We reported back in January how Washington State gun owners were facing a bill that would greatly expand so-called “gun-free” zones to include parks, government buildings and a wide swath of other areas where “children are likely to be present.”
Now, anti-gun legislators in Olympia are piling on, pushing a bill that would require Washingtonians to apply, qualify for and purchase a permit in order to practice their Second Amendment-protected right to buy a firearm.
The legislation is House Bill 1163, which was recently approved in a committee on a party-line vote. The measure will soon be scheduled for a floor vote.
According to the measure, the permit would be valid for five years, similar to the safety courses currently required to purchase a firearm. However, the new proposal requires a live-fire training component and an annual Washington State Police review to ensure all permit holders “remain eligible to possess firearms.”
Since implementing the measure is expected to cost nearly $60 million, Democrat lawmakers plan to recoup that loss by charging gun owners for fingerprinting and for the permit—in other words, taxing them to practice a constitutional right.
One organization going to bat against the permit-to-purchase requirement is the Sportsman’s Alliance, a group dedicated to guaranteeing hunting, fishing and trapping for American sportsmen and women now and in the future.
“Permit-to-purchase is just another scheme supported by animal extremists and gun-control activists to destroy our rights, values and lifestyle,” the organization said in a press release detailing the legislation. “Restricting the freedom of peaceable sportsmen will do nothing to solve our public safety problems. Criminals who are the cause of violent crime in the Evergreen State do not purchase their firearms through legal channels.
The National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action is also working against the measure and pointed out in a legislative alert that the state is already facing a $12 billion deficit without adding another expensive—and ineffective—gun control law.
“Law-abiding firearm owners will continue to be the only ones impacted by another gun-control law in Washington,” NRA-ILA said. “Washington State Police data shows that the firearms used in crimes originate from three main sources—theft, illicit sources, and straw purchases—all of which are already illegal means. HB 1163 is another solution in search of a problem, placing additional burdens on the law-abiding while doing nothing to address Washington’s escalating crime problem.”
Incidentally, two other anti-gun measures have also been approved by a committee and will soon be considered on the House floor. House Bill 1132 is a one-gun-a-month proposal that would restrict firearm purchases to one gun every 30 days and would also place arbitrary restrictions on the purchase of ammunition by law-abiding citizens. House Bill 1152 would require mandatory locked storage of firearms separately from ammunition in vehicles and within the home—a matter that should be up to Evergreen State gun owners, not the state government.
