By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
One of the most onerous Washington state gun control bills in recent memory has apparently been pulled from consideration following unconfirmed reports of a massive wave of opposing messages to Evergreen State lawmakers.
House Bill 1504, which would have required mandatory liability insurance for each legally-owned firearm in the state, was pulled from a list of measures scheduled for a hearing before the House Committee on Civil Rights and Judiciary. The bill, which had been called “hideously regressive” in a post on Facebook by Republican Rep. Jim Walsh, garnered some 8,000 negative emails from gun owners, and only a handful of supporting messages, according to unconfirmed grassroots sources.
HB 1504 was introduced by anti-gun-rights Rep. Kristine Reeves, and she was joined by seven other lawmakers—all far-left Democrats associated with other gun control legislation—including Representatives Beth Doglio, Lauren Davis, Julia Reed, Timm Ormsby, Alex Ramel, Gerry Pollet, and My-Linh Thai. These lawmakers are also pushing other gun control measures this year.
TGM reached out to Rep.Reeves’ office, but did not receive a timely response.
FINANCIAL TYRANNY? BILL WOULD REQUIRE LIABILITY INSURANCE
The bill may have been doomed from the start because Washington does not currently allow any available firearm liability insurance programs. An option provided in the bill would have required gun owners to place on deposit with the Department of Licensing a sum of $25,000 in cash or securities for each gun they own. For someone who owns ten guns, that would have required a staggering $250,000 cash deposit with the state.
This year, with Democrats in full control of the Legislature, as number of onerous—some say oppressive—gun control bills have been introduced. The rest are still very much alive, and three bills have already passed out of committee.
WA DEMOCRATS ADVANCE THREE GUN BILLS
House Bills 1132, 1152 and 1163 all add new restrictions on gun owners, and all passed out of committee on 8-5 votes a few days ago.
HB 1132 places a limit of one firearm purchase per month, and limits gun owners to buying a maximum of 1,000 rounds of ammunition regardless of caliber or gauge in a 30-day period, except for .50-caliber ammunition, which is limited to 100 rounds per month.
HB 1153 mandates so-called “secure storage” of firearms when not in use. It ratchets down on leaving firearms in vehicles, with some exceptions, and in residences. Violators would be subject to fines of up to $1,000. It isn’t clear how the requirement would be enforced.
HB 1163 creates a permit-to-purchase requirement, requiring proof of training to include a live-fire exercise, and it would also apply to obtaining a concealed pistol license.
All three of these measures are described in their summaries as aimed at “enhancing public safety.” Opponents contend they would do nothing of the sort, and only place more restrictions on law-abiding gun owners.
Virtually all of the gun control bills are being pushed by the Seattle-based, and billionaire-backed, Alliance for Gun Responsibility. Their CEO Renee Hopkins, lost a brother in a 1996 school shooting at Frontier Middle School in Moses Lake, Wash. The killer is now serving a life sentence in prison.
