By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
The Democrat-controlled Washington State Senate passed legislation over the weekend banning the future sale, manufacture and importation of so-called “assault weapons,” setting the state on a likely collision course with Second Amendment groups which will almost certainly challenge the law in federal court.
House Bill 1240 must first go back to the House for concurrence on two amendments adopted by the Senate. If the House accepts the amendments, the bill will go to Democrat Gov. Jay Inslee, who sought the ban legislation along with Democrat Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, a national firearms rights group based in Washington State, reacted with a scathing statement.
“Contrary to Democrats in Olympia, who sound like they’re reading from the same script, modern semiautomatic firearms are not ‘weapons of war’,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “This ban will not improve public safety, as proponents such as Attorney General Bob Ferguson have asserted. It will only impair the rights of law-abiding citizens, while doing absolutely nothing to prevent criminals from committing murder and mayhem, and they know it.”
Gottlieb predicted lawsuits will be forthcoming. It could become a replay of what happened in neighboring Oregon last year when voters narrowly approved Measure 114, a restrictive gun control measure banning so-called “large capacity” magazines, and requiring training and a permit-to-purchase a firearm. Four federal lawsuits and one state lawsuit were filed within days, and the law has yet to be enacted because it is held up in court.
According to the Seattle Times, the Senate debated more than four hours Saturday before the final 27-21 vote on HB 1240. This was one day after the Senate passed House Bill 1143, which mandates proof of training for anyone buying a firearm, and extends a 10-day waiting period to all firearms transfers, which is already a requirement for the purchase of a semi-auto rifle. That was a provision of gun control Initiative 1639, passed by voters in 2018, KING News in Seattle recalled.
“Proponents of this legislation have touted the results of a poll done last year by the Northwest Progressive Institute showing that 56 percent of Washington voters support a ban,” Gottlieb said. “What they overlook is that constitutional rights are not subject to popularity polls; a fact we expect the courts to remind them about in the days ahead.”
The semi-auto ban is not retroactive—at least, not yet—and only applies to future sales. People who already own semi-auto rifles may keep them. However, grassroots activists recall what happened incrementally in California with semiautomatics, as the Democrat-controlled legislature in Sacramento gradually tightened state gun laws, which are also being challenged in the courts.
“One or more lawsuits challenging this legislation will almost certainly be filed within days, if not hours, of Gov. Jay Inslee’s signing,” Gottlieb predicted. “Ultimately, we expect this law to be nullified by the courts as a violation of the Second Amendment and Washington State’s constitution. In the meantime, of course, Evergreen State gun owners will continue to be treated like second-class citizens by the self-righteous zealots behind the ban, while the criminal element will remain undeterred and unencumbered.”
Reaction from gun owners has been predictably furious, as noted by comments posted at the Seattle Times.
Saturday’s debate saw Republicans making impassioned arguments against the legislation. State Sen. Ron Muzzall of Oak Harbor, as reported by the Daily Olympian, noted that since 2015, the Legislature has adopted 37 gun control bills, none of which has prevented a violent crime.
“The one thing that I see that lacks in this legislation today is bipartisanship to solve the problem,” Muzzall stated. “Why? Because we’re focusing on some firearms that we consider to be scary.”
The Times quoted State Sen. Keith Wagoner, of Sedro-Woolley, who critized bill supporters for calling AR-15s and similar guns “weapons of war.” Wagoner served in the Marine Corps and he asserted people behind the bill “don’t own firearms and don’t know anything about firearms.”
“I know the difference between a weapon of war and a modern sporting rifle,” Wagoner said. “The people who wrote this bill for the state of Washington don’t.”
Sen. Lynda Wilson said the bill “targets the wrong people” and “ignores the real problem,” which she contended is gangs.
On the other side of the argument, Democrat Sen. Patty Kuderer of Bellevue, where CCRKBA headquarters is located, said in a statement from her caucus, “We are the only country in the world that grapples with the horror of mass shootings, and today we took a critical step forward — and took the weapon of choice away from those who would do innocent people harm.”
Actually, other countries have experienced deadly mass shootings, but they quickly fade from the news.
As reported by the Times, Democrat Sen. Marko Liias of Everett admitted, “Will they stop every act of criminal conduct in our state? Of course not.”
Liias also asserted the affected guns are in “categories of weapons never intended for civilian ownership.”
Following is a roundup of guns identified in the legislation:
AK-47 and AK-74 in all forms, AR15, M16, or M4 in all forms, Algimec AGM-1 type semiautomatic, American Arms Spectre da semiautomatic carbine, AR 180 type semiautomatic, Argentine L.S.R. semiautomatic, Australian Automatic, Auto-Ordnance Thompson M1 and 1927 semiautomatics, Barrett .50-caliber light semiautomatic, Barrett .50-caliber M87, Barrett .50-caliber M107A1, Barrett REC7, Beretta AR70/S70-type semiautomatic, Bushmaster Carbon 15, Bushmaster ACR, Bushmaster XM-15, Bushmaster MOE, Calico models M100 and M900, CETME Sporter, 4CIS SR 88 type semiautomatic, Colt CAR 1,5 Daewoo K-1, Daewoo K-2, Dragunov semiautomatic, Fabrique Nationale FAL in all forms, Fabrique Nationale F2000, Fabrique Nationale L1A1 Sporter, Fabrique Nationale M249S, Fabrique Nationale PS90, Fabrique Nationale SCAR, FAMAS .223 semiautomatic, Galil, Heckler & Koch G3 in all forms, Heckler & Koch HK-41/91, Heckler & Koch HK-43/93, Heckler & Koch HK94A2/3, Heckler & Koch MP-5 in all forms, Heckler & Koch PSG-1, Heckler & Koch SL8, Heckler & Koch UMP, Manchester Arms Commando MK-45, Manchester Arms MK-9, SAR-4800, SIG AMT SG510 in all forms, SIG SG550 in all forms, SKS, Spectre M4, Springfield Armory BM-59, Springfield Armory G3, Springfield Armory SAR-8, Springfield Armory SAR-48, Springfield Armory SAR-3, Springfield Armory M-21 sniper, Springfield Armory M1A 7, Smith & Wesson M&P 15, Sterling Mk 1, Sterling Mk 6/7, Steyr AUG, TNW M230, FAMAS F11, Uzi 9mm carbine/rifle.
“The truly sad part about this is that people who have been gulled into believing a gun ban will have any major impact on violent crime are going to find out the hard way they were misled by the gun prohibition lobby,” Gottlieb observed. “All this accomplishes is that it gives anti-gunners an excuse to celebrate at the expense of law-abiding Washington citizens who have committed no crime, and whose only sin is that they choose to exercise a constitutionally protected right. Where’s the justice, or even the logic, in that?”
