Why You Want to Vote Against Initiative 594

JIM’s NOTE: In 819 Friday columns for the Ellensburg Daily Record (the last couple years of which are posted here weekly), this is the first one of my tomes that had to be on the editorial/opinion page, as opposed to the outdoor section – can’t imagine why…

In nearly five decades of considering issues and and casting ballots, the most misleading ballot title I have yet seen is the one for Initiative 594, found on your just-received 2014 ballot:

“This measure would apply currently used criminal and public safety background checks by licensed dealers to all firearm sales and transfers, including gun show and online sales, with specific exceptions.

“Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ]”

The final three words of the title, “with specific exceptions,” hide broad definitions of “transfers,” and exceptions so narrow that virtually every time a firearm changes hands—even a loan between friends and family members—it is subject to background checks, paperwork, fees and, in the case of handguns, government registration. The complete text of the initiative is found on pages 65 through 70 in your new voter’s pamphlet. You will see why the 6,500 members of the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs oppose it. You will also find that this initiative criminalizes behaviors which have been accepted as ethical and honorable for hundreds of years.

Proponents will tell you that Initiative 594 closes “loopholes” for criminals purchasing or transferring firearms at gun shows or flea markets and through online sales. Just who are the people using these “loopholes?” According to a U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics Special Report, dated November 2001 and revised in 2002, fewer than 2% of criminals purchased firearms at a gun show or flea market. A much earlier study placed that number as high as 6%. That same report indicated that only 12% of convicted felons had acquired firearms from dealers. Currently, by the way, virtually all online (internet) sales and trades of firearms require that the firearm be physically delivered through a licensed dealer—with a standard background check. Where are the loopholes?

Under 594, virtually all sales and transfers (including gifts) of handguns will be reported to the Washington State Department of Licensing (DOL), and entered into its database. Make no mistake, 594 is a universal handgun registration initiative. (It is not expected, however, that those illegally possessing or transferring handguns will comply with the new reporting rules.)

My father, The Old Man, would be shaking his head now, still asking his favorite questions: “What is the real problem here, and how in hell will this brilliant solution solve it?” Haven’t we seen over lifetimes of working our Constitution and Bill of Rights that we will never change criminal behavior by criminalizing lawful behavior?

We keep our children safe around cars by training them from infancy to adulthood about how to behave in the presence of vehicles. If we expect our kids to grow up to be safe around firearms, we must spend an equivalent amount of time exposing them to firearms safety training. In truth, there is an exception for firearms coaching and training for kids under age 18. 594 allows a firearms transfer (hand-off) to a youngster for “educational purposes…while under the direct supervision and control of a responsible adult…” In the case of competitive and recreational shooting, however, Initiative 594, may effectively kill the shooting programs of 4-H, FFA, Boy Scouts and others. What does future safety look like then?

Significant numbers of adults take firearms handling classes before deciding on the best fit handgun or other firearm to purchase for themselves. At a recent meeting at Hal Holmes, one of the instructors explained how 594 would affect his classes. “Do the math,” he said. “I have eight students, each of whom is to handle at least four different handguns of mine, and maybe a long gun or two. Each time I hand a gun to someone, a transfer—with fees and paperwork—would have to happen. And the same would have to happen when they handed it back to me or on to another student. We would be looking at up to 80 transfers, at somewhere around $30 to $50 a pop. Who’s going to pay that? The first time I ignored the rules, I would be guilty of a misdemeanor. After that, each violation would be a class C felony. How does that make the citizens of Washington safer?”

There is an exception for such adult instruction, actually. It requires that the “firearm be kept at all times at an established shooting range authorized by the governing body of the jurisdiction in which such range is located.” To my knowledge (depending upon how that phrase is interpreted) there may be one such range in Kittitas County, only a couple in Yakima County, and maybe one in the Wenatchee area. So, where will the much-needed adult instruction take place?

Ballot Inititiative 594 is a Trojan Horse. It is not a measure to make us safer; it is a measure to make many of our firearms traditions difficult and/or illegal. It will alter the way we law-abiding citizens use and enjoy our firearms. And, in my view, it will seriously impact our ability to keep and bear arms. Contact every person you know—especially on the West Side—and ask them to read the whole text. Then ask if that is the future they truly would like to see. If not, they must vote against Initiative 594.