJohnson]

The irony is, as I read the law, I can have a rifle shipped from a seller in WA to my LGS in TX, do a 4473 here in about 10 minutes, and get on a plane and have that rifle in WA the next day. But it takes 60 days to have it transferred to me there.

[Totem Polar]

The irony is, as I read the law, I can have a rifle shipped from a seller in WA to my LGS in TX, do a 4473 here in about 10 minutes, and get on a plane and have that rifle in WA the next day. But it takes 60 days to have it transferred to me there.

So far as I know, WA residents are still allowed to buy long guns from adjacent states. Like Idaho. So much for having any effect on OMG/MassShootings/Assaultweapons/thchildren on the east side...

[PNWTO]

So does this law take effect immediately? I can't decide whether to rush purchase a lower or wait a couple weeks to see how the deals shake out for Black Friday.

IIRC the literature the effective date is 1 July 2019. So even with a failure to stop it there is time to purchase smartly. I know the WA AG has 10rd magazine limits for both pistols and rifles in his agenda so brace for impact on that, too.

The mandatory training thing will be a huge cluster as Quislings appear, calling themselves “instructors” and seeking to gain some money.

[FPS]

I know the WA AG has 10rd magazine limits for both pistols and rifles in his agenda so brace for impact on that, too.

Turd Ferguson

[Casual Friday]

I caught a 30 day Facebook ban for calling some guy a Redcoat because he said "i'M a rEsPoNsIbLe gUn oWnEr aNd i pRoUdLy vOtEd yEs oN i-1639".

[Drang]

I caught a 30 day Facebook ban for calling some guy a Redcoat because he said "i'M a rEsPoNsIbLe gUn oWnEr aNd i pRoUdLy vOtEd yEs oN i-1639".
You showed remarkable restraint.

I predict that this will wind up before the Supreme Court, there will dueling injunctions, and WA will wind up having its ass handed to it for an epically bad initiative process.
Kavanaugh: "So, this ballot initiative violated the rules 6 different ways, and you let it go ahead anyway because it never occurred to you that someone mihgt not follow the rules?"
WA AG: "Well, you see, it's like this.."
Thomas: *Glower*
Gura: *End Zone Dance*

[Totem Polar]

*le sigh* my dude at the friendly LGS set aside a PCC for me, to be picked up before the end of the year. And so it goes.

[OlongJohnson]

I caught a 30 day Facebook ban for calling some guy a Redcoat because he said "i'M a rEsPoNsIbLe gUn oWnEr aNd i pRoUdLy vOtEd yEs oN i-1639".

Did you mean “turncoat?”

Pretty sure Redcoats are the ones who stood and fought and got their butts kicked.

[Casual Friday]

Did you mean “turncoat?”

Pretty sure Redcoats are the ones who stood and fought and got their butts kicked.

While turncoat would have worked too, I meant Redcoat as in the British we fought.

[idahojess]

My guess is that even if the initiative gets thrown out for failure to follow state law regarding initiatives, the state legislature would enact the same legislation.
Which has happened before, (and the legislature is much more one party at this point).

https://www.opb.org/news/article/washington-house-passes-property-tax-cap-bill/

I'm reviewing the commuting distance between Lewiston, ID, and my work. Could be a little sporty in the winter...

[Totem Polar]

My guess is that even if the initiative gets thrown out for failure to follow state law regarding initiatives, the state legislature would enact the same legislation.
Which has happened before, (and the legislature is much more one party at this point).

https://www.opb.org/news/article/washington-house-passes-property-tax-cap-bill/

I'm reviewing the commuting distance between Lewiston, ID, and my work. Could be a little sporty in the winter...

If you have to do the grade, hell yes it would be sporty.

[FPS]

WA State residents, petition to the White House regarding I-1639, takes only a couple seconds to fill out - https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/abolish-unlawful-unjust-and-unconstitutional-gun-laws-washington-state-i-1639

May not amount to much but who knows, worth a shot to have your voice heard.

[FPS]

Nice to see NRA and Second Amendment Foundation filing lawsuits - https://mynorthwest.com/1186859/nra-second-amendment-foundation-suing-wa-over-i-1639/

Support SAF here - https://www.saf.org/

[Drang]

WA State residents, petition to the White House regarding I-1639, takes only a couple seconds to fill out - https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/abolish-unlawful-unjust-and-unconstitutional-gun-laws-washington-state-i-1639

May not amount to much but who knows, worth a shot to have your voice heard.

Probably as pointless as all the rest of these, but what the hell.

[Totem Polar]

WA State residents, petition to the White House regarding I-1639, takes only a couple seconds to fill out - https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/abolish-unlawful-unjust-and-unconstitutional-gun-laws-washington-state-i-1639

May not amount to much but who knows, worth a shot to have your voice heard.

May as well. Signed.