Thursday, January 11, 2018

Notes for Olympia Testimony

Hello.

My name is Don ****  and I live in Snohomish county in Washington state. I am a husband and father and work as a software developer.

Politically, I consider myself an Independent. I was a party line Democrat until I realized about 25 years ago how hostile the party was...and still is...towards gun owners.

I don't think party insiders understand how much damage the party has done to itself by opposing the vital civil liberty of gun rights. Absurd laws are developed and pushed by Democrat legislators in cooperation with technically ignorant gun control advocates. Our current Attorney General, when he is not fund raising for his future bid for Governor, is currently responding to reasoned letters with ridiculous quotes from Mike Bloomberg's Everytown for Gun Safety. Gun owners have the real knowledge to inform legislators about the effects and realities of gun controls and technical realities to gun topics and the Democratic party treats us like pariahs.

I recently blogged about how badly the party is misjudging the politics in our state. We are a very moderate state...and a VERY gun friendly state. We have a higher percentage of concealed pistol licenses than *many* states that voted for President Trump in the 2016 election.

Most of the pistols those licensees carry can hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition and may expected to renew an "assault weapon" license EVERY year under one proposal being considered. In a state of 7 million people, we probably have a couple million semi-automatic rifles and have used them with exemplary safety and responsibility.

Every gun control being considered has some subtexts that are rarely discussed. Complying with "Assault weapon" license laws mean that I am expected to request PERMISSION every year to keep a firearm that I have owned responsibly for some time...and accept the possibility that permission might be denied. We do not.

Registration means that I accept the possibility that the firearm may be banned in the future. We do not. If New York and Connecticut gun owners will refuse to comply with registration requirements en masse, what compliance with extreme gun laws can be expected HERE?

Gun owners have a large investment in being law abiding members of society. Adopting a California model where we become whipping boys of every legislature is an awful idea and jeopardizes the civility which generally exists in our state. It also jeopardizes the Democratic party control of the legislature. Tom Foley could have told you that after he lost his job in the United States Congress...the first Speaker of the House to lose an election in over 100 years. Gun owners fired him from what is usually a secure job because of the contempt he showed them.


We have a large investment in remaining law abiding and with being cooperative. I do not like to think what the result would be if the line in the sand of excessive/punitive gun laws is crossed.

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