Alan Gottlieb
By Dave Workman
Senior Editor
Key backers of Initiative 594, the 18-page gun control measure passed by voters last fall in Washington State that is now subject of a federal lawsuit, have filed a motion to intervene in the case as defendants.
The Evergreen State measure, sold to voters as a means of expanding background checks on gun transfers, was passed at the end of a $10.2 million campaign in November by about 59 percent of people who voted. The measure was supported by Seattle-area billionaires Nick Hanauer, Bill and Melinda Gates, Steve and Connie Ballmer and Paul Allen, along with former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The federal lawsuit was filed Dec. 30 by the Second Amendment Foundation and several other groups and private individuals.
Participants in the motion are initiative backer Cheryl Stumbo, the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility and Everytown for Gun Safety. They cite as their reason for intervention to “ensure that the interests of the voters who approved I-594 are fully represented.”
This reasoning stunned SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, who is also an individual plaintiff in the lawsuit. He told TGM, “This suggests that they (Stumbo, WAGR and Everytown) don’t have enough confidence in the attorney general to properly defend the measure in this case.
“It’s also a strong indication,” he continued, “that the other side realizes our lawsuit has merit.”
SAF was joined in the lawsuit, filed Dec. 30, by the Northwest School of Safety, Puget Sound Security, Pacific Northwest Association of Investigators, Firearms Academy of Seattle, the Gottlieb Family Revocable Living Trust and six individuals, including Gottlieb and his son, Andrew. Also among the plaintiffs is Joe Waldron, legislative director for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Tacoma. Defendants in the case are Attorney General Bob Ferguson and State Patrol Chief John Batiste.
Stumbo was among the victims of the Seattle Jewish Federation office shooting, but now describes her job as an outreach associate with the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund. Everytown is the $50 million lobbying organization financed by Bloomberg, who contributed to the I-594 campaign. She served as the “official Citizen-Sponsor” of the initiative, according to court documents filed today.
According to the motion, Everytown for I-594 was formed “in order to provide over 45,000 grassroots supporters and 27 mayors in Washington State an avenue to help pass I-594.” However, the number of supporters pales as a fraction of the number of law-abiding gun owners in Washington who are directly affected by the measure, including the more than 480,000 concealed pistol license holders in the state, say gun rights advocates.
Gottlieb told TGM there may be another reason for the billionaire-backed gun control lobby to intervene. He asserted that this motion may have been filed simply to slow down the process and cost the plaintiffs more money in attorney’s fees.
Stumbo, WAGR and the Everytown Action Fund are represented by the Pacifica Law Group, with offices in downtown Seattle. Plaintiffs in the case are represented by Seattle attorneys Steven Fogg and David Edwards at Corr Cronin Michelson Baumgardner & Preece, and Bellevue attorney Mikolaj Tempski, Tempski Law Firm.
