The state of Washington is set to ban the sale, transfer and manufacture of so-called assault weapons after state senators approved on Saturday what opponents say is an unconstitutional gun bill. The legislation will be sent to the state house next for a quick concurrence vote before it arrives at the desk of Governor Jay Inslee.
My NorthWest reported:
“Passing an assault weapon ban will be a momentous step forward for Washington state,” Inslee said. “Time and again we’ve seen the carnage these weapons allow people to unleash on communities. Time and again we’ve watched the NRA and politicians defend, normalize, and even celebrate these weapons. But now the time is here when the majority’s will prevail, and we put the lives of our children first.”
Legislators who wrote the text for HB1240 used emotional anti-gun language in the bill defining “assault weapons” as “civilian versions of weapons created for the military and are designed to kill humans quickly and efficiently.” The bill accused the gun industry for specifically marketing listed firearms “as ‘tactical’, ‘hyper masculine,’ and ‘military style’ in manner that overtly appeals to troubled young men intent on becoming the next mass shooter.”
“This inflammatory language obscures the fact that all semi-automatic firearms, no matter how they’re styled, only discharge one round of ammunition each time the trigger is pulled. And what’s with accusing the tens of thousands of women who own a firearm like this of wanting to be ‘hyper masculine’?” said State Senator Lynda Wilson (R) in a statement.
Wilson added:
For a woman of smaller stature, a semi-auto rifle that has a shorter barrel, less recoil and an adjustable stock is great for self-defense. It’s just what I would want to take away the physical advantage of a larger attacker. These are also good choices for women who like to shoot at targets. Unfortunately, an adjustable stock — or a noise suppressor that would protect my hearing on the target range — would make such a rifle illegal to buy, once this law takes effect.
The legislation labels more than 60 specific firearms as “assault weapons,” including AR-15s, AK-47s, and M-16s. The bill doesn’t affect people who already own guns on the potential banned list, and has exemptions for law-enforcement agencies and military members.
The Alliance for Gun Responsibility, a group seeking to end gun violence, celebrated the legislation, stating in a press release, “The passage of HB 1240 was once thought to be unimaginable. We are so incredibly grateful to the legislators working alongside us to make this lifesaving progress possible so that all of our communities across our state can be safer from the scourge of gun violence.”
The Democrats who passed this gun bill chose to ignore their Republican peers in the Senate, like Wilson, who argued for common sense amendments and questioned Democrat logic on keeping people safe from gun violence. The legislation doesn’t address behavioral health issues, or even penalize criminals who could steal and use these dreaded assault weapons.
Wilson shared in a statement:
As a Vancouver woman put it in an email to me a couple of weeks ago, “… how is gun control going to stop these people with mental illnesses? Because a mentally stable person would never go into a school, mall, music festival, movie theater, and night club and take lives of innocent people.”
Instead, left-wing, anti-gun talking points were all that seemed to matter for the bill’s passage. Senator Patty Kuderer (D) said, “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.”
The good news is that the assault-weapons ban legislation will face legal battles before the ink from Governor Inslee’s signature dries, as the ban violates the Washington state and federal constitutions and the right of the people to keep and bear arms.
