WASHINGTON STATE ANTI-GUN BILLS DIE IN COMMITTEE

March 3, 2005--Several pieces of anti-gun legislation failed to be voted out of committee by the Washington state legislature. Without a committee vote by 5:30 pm on March 2nd, the bills would not be reported to the body of the legislature.

House bill HB 1473 (the "CAP" bill) would have made it a crime to negligently store a loaded firearm if a person younger than sixteen obtained possession of the firearm.

House bill HB 1489 would have prohibited possession of weapons, including weapons carried by those with concealed pistol licenses, in the state capitol building.

House bill HB 1490 would have prohibited, with certain exceptions, the possession of firearms in state parks.

Senate bill SB 5343 would have required all private transactions to be brokered through licensed gun dealers, and would have required such transactions to be subject to fees, registration, and waiting periods.

Senate bill SB 5475 was a very broad bill that mirrored the now-sunsetted 1994 federal "assault weapons" ban. The bill targetted many firearms by name as well as by cosmetic features, and imposed limitations on magazine capacity. Penalties for violation of the bill would have been felony-level. The bill would also have required owners to allow their county sheriffs to inspect the weapons annually.

Senate bill SB 5593 would have banned the sale of .50 caliber rifles.

While it may seem easy to dismiss the fact that these bills died in committee, it is also a fact that they only did so because concerned gun owners took the time to call and write their legislators.

Gun owners in New York, Iowa, California, Illinois and other states where gun rights are now being threatened should take heart from what happened in Washington state.

Equally as important, gun owners should keep another fact in mind: with the number of people who own guns estimated to be as high as 83 million, we constitute the largest single-issue voting bloc in the country.

When we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with each other--pistol shooters, clay busters, hunters, military-style weapon owners--we cannot be defeated.