Washington state has some of the strictest gun laws in the country, and the legislature will consider even more gun laws in its 2024 session.
The bills, if signed into law, will bulk up the state’s current permit-to-purchase law, subject gun owners to a $1,000 fine if they fail to report a lost or stolen firearm within 24 hours, and restrict Washingtonians to one gun purchase per month.
An attorney with a non-profit legal organization said his organization is monitoring the bills and is ready to take action if necessary.
“We are ready to sue,” Pete Serrano, general counsel for the Silent Majority Foundation, told The Epoch Times.
The bills are sponsored or cosponsored by Rep. Liz Berry, Rep. Darya Farivar, and Rep. Timm Ormsby, all Democrats. Ms. Berry’s staff did not respond to an email seeking comment. Spokesmen for Ms. Farivar and Mr. Ormsby said they were too busy preparing for the upcoming legislative session to comment.
Currently, Washington requires prospective gun buyers to certify that they have completed a training course and have a permit issued by the state.
HB 1902, pre-filed by Ms. Berry, would increase those requirements to a 10-hour class that includes live-fire training. The permit would be valid for five years. Mr. Kirk said the current licensing law was almost identical to HB 1902 when it was introduced in the last legislative session. However, the law had to be watered down to gain passage.
According to William Kirk, an attorney specializing in Washington gun law, the bill is an attempt to replace the elements that had been removed in the last legislative session to make the law more palatable.
Mr. Serrano agreed.
“This is basically [the current law] on steroids with even more conditions,” Mr. Serrano said.
Mr. Kirk said training is essential, and every gun owner should take advantage of training opportunities they find. However, he said the ability to exercise a Constitutional right should not be subject to government approval.
“I would love to be able to give some of my friends some sample ballots in September just to make sure that they’re not going to be complete idiots in November. That’s not the way our Constitutional rights work,” Mr. Kirk said.
According to Mr. Kirk, similar programs in Oregon and Maryland are tied up in the courts. California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, ended training contracts with private companies, turning the responsibility over to state police. The state police have no training system in place, which effectively leaves Hawaiian citizens with no way to obtain the required permits.
“They can’t get the training to get the license to buy the gun,” Mr. Kirk said.
HB 1903, also sponsored by Ms. Berry, makes the failure to report a lost or stolen firearm a civil infraction with a $1,000 fine.
Mr. Serrano said he is concerned about the amount of information the law requires the gun owner to provide when reporting the lost firearm. He said the possible fine combined with the information requirements could deter people from reporting the loss of a gun.
“A lot of folks don’t want to do that because they just don’t trust government,” Mr. Serrano said.
One Gun Each Month
Under this proposed law, it would be illegal for a firearms dealer to transfer more than one gun to a single buyer each month. Mr. Serrano said the bill infringes on citizens’ Second Amendment rights and could actually endanger some people.“As long as [firearms] are used lawfully, there’s no reason to limit transfers,” Mr. Serrano said. “This limits the ability of law-abiding citizens to access firearms they may need to protect themselves.”
Mr. Kirk said the bill would place unnecessary restrictions on the exercise of a constitutional right.
“Assume that freedom only exists on the first week of the month. Because what 2054 does is limit your ability to purchase a firearm to one every 30-day period,” he said.
Mr. Kirk said the bills are being sold as gun safety measures, but he believes the politicians wrote them with a different objective.
“They’re just intended to disarm and thus disempower the citizen,” he said. “It is that simple. It’s not gun control; it’s civilian disarmament.”
