Initiative 594 is a straightforward measure to extend existing criminal background checks to all private firearm transfers and sales. It does not place an unreasonable burden on gun-show participants or online merchants, nor does it diminish the Second Amendment.
While not a panacea to gun violence in Washington, I-594 will limit the number of wife beaters, felons and people with serious mental illness from obtaining a gun. That may not align with the personal interests of many felons and domestic abusers, mind you, but it is in the public interest. Washingtonians should vote for I-594.
Labor to safeguard the Second Amendment and push for reasonable approaches to curtail gun violence and behold the cowardice. An initiative is a wretched tool for crafting policy, deflecting responsibility from legislators who scurry at talk of guns or the National Rifle Association. I-594 was an initiative to the Legislature, but the Legislature decided not to decide. Now Washington voters are freighted with the responsibility, forced to perfect their hit-the-mute reflex against a fusillade of pro- and anti- ads.
Fear amplifies the noise. And fear works. Lawmakers recoil from the NRA. But gun-rights supporters are making a strategic mistake opposing universal background checks. On reasonable safeguards, in Western states such as Colorado, opinion has turned. The NRA and gun-rights advocates adhere to the slippery-slope canard, that I-594 eases the way for a national gun registry, culminating in President Obama confiscating your Smith and Wesson.
But presuppose I-594 passes and, like more than a dozen states that require background checks for private firearms’ sales, crime drops relative to the rest of the country. The NRA becomes Chicken Little, its leverage dissolved.
For a reality check, consider Snohomish County Prosecutor Mark Roe. Roe is a tough-on-crime, pro-death penalty, bear of a prosecutor. Most of the people who cause grief in the county are young men in the 16-to-25 age range. They look for easy marks. No background check for a private, online sale? “How is that in the public interest?” Roe asks.
I-591, which was hatched to counter I-594, is a rollback. Section 2 of I-591 would negate Washington laws that don’t jibe with a uniform national standard. That could put the kibosh, for example, on searching the DSHS database for gun buyers who are seriously mentally ill. I-591 is a giant leap backwards.
Phil Shave of Washington Arms Collectors notes that the vast majority of gun owners are law-abiding souls, and he’s right. Those law-abiding folks have nothing to worry about. Felons and domestic abusers do. Yes to I-594, no to I-591.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
