I-1639 a specter

There is a specter haunting the State of Washington. It is in the form of Initiative 1639. It is an attack on the Second and the 14th Amendments of the Constitution of The United States. If enough signatures are obtained it will go to the Legislature and if they take no action, then the Initiative will be on the ballot in November 2019. I-1639 starts out as a solution to gun violence and “for the children,” but focus on the gun part does not go after the violence part. I-1639 changes the definition of “assault rifle” to include any rifle which utilizes a portion of the energy of a fired cartridge to operate the weapon. That means any 22 or larger caliber rifle that fires each time the trigger is pulled will be an assault rifle by definition. In addition, I-1639 provides a requirement for safe storage of firearms, complete with felony or gross misdemeanor penalties for violations. Also, even though federal regulations require trigger locks to be provided with the purchase of any firearm, they will not qualify as suitable storage as defined by I-1639. Washington voters should not be fooled into thinking Initiative I-1639 is the solution to any kind of safety problem.

This story was originally published July 18, 2018 at 3:57 PM.