The NRA has long made the case that if you give the anti-gunners an inch, they’ll take a mile. Washington state’s attorney general plans to provide more fodder for that assertion.
Riding the wave of “success” in the 2018 election, when voters passed Initiative 1639 (I-1639), Attorney General Bob Ferguson plans to push for even more restrictive measures this year. The agenda includes putting arbitrary limits on magazine capacity, banning “assault weapons” and outlawing “ghost guns.”
Washington currently has no restrictions on magazines, but Ferguson wants to change that, imposing a maximum capacity of 10 rounds on any firearm magazine—though he says he would exempt law enforcement officer (hoping, no doubt, not to repeat the fiasco New Jersey is facing now as off-duty police officers are now likely to be outgunned by criminals) and activity on recreational shooting ranges.
For the so-called “assault weapons” ban, Ferguson has come up with an arbitrary definition for “assault weapons.” He wants any semi-automatic rifle that has at least one military-style feature to be classified as an “assault weapon.” No matter that some of those “military-style” features play no role in the firing ability of the gun.
When it comes to “ghost guns,” Ferguson wants to outlaw the ownership or transfer of any firearm that can’t be detected by a metal detector.
These bills would be added to the infringements that I-1639 addresses. That initiative includes such things as increasing the age for the purchase of semi-automatic rifles to 21, though federal law stipulates the age of 18. It also requires “safe storage” of firearms that, while not mandating that guns be kept in a safe at all times, can result in felony or misdemeanor charges if a felon gets hold of your gun.
Of course, we all know that such restrictions will have little or no effect on reducing crime that is carried out with guns because criminals, by very definition, don’t obey the law. Rather, these measures are designed to keep law-abiding citizens from being able to protect themselves and their family members in the most expedient manner possible.
