By Dave Workman | Senior Editor
With time running out and an apparent shortfall in the number of valid signatures being sought, backers of Initiative 1094 in Washington State—the measure aimed at repealing gun control Initiative 1639 passed in 2018—are making a final push to gather more signatures.
It’s a daunting task, with lethargy on the part of gun owners apparently playing into the mix. One volunteer said privately that many people heading into one of the Puget Sound area’s biggest outdoor sporting goods simply walked past the signature table.
The goal is to amass 320,000 signatures by Dec. 28. Not that it can’t be done, but that usually requires paid signature gatherers and this grassroots effort has none, and no funds to pay them. Instead, the petition has been available at some 250 gun stores and other locations around the state.
I-1639 is also being challenged in federal court by the National Rifle Association and Second Amendment Foundation. It restricts sales of so-called “semiautomatic assault rifles” to people over age 21 and invented a definition of such a firearm that applies to every semi-auto rifle ever manufactured, regardless of caliber or cosmetics.
One backer posted on Facebook that the effort was “still about 120,000 signatures short,” reinforcing the notion that initiative campaigns face uphill odds unless paid signature gatherers are enlisted. Volunteers have been working feverishly to gather signatures at gun shows, sporting goods retailers including Bass Pro Shop and at gun stores across the state.
One can find the complete list of signing locations here.
Meanwhile, an Eatonville man has filed a petition to recall Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson, according to KONA News. Ferguson, a Democrat, has supported gun control efforts. He is famous for having sued the Trump administration more than 50 times.
A recall against Ferguson poses an even more daunting challenge than the I-1094 effort. According to KONA, supporters must collect about 750,000 signatures in order to qualify for the 2020 ballot.
There already is an online petition to “impeach” Ferguson and Democrat Gov. Jay Inslee over their gun control support. As of Tuesday morning, that online petition, which has no force of law, had already garnered more than 71,000 online signatures in about six days, with more signatures posting every minute. That petition, at Change.org, was posted by a Kennewick man identified as Austin Thornhill. It suggests there is some momentum from gun owners, but they don’t make the effort to find a location to sign I-1094. Their enthusiasm stops at a computer keyboard.
Thornhill’s online petition says this:
“We the people of Washington State are calling for the impeachment of Attorney General Bob Ferguson and Governor Jay Inslee for not upholding the Oath of Office and protecting our State and Federal Constitution.
“Our Second Amendment has been under constant attack from these two elected officials and now they want to tell us what kind of weapons we can or can’t have and how many rounds we can hold in a magazine! “Enough is enough it’s time for action before it’s to (sic) late.
“It’s time we take a stand against our Government and give it back to the people of our great state.”
