Why I-1639 Must Fail

If I-1639 Vote is No	If I-1639 Vote Is Yes
Bob Smails, a repeat felon, buys a semiautomatic rifle and uses it to kill a clerk and a customer while robbing a convenience store.	Bob Smails, a repeat felon, buys a semiautomatic rifle and uses it to kill a clerk and a customer while robbing a convenience store. Nothing changes here. Criminals do not obey gun laws.
Disabled 20 year old veteran Latisha Robbins lives in an area with a significant crime problem due to persistent financial difficulties. Too young to purchase a handgun, she purchases a light AR15, a firearm with which she became familiar during her military service. When drug addict Jerry Randall breaks into her home, he hurriedly flees when Latisha points the rifle at him and click off the safety.	Disabled 20 year old veteran Latisha Robbins lives in an area with a significant crime problem due to persistent financial difficulties. Too young to purchase a handgun or an effective rifle for self defense, she is forced to hope that police officers respond in time to her 911 call. When drug addict Jerry Randall breaks into her home, what he does to her causes the responding officer to cry in his wife’s arms, after finding Latisha's body.
Retired bookstore owner Jerry Rodriguez has been planning for a hunting trip across the country for over a year. Two weeks before departure, he is sighting it in at the range and accidentally drops it, badly damaging the action. Chagrined at this misfortune, he is still able to purchase a used Browning BAR hunting rifle from a store that conducts a background check before selling it to him. The rifle is sighted in and his hunting trip is saved.	Retired bookstore owner Jerry Rodriguez has been planning for a hunting trip across the country for over a year. Two weeks before departure, he is sighting it in at the range and accidentally drops it, badly damaging the action. Chagrined at this misfortune, goes to his local gun store and tries to purchase a used Browning BAR hunting rifle from a store. Despite his clean background and possession of a Concealed Pistol License (which would exempt him from a handgun waiting period, though not a redundant background check), Jerry is unable to purchase the BAR. I-1639’s 10 BUSINESS DAY waiting period does not exempt CPL holders. It also requires proof of having completed a training course….without specifying the contents of that course, who will offer it and requiring that it be reasonably prices an accessible to all. Law enforcement officers are also governed by this completely undefined process.
Bob Kowalski loses his 70 year old mother to cancer, just before Christmas. It has been a hard year for Bob, who is recently divorced, and he finds it difficult to keep depression at bay. However, he finds solace in competitive shooting and finds a good therapist who has Bob use a mild dose of an anti-depression medication for a year. Fortunately, he ultimately overcomes the depression.	Bob Kowalski loses his 70 year old mother to cancer, just before Christmas. It has been a hard year for Bob, who is recently divorced, and he finds it difficult to keep depression at bay. However, he finds solace in competitive shooting and finds a good therapist who has Bob use a mild dose of an anti-depression medication for a year. Fortunately, he ultimately overcomes the depression. Unfortunately, a couple years later the state legislature adds every person who has ever used any amount of anti-depression medication to the list of persons unable to legally own any firearms. Bob’s purchase of a rifle under I-1639 gave the state the means to circumvent HIPAA’s privacy protections and access his medical records at any point in the future. As a result of his brief anti-depressant use, all of Bob’s firearms are confiscated. Another consequence of this is that a large number of people battling depression avoid seeking help to deal with that depression and even suicidal thoughts. Some end up taking their own lives.
Anne Holms is a former single mom whose kids have grown and moved away. She keeps a pistol for self protection and is conscientious about keeping it locked when she is not using it. Unfortunately, the locked container is stolen from her home during a break-in while she is away.	Anne Holms is a former single mom whose kids have grown and moved away. She keeps a pistol for self protection and is conscientious about keeping it locked when she is not using it. Unfortunately, the locked container is stolen from her home during a break-in while she is away. Under I-1639, Anne is guilty of community endangerment and is prosecuted as a criminal when her gun is stolen and used in a robbery where a clerk is shot.
Washington state continues a precarious financial juggling act, not helped by an Attorney General and Governor repeatedly engaging in spurious, contrived lawsuits against the Federal government.	Washington state continues a precarious financial juggling act, not helped by an Attorney General and Governor repeatedly engaging in spurious, contrived lawsuits against the Federal government. Making matters worse the Attorney General and courts will be untangling this initiative in the courts for decades. For example, the storage requirement is clearly overruled by the storage findings of the landmark Heller case of 10 years ago. It will cost the state millions....paid for by peeved taxpayers.
Cabelas hires 10 additional seasonal employees from early November until just after Christmas.	Cabelas hires less seasonal employees during the holiday season and lays off 2 permanent employees due to the financial chaos wrought by this overly broad and clumsy initiative.
The state legislature continues to occasionally consider firearms laws. As has become virtually a tradition, gun control activists are given prior notice of hearing dates and are bused in and issued color-coordinated orange shirts by out of state financier Michael Bloomberg. They are still outnumbered by gun rights activists who manage to take off days from work on short notice. Little changes.	The state legislature continues to occasionally consider firearms laws. As has become virtually a tradition, gun control activists are given prior notice of hearing dates and are bused in and issued color-coordinated orange shirts by out of state financier Michael Bloomberg. They are still outnumbered by gun rights activists who manage to take off days from work on short notice. However, some things have changed. -          Democrats have decided that it is now open season on gun owners and begin constant efforts to enact ever stricter gun laws, like California does. Washington state gun owners, used to a fairly stable set of laws, are left uncertain from one year to the next which of their guns will remain legal -          Some legislation is passed without real feedback over a weekend, as was attempted in 2018. -          At the same time, the gun owners who up to now have had a huge stake in obeying all laws conclude that there is no point in doing so.
A Note About Washington State Gun culture Washington state is a very moderate and VERY gun friendly state. We have more concealed carry permits per capita than a lot of red states. This is a healthy gun culture, which tolerates moderate background checks (despite their questionable effectiveness), with a strong record of promoting safety and trying innovative approaches to reduce suicides. By not enacting punitive and ill-considered laws, the system that works and works well is maintained.

Washington State Law Enforcement Instructors Association opposes I-1639!

(Shared Post)
IMPORTANT NEWS! This was just released from the Washington State Law Enforcement Instructors Association. They are the the professionals tasked with training all of the other law enforcement officers:

"WSLEFIA Opposes Initiative 1639

Initiative 1639 is being promoted as a public safety measure; those actually working law enforcement know that IT WILL DO NOTHING TO STOP A SINGLE CRIME. This initiative has nothing to do with "assault weapons" and is directed only at our good citizens who already pass multiple background checks before owning a firearm.

The Washington State Law Enforcement Instructors Association (WSLEFIA) opposes Initiative 1639. I-1639 harms law enforcement officers and all citizens of Washington:

I-1639 creates a new crime of "Community Endangerment" and there is NO law enforcement exemption. If a law enforcement officer should fail to secure either a personal or duty firearm as prescribed by I-1639 then that officer may be subject to felony criminal charges. Even a department-issued firearm must be secured with a trigger lock or in "secure storage." The trunk of a patrol car is not specified as secure storage.

I-1639 requires a 10 day wait for law enforcement officers who wish to buy a semiautomatic rifle, whether for personal or duty purposes. There is no exemption for either a commissioned officer or a Concealed Pistol License.

I-1639 requires that law enforcement officers attend a "safety" training class before purchasing any semiauto rifle. There is no exemption for law enforcement commissioned personnel and no recognition of either department or BLEA academy training.

I-1639 would require that a law enforcement officer who sells a semiauto rifle to another officer go to a firearm dealer and pay fees. The purchasing officer must wait 10 days, pass additional background checks, and show proof of "safety" training.

I-1639 targets law-abiding citizens--not criminals--by creating a new law that would make the innocent victim subject to CRIMINAL charges if his firearm is accessed by a prohibited person. The ugliness of shaming and blaming the victim of a crime should never be made law. I-1639 ignores the criminals while attacking the victims of theft.
Law enforcement officers will be made to investigate the victims of crime rather than pursuing the perpetrators of crimes.

I-1639 falsely demonizes all semiautomatic sporting rifles as "assault rifles"--the rifles they wish to deny to the public are the most common sporting and hunting firearms--the type of firearms LEAST likely to be used in crimes--this fact is supported by both FBI and Washington State crime statistics.
Youth rifles, plinkers, collector firearms, hunting and self-defense rifles--if they are semiautomatic, I-1639 will re-classify them as "assault rifles."

I-1639 strips adults under age 21 of their right to self-defense. Law-abiding young adults will no longer be able to possess any modern defensive firearm, neither handgun nor rifle.
I-1639 attacks our safest and best-trained firearm users--licensed and safety trained hunters--by prohibiting the use of modern sporting rifles by those age 18-20.

I-1639 would unlawfully seize semiauto rifles already owned by those under age 21 by prohibiting any possession or use of these rifles at target ranges and for hunting.

I-1639 creates both a literacy test and the equivalent of a poll tax--they call it a fee--to exercise a right guaranteed by both State and Federal Constitutions. You wouldn't accept this for voting or any other right and neither have the courts.

I-1639 delays the LAWFUL purchase of a rifle by 10 days--even after all background checks are passed! A right delayed is a right denied.
I-1639 impairs a citizen's defense their home by requiring that the most effective defensive firearms be locked and inaccessible by the homeowner.

I-1639 creates an unnecessary, costly and ill-considered requirement for government-mandated training that is already adequately addressed by Washington Arms Collectors-provided training, National Rifle Association safety instructors, WDFW Hunter Safety training and private clubs and ranges.

I-1639 creates yet another huge unfunded bureaucracy that will only duplicate the background checks already Federally required. Don't be fooled--the background check system already exists and all semiauto rifle buyers already are required to pass background checks.

I-1639 will prohibit legitimate sales of rifles to fully background checked and Federally-approved purchasers from other states, thus harming all State and Federally licensed firearm dealers.

I-1639 will not stop a single crime or shooting. Criminals are not subject to any of the requirements; only law-abiding citizens go through background checks and they already do so.

I-1639 wrongly burdens our most law-abiding citizens while doing nothing to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals.

"The WSLEFIA finds that I-1639 is an attack on civil rights and is an attempt to marginalize all firearm owners, including law enforcement officers. I-1639 will impair public safety, embolden criminals and impose burdensome restrictions on our most law-abiding citizens."

The GOP Needs To Grow A Backbone Fast Or We're Screwed

The screen shot above is an actual Tweet posted by Chuck Grassley on Friday. In my opinion, it also painfully captures the GOP's worst problem at this point in time: it is trying TOO hard to be nice. It is so afraid of being dishonestly branded a Nazi that is capitulating pointlessly to the Democrats at every turn.

Chuck Grassley is channeling Jimmy Carter while Carter is still alive.

Make no mistake, I do not like or have any tolerance for Nazis. That is why I decided to #WalkAway from the Democratic party, a party fanatically devoted to a ruthless enforcement of orthodoxy and intolerance of different opinions. It's just outrageous to me that the Republicans tolerate being branded fascists, when this is what passes for Democratic anti-fascist activism in 2018:

 

Maybe an infusion of #WalkAway people is what it will take to invigorate a moribund and tremulous GOP so that it actually plays to win. You are in a street fight with the Democrats and trying to fight fair in a street fight will only doom you. #WalkAway members did not leave the Democratic party to watch Republicans cave in to their demands, our civil liberties meekly given away and capitulation granted to new, idiotic taxes. We left a party that expresses only contempt for people who think differently: for people who are religious, for people who are responsible gun owners (including modern rifles and concealed handguns), for people who see the extreme social justice movement as just another venue for racism and segregation.

We're furious and you'd better start thinking like us if you intend to win.

Interested in a Political Diversity Book Club?

The political landscape of this great nation is rapidly devolving into a trivial and dangerously simplistic mess, composed of meme exchanges and rote recitation of talking points at each other instead of sincere dialogue. If we are going to prevent American from descending into the chaos of a third world banana republic, it is more critical now than ever that we the people learn how to really engage each other over issues again, rather than just emote and shout at each other.

Perhaps the worst part of all this is its futility. Most of the groups shouting at each other actually make up part of the solution for making this country even better than it already is. Liberal and conservative, red state and blue state, atheist and religious person...if they could learn to discuss their differences constructively and without fear of the accusations that doom many political conversations...what could we achieve?

What couldn't we achieve?

So what I am suggesting here is that we begin using the internet constructively to READ about a variety of viewpoints and discuss them freely and openly. If others are interested in this project, I will set up a discussion group (e.g., at goodreads.com) and we can begin nominating books. I am including a few contemporary books that are well worth reading. Depending on interest, we may also look at some classics like Thomas Paine's "Common Sense" or Thoreau's essay on civil disobedience.

I hope you will join us!

Here are a few initial book ideas ordered by publication date:

1. Free for All: Defending Liberty in America Today (link)
   By Wendy Kaminer, published in 2002, ISBN 0807044113 / 9780807044117
   
   Wendy Kaminer is an author I just discovered a couple years ago. She is sort of the Ben Shapiro of the left, fiercely principled (so much so that the ACLU drove her from their board of directors) and utterly committed to preserving freedom in America. This book looks at a number of topics from that perspective at a time when the government was  beginning to curtail freedom just after 9/11.
2. Terrorism and Tyranny: Trampling Freedom, Justice, and Peace to Rid the World of Evil (link)
   By James Bovard, published in 2003, ISBN 1403963681  / 9781403963680
   
   This book was published a year after Kaminer's book and offers another look at the the immediate post 9/11 period but from more of a libertarian than classic liberal perspective. Like Kaminer, Bovard is fiercely principled and points out anti-freedom government actions without regard to party affiliation.
   
   (Passing another anniversary of 9/11 is an excellent opportunity to contemplate whether we have sacrificed too much freedom for illusory promises of safety. I was reminded of this when listening to SOFREP Radio's 9/11 commemoration (link). SOFREP Radio is a podcast produced by members of the the military special operations community. Their comments about fighting terrorists overseas and returning home to find the civil liberties infringements we had grown to tolerate back home were a painful but necessary listen.)
3. The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting up a Generation for Failure (link)
   By Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, published in 2018, ASIN B076NVFT5P
   
   This book was published this year and examines the growing political partisanship in America and the dangerous extent to which we now isolate ourselves from alternative viewpoints. It was reading this book which inspired me to see if this political diversity book club could be part of the solution to America's growing tribalism...and violence.
   
   In terms of political perspective, I would classify this book as non-partisan. It examines both right and left sided orthodoxies and points out their dangerous tendencies.
4. Republican Like Me: A Lifelong Democrat's Journey Across the Aisle (link)
   By Ken Stern, published in 2017, ISBN 0062460781 (ISBN13: 9780062460783)
   
   "The former CEO of NPR set out for conservative America to find out why these people are so wrong about everything. It turns out, they weren’t."
   
   This excellent book shows how Americans can learn to understand and appreciate people who aren't like them, instead of merely treating large groups of people as the enemy. Highly recommended in this painfully Balkanized era in which we live.

 
 

If We Don't Fight, We Can't Win. And we CAN win!

The NRA is taking the fight against I-1639 into high gear now (link). Yesterday, I spent a few hours at the Washington State Fair in Puyallup handing out information about this madly overreaching initiative. The Democratic party's booth had a life size Barry Obama cutout, which offered whimsical selfie opportunities. 

Working the booth offered some great opportunities for interacting with other gun owners, some of whom weren't aware of all the awful parts of this law: classifying all semiautomatic rifles as "assault weapons", 10 day waiting period for purchase (even with CPL), lifetime surrender of HIPAA protections to the state, vague storage requirements which will make gun owners criminals if their home is burglarized.

While most visitors left fired up to vote this initiative into oblivion, the response of one baffled me. He said that he just doesn't believe in voting anymore and refused to consider even the limited step of registering to vote against this initiative. Even odder, this middle aged guy was wearing a t-shirt with the Star of David on it: if there's one group of people who can articulate what "Never Again" really comes down to, it's the population of Israel who have grown up in the company of Holocaust survivors.

Make no mistake: if a good percentage of gun owners show up and vote, we can beat this awful initiative down even harder than we beat I-676 21 years ago. If we don't even try, if the voting percentage is as lame as it was in the August primaries, the corrupt Olympia government can mount a very serious and devastating attack on what is now a very healthy and safety-oriented gun culture.

The choice is up to you. PLEASE make sure you are registered to vote right away and commit to getting your friends out to vote too. We can beat this initiative decisively but if we don't even bother fighting it, we can't win.

Why would people without the guts to fight a political fight even own guns anyway?

After Parkland: Why Nothing Changes After A Shooting Event

People wonder why steps aren't taken to improve public safety after a public shooting?
It's been nearly 7 months since the Parkland shooting. What has happened?
We found that the armed Parkland deputy specifically who was on site to keep students safe from such an event simply ran away.
We found that several other Parkland deputies stayed under cover outside while the murders continued.
We found that the killer had been investigated by the Parkland sheriff for around 40 incidents implying dangerous mental derangement and threats to others. The FBI was informed twice that he wanted to be a school shooter. He was not disarmed or taken in for psych evaluation.
Who does the Parkland sheriff blame in a CNN town hall hatefest? Dana Loesch and the NRA. People like me. The focus becomes not public safety but banning the most popular rifle in America.
Continuing through the year, a few Parkland students are lauded by the media non-stop and flown around the country to promote gun bans. Parkland survivors and parents of killed students who are less interested in gun control and more interest in a comprehensive safety approach are ignored. Even when when one student, Kyle Kashuv, helps get a comprehensive safety bill including expanded background checks passed.
How is the insanity of the blame dodging sheriff still being employed and the exclusive focus on preventing sane people from getting guns not blatantly obvious?
Is this really a pattern you want to continue repeating?

Time For Sleeping Washington State Gun Owners To Wake Up And Face 3 Active Threats

Politics can be an arena of tiresome hyperbolic fearmongering. This has caused Washington state gun owners, who are a moderate, non-partisan bunch (see previous blog post), to tune out. But there are movements afoot in Washington state which gun owners will dearly regret ignoring. Please consider that we are facing at least three active threats and take what steps you can to defend your rights.

1) Attempts to weaken and eliminate state firearms preemption in King, Snohomish and possibly other counties. 

Washington state has a firearms preemption law in place. State laws says that individual cities and counties cannot enact their own gun control laws...all gun controls have to exist at the state level. This law provides the benefit of making it easy to comply with gun control laws.

For example, imagine you have a Concealed Pistol License and are driving from Lynnwood to Federal Way. If preemption was revoked, you could end up having to obey different gun laws in multiple cities in between or face criminal charges that remove your gun rights. Does Seattle now ban concealed carry? Does Edmonds ban having loaded guns in your car or magazines that hold over 8 rounds of ammunition? Is there another city in between with some other rule?

Preemption is one of those laws that quietly prevents gun ownership from being a maze of easily and unintentionally violated capricious rules. King County has already stated that they will enact an "assault weapon" ban if preemption falls. (link)

2) Initiative I1639 - a 30 page ballot initiative and gun control smorgasbord

This initiative is an incoherent mashup of a number of gun control laws rejected during the 2018 legislative session. The initiative itself is 30 pages long. According to state law, that makes it illegal because signature gathering forms have to include the full text in a readable font with relevant existing legal text marked up with strikeouts and additions. Washington state courts and the Secretary of State have chosen to ignore that little fact.

This site (link) gives a really good overview of what this initiative covers. The high points are:

• Requires safe storage of firearms without defining what that is
• Defines ALL semiautomatic rifles as "assault rifles"
• Enacts a 10 business day waiting period when purchasing them (even if you have a CPL)
• Bans 18-20 year old from purchasing these rifles
• Enhanced background check with registration during purchase
• Appears to require firearms training every 5 years, possibly a de facto licensing scheme

I1639 is currently being challenged in court by the NRA and Second Amendment Foundation but it could easily appear on the ballot. Incidentally, a large number of law enforcement groups have already expressed opposition to this initiative.

3) Washington state may join New York state financial attacks on the NRA

New York state's Andrew Cuomo is financially attacking the NRA over its Carry Guard Concealed Carry Insurance. Washington state Governor Jay Inslee, Attorney General Bob Ferguson and the state's Insurance Commissioner said this week that they want to join this effort. Do you want your tax dollars used to attack the NRA? I mean, beyond Bob Ferguson's use of state resources to lobby for gun ban legislation and ballot initiatives.

So now...

I've spelled out the significant attacks currently pending against our rights. We Washington state gun owners have actually had it fairly easy, in terms of serious threats. This is not California, which makes the deliberate, malicious baiting of gun owners a legislative sport. This is not New York or Illinois, with frequent serious gun control attacks.

But gun owners in California, New York and Illinois know how to have an unflinching gut fight and wage war to protect their rights. Do Washingtonians have the heart and guts to do the same? Or are we weaker than other states and too timid and polite to fight for the freedoms we exercise responsibly every day.

At the very least, join gun rights groups and register to vote before the first week in October. If you are ready to do more, there are many options, including writing or calling your legislators and volunteering the campaigns of gun rights supporting legislators.