GUN CONTROL
IS NOT
CRIME CONTROL
By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
UPDATED, 12-27— Authorities in two Pacific Northwest are up to their elbows in blood as Seattle, Washington and Portland, Oregon have posted more than 70 slayings each in 2023, but the latest fatal shooting in Seattle is now reportedly being examined as self-defense, according to KCPQ, the local Fox News affiliate.
Only days ago, TGM noted how the Giffords gun control group has given Washington high marks for adopting stricter gun laws this year, despite the rising body count.
Both Portland and Seattle are headquarters to their states’ respective gun prohibition lobbying efforts. State politicians from both cities work in their respective legislatures—in Olympia and Salem—promoting a philosophy that focuses on discouraging gun ownership while doing little to stem the murder rates. In both Northwest cities, the philosophy has clearly failed, say gun rights activists.
Portland last year posted 96 slayings according to the “X” (formerly Twitter) site Portland Homicide. Last year in Seattle, there were 57 murders, according to the “X” site Seattle Homicide. Neither site is associated with police departments in either city.
Not surprisingly, not all murders in these cities involve firearms. Portland’s latest killing is a stabbing, and last week, when Seattle posted its 72nd slaying, it was also a fatal stabbing. However, a large portion of killings in both cities do involve guns, including the most recent incident in Seattle.
According to KIRO News, the Seattle CBS affiliate, the fatal shooting occurred in the city’s University District. It happened on Christmas Day.
But with the KCPQ report, which featured remarks from the man who fired the fatal shots allegedly in self-defense, a new angle has been added to the Jet City’s bloody year. The man who was killed allegedly had been making threats against the shooter and his family since moving into their apartment building several months ago.
The KCPQ report said the man who fired the fatal shot claims he was attacked and assaulted, at which point he drew his gun and fired. The investigation is continuing.
The Portland Oregonian/Oregon Live said the Rose City stabbing happened on a Tri-MAX platform near Providence Park.
Both cities have experienced police manpower losses since the riot-plagued summer of 2020.
In the past couple of years, Oregon and Washington have adopted increasingly stringent gun controls, with proponents arguing the restrictions would prevent violent crime. The numbers indicate Northwest citizens are being misled while their gun rights are being eroded.
Oregon authorities are appealing a circuit court ruling several weeks ago which struck down the state’s Measure 114, a narrowly-passed gun control initiative which included a permit-to-purchase and training requirement to buy a firearm.
Washington’s ban on so-called “assault weapons” and “large capacity magazines” is also being challenged in court, and there is a new bill pre-filed in Olympia that will require training and a permit-to-purchase.
Anti-gun politicians on both sides of the Columbia River appear to be working from the same general game plan, which isn’t working at all if the goal is reducing violent crime.
Legislatures in both states convene again in 2024, Washington’s in January and Oregon’s in February. Anti-gunners pushing more controls in both states will likely have some explaining to do as they press their agendas early in 2024.
A previous version of this story reported the Seattle fatal shooting as an apparent homicide. Now there is now information.
