Washington State bans anyone under 21 from buying assault rifles

[Swordsmyth]

Washington on Tuesday joined a handful of other states that ban anyone under 21 from buying a semi-automatic assault rifle after voters passed a sweeping firearms measure in November that has drawn a court challenge from gun-rights advocates.The ballot initiative seeks to curb gun violence by toughening background checks for people buying assault rifles, increasing the age limit to buy those firearms and requiring the safe storage of all guns. Only the age-limit portion of the measure goes into effect on Jan. 1; the rest becomes law on July 1.
Kristen Ellingboe, a spokeswoman for the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, said the initiative was one of the most comprehensive gun-violence prevention measures to pass in the United States. It specifically targeted "semi-automatic assault rifles" in response to mass shootings across the country, she said.
"We've seen that assault rifles are the weapon of choice for mass shootings, and when they're used, more people are killed and injured," Ellingboe said.
Fifty-nine percent of Washington voters approved Initiative 1639 in the Nov. 6 general election.
"We've see time and again that Washington voters want action to prevent gun violence in our state," Ellingboe said. "They showed that again by supporting 1639 by a wide margin."
Opponents have sued to block it.
"Starting today, young adults between the ages of 18 to 20 will have their rights to purchase semi-automatic rifles stripped away," said Dave Workman, a spokesman for the Bellevue, Washington-based Second Amendment Foundation.
The federal lawsuit says the measure violates the Second and 14th amendments of the Constitution as well as gun sellers' rights under the Commerce Clause. Plaintiffs in the lawsuit are firearms dealers in Spokane and Vancouver, a 19-year-old competitive shooter, a 19-year-old in the Army Reserves, a 20-year-old recreational shooter, the Second Amendment Foundation and the National Rifle Association.

More at: https://news.yahoo.com/washington-bans-anyone-under-21-buying-assault-rifles-185105856.html

[Swordsmyth]

A Washington State anti-rights citizen initiative that passed in November and was immediately challenged in federal district court by two national gun rights groups has now been called “almost unenforceable” by the Lewis County prosecutor.
Initiative 1639 made Washington’s gun laws among the most restrictive in the nation, and already, the supporters have announced their legislative agenda for 2019 that would create even more restrictions. The Legislature opens a new session this month in the state capitol of Olympia.
Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer noted that sheriffs in Ferry, Lewis and Wahkiakum counties have already announced they will not actively enforce provisions of the gun control measure. He spoke during a nearly eight-minute interview on KIRO Radio in Seattle, explaining, “The problem with the way 1639 is written is that it’s almost an unenforceable law.”
Meyer, who advocated teaching gun safety in schools, said that the reason is because, in his opinion, the measure violated the state’s single subject rule for citizen initiatives. It does appear to have several different tenets, although some people argue that the initiative’s single subject was “gun control,” so it might be hard to challenge on that ground. But that didn’t stop Meyer from criticizing the initiative.
“The way that it’s written,” Meyer said, “is very hard to enforce.”
He also told Scott that the initiative does nothing to address “crooks stealing guns.”
I-1639, which spanned 30 pages and was initially disqualified by a Thurston County Superior Court judge because the initiative petitions did not comply with requirements of state law. But Judge James Dixon’s ruling was reversed one week later by Washington State’s liberal Supreme Court, which allowed the billionaire-backed initiative on the Nov. 6 ballot. It was approved by just under 60 percent of the voters.
Sheriff’s departments in Lewis and Ferry County have also said they will not actively enforce the initiative, which raises the legal age to purchase a semiautomatic rifle to 21, requires so-called “enhanced background checks,” adds a $25 paperwork fee to process a semi-auto purchase, requires proof of training, and so-called “secure storage.” It also creates a new felony-level crime of “community endangerment.”
Opponents of the measure, including the Washington State Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors Association, likened the training requirement to an unconstitutional “literacy test.”

More at: http://www.thegunmag.com/wa-prosecutor-says-anti-gun-initiative-unenforceable-law/

[Swordsmyth]

Washington State AG pens letter demanding Sheriffs enforce new gun laws they have already said they will not enforce. (https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bethbaumann/2019/02/13/wa-state-ag-to-sheriffs-put-your-political-views-aside-and-enforce-our-gun-contr-n2541444) But he says this is much different from the Marijuana laws he didn’t enforce, or the sanctuary status he currently enforces.