Yesterday afternoon, The Seattle Times Editorial Board continued the call to action for the Washington State Legislature to violate Human Rights. [see archive link at bottom]
This, honestly is of little surprise. To call the “incremental process of strengthening Washington’s gun laws” to be progress is anything but.
As someone who has been on the ground, fighting against the proposed magazine capacity ban [this year under SSB 5078] along with the new banning of ALL weapons in municipal buildings [under HB 1630] to state that such laws are a benefit to Seattle, King County, Tacoma, Pierce County, and the State of Washington is extremely, willfully (and in my ever so humble opinion) arrogant to the increase of violence that has claimed the calm in this state.
The House of Representatives should not be following the select few individuals from the editorial board, but the voice of the residents of Washington who have come out in great numbers, increasing numbers in opposition to the gun control bills being wrongly pushed through the Legislature. Over 1 out of every 500 Washington residents over the age of 18 (based on 2020 census numbers) have officially registered a position against the magazine capacity bill. It is a highly diverse, inclusive association of individual Washington residents who are standing against this bill. Not the gun lobby as it has been falsely claimed.
Just how many were signed in officially against SSB 5078 for the House Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee hearing? Over 15,000. Nearly triple the previous state record for people signed in to limit the governor’s emergency powers. That number hasn’t been announced in the official summary of the committee testimony, nor has it been reported on by any of the local news media.
Taking the party line to pass this bill will be politically costly for the Washington State House of Representatives. The WA 2A community is watching, seeing who is voting against the State Constitution as well as the Constitution of the United States. We, in the WA 2A community, know that every single member of the House is up for re-election this November; with many Democrat Representatives barely winning their current seats.
A Washington Democrat (or Republican) who votes for gun control this session will have a heavy campaign against them this Fall. I, personally, will work to have you voted out of office.
The Seattle Times editorial board continued in their opinion piece for House Bill 1630 to strip Washington State preemption via cuts by a thousand paper cuts. This bill isn’t just a prohibition against guns in government meetings and municipal buildings; it is a prohibition against ALL weapons: including pepper spray, tasers, etc. Weapons that domestic violence victims use to protect themselves against their abusers. Weapons that victims of stalking use to protect themselves against their abusers. Weapons that coeds use to protect themselves on college campuses and student unions against violent assault and rape. The ban against open-carry of firearms at demonstrations and the State Capitol shows the selfishness of those who sponsor and support this bill. It has been clear over the past two years of violent and deadly riots, that the ones supporting gun control actively dehumanize the rest of Washington residents by denying self-defense while actively protecting themselves. Yes, Representative Tana Senn actually said “last year we passed protections for ourselves” during a public hearing on 2/21. Coincidentally, they went so far as to place fences around the capitol to keep constituents out.
Members of the Editorial Board are silencing single mothers (and fathers), as well as victims of violent crime by actively supporting HB 1630. Members of the public who use mass transit, as any good Seattle resident does, will be barred from entering any town hall/meeting. HB 1630 bans ALL weapons, concealed or open carried. Municipal buildings and other areas where public meetings are held do not have the provisions nor the facilities to securely hold the firearm/weapon while in attendance like the lock boxes that are at every court house. This is where the Editorial Board and the Legislature actively denies equal access to government proceedings.
Attorney General Ferguson has wasted Washington taxpayer money by pushing anti-human rights laws that do nothing to protect Washingtonians. His failure to set up and prosecute the cases of assault, rape, battery as the former Seattle City Attorney and King County Prosecutors Office failed to do has done more damage as women have been decapitated, stabbed to death, raped, and beaten. The claim that the seven states and the District of Columbia ban the semi-automatic “assault weapons” (this claim is an actual lie by the Board, done so with deceptive language since there is no legal definition of an “assault weapon” outside of what was slammed through via I-1639 in Washington) as justification to do so blatantly ignores that 43 states do not have laws against ownership of AR-15s and other semi-automatic rifles. The framing used within the editorial is done intentionally to misdirect the readers.
The rhetoric of gun control is failing as millions of new gun owners have realized that the state and local governments will do nothing to protect communities from violence. This editorial from the Seattle Times is yet another example of the dying desperation of those who actively violate human and civil rights to slam through unpopular laws that have zero benefit to our communities in Washington State.
