Washington: Anti-Gun Group Announces 2019 Agenda

On December 5^th, the Alliance for Gun Responsibility, a group backed by out-of-state elites, announced it will pursue its most extreme anti-gun legislative agenda to date during the upcoming 2019 Washington Legislative Session.  This comes less than one month after the Alliance for Gun Responsibility and Seattle tech-billionaires spent millions to pass Initiative 1639, which made the state’s gun control laws amongst the worst in nation.

Some of the most egregious restrictions in the Alliance for Gun Responsibility’s 2019 agenda includes the following:

• Standard Capacity Magazine Ban:  Targets commonly owned standard capacity ammunition magazines by arbitrarily branding them as “High Capacity Magazines,” and restricts access for self-defense purposes.
• Government Mandated Training to Obtain CPL:  Would require all new applicants and renewing holders of a concealed pistol license show documentation they have completed a firearms safety course
• Abolish State Preemption:  Washington’s state preemption statute, passed in 1983, helps keep firearm and ammunition laws consistent throughout the state by establishing that the State Legislature has full authority to regulate and create laws pertaining to firearms and ammunition.  These statutes help prevent a confusing patchwork of gun control laws which make it difficult for gun owners to ensure that they are following the law and also protects the Second Amendment rights of all Washingtonians, regardless of where they reside.
• Remove Second Amendment Rights without due process:  Impose a firearm prohibition for any person who has been released from a 72-hour mental health evaluation. This type of legislation removes a constitutional right without any mental health adjudication or judicial determination, and without any due process of law.
• Expand “Gun-Free Zones” to child care facilities and early learning centers:  This type of policy creates arbitrary boundaries around areas where law-abiding individuals are prohibited from carrying a firearm for self-defense.  These arbitrary boundaries do not deter criminals.
• Firearm Destruction by Washington State Patrol:  Allows for the destruction of all firearms confiscated by or forfeited to the Washington State Patrol.  Like other seized items, these firearms should be sold by law-enforcement to generate revenue instead of spending money to have them destroyed.
• Require Reporting of Lost or Stolen Firearms by setting a timeframe for when they must be reported under penalty of law:  Individuals should not be further victimized after experiencing a burglary or other loss.

Your NRA will continue to fight for the Second Amendment rights of Washingtonians and will be at the Capitol on a daily basis throughout the 2019 legislative session.  Your active participation is needed to help protect self-defense rights in the Evergreen state.  Please sign up as an NRA Frontlines volunteer and get at least three fellow gun owners to also sign up to receive timely legislative alerts on firearm-related bills during this upcoming session.  Make plans to attend committee hearings on these bills in Olympia when NRA-ILA notifies you of the place and location.  Also, contact your state lawmakers before and during session urging them to OPPOSE these measures. 

Please stay tuned to your email inbox and www.nraila.com for further updates on pre-filed bills and ways to be involved when the legislature convenes on January 14^th.