U.S.A. –-(AmmoLand.com)- Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed legislation Wednesday banning the future sale, manufacture or importation of ammunition magazines capable of holding more than 10 cartridges, and the head of the Second Amendment Foundation told a Seattle newspaper his organization “will definitely file a lawsuit against the magazine ban.”
Inslee gathered with the Democrat lawmakers who sponsored Senate Bill 5078 and two other pieces of legislation—House Bills 1630 and 1705—and SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb told AmmoLand News “Our attorneys are reviewing those bills.” Coincidentally, SAF’s national headquarters are located in Bellevue, a city just east of Seattle.
Evergreen State gun owners are especially wary of the magazine ban because they have learned from past experience the gun control movement never seems satisfied and always comes back for more. It may take one or two years, depending upon the 2022 elections and whether Democrats remain in control of the Legislature in Olympia, but gun rights activists expect this issue to come up again.
Democrats have become the party of gun control and bans, as HB 1630 prohibits the open carry of firearms at meetings such as school board or city council sessions. It also prevents the carrying of firearms openly or concealed at elections offices, as noted by the Seattle Times.
Lawmakers at the bill signing were identified by the Daily Olympian as State Sen. Marko Liias (D-Lynnwood), and Reps. Liz Berry (D-Seattle), and Tana Senn (D-Mercer Island.) The gathering also included “several families impacted by gun violence,” the Olympian reported.
They were identified generically by the Seattle Times as “firearms-safety advocates, including people who have seen friends and family killed or injured from gun violence, as well as…state Attorney General Bob Ferguson.”
There is no indication anyone in the room was a firearms safety instructor, or represented organizations that offer gun safety courses taught by certified instructors, such as the National Rifle Association or U.S. Concealed Carry Association.
Inslee was quoted by the Olympian expressing personal pride that Washington “has been willing to take the lead to stand up against the NRA, and to stand up for common sense gun safety legislation.” There was no small irony in the fact that Inslee signed restrictive gun control laws within days of governors in three other states signing legislation opening their states–Alabama, Indiana, and Ohio–to “constitutional carry.”
“We are not willing to accept gun violence as a normal part of life in the state of Washington,” Inslee stated, according to the newspaper account. “We will not allow this scourge of gun violence to wash across our state without taking action. Today I’m proud to say we’re taking action against gun violence.”
The magazine ban, which takes effect in July, does not affect original capacity magazines already possessed by gun owners. It is those magazines that may be the target of future legislation that could mandate an outright ban on their possession.
Dan Mitchell, the owner of Sporting Systems in Vancouver, Wash., told AmmoLand he’s been selling lots of magazines and firearms that come equipped with such magazines. He is skeptical about the magazine ban because “there is no way to enforce it.”
Mitchell predicted strong sales of magazines and firearms over the next three months before the ban takes effect. Asked what the new laws will accomplish, Mitchell offered a one-word response: “Nothing.”
House Bill 1705 puts restrictions on so-called “ghost guns,” requiring serial numbers to be added to home-built firearms so they may be traced.
“These guns are so dangerous because we have no way of tracing them and people can get them without a background check, that’s why they are utilized by gun traffickers,” said Berry, who sponsored the bill.
She apparently doesn’t understand that criminals avoid background checks altogether when they get their hands on any firearm, regardless of whether it has a serial number or not.
Last year, the Times recalled, Washington lawmakers passed legislation that bans open-carry of weapons at the Capitol in Olympia and at permitted demonstrations around the state. The new law regulating carry extends that prohibition to school board meetings and election facilities where ballots are counted, the Olympian detailed. School boards typically meet in school-owned facilities, where firearms are already prohibited.
As reported earlier, Brownells has started a fund-raising effort to support a SAF legal challenge by donating $2 from the sale of its each brand-name magazine to the organization.
A California magazine ban is being challenged in the federal court system, with the case currently on appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
RELATED:
- Brownells ‘Mag Dump’ Effort to Raise Funds for SAF Challenge of WA Mag Ban
- WA Gun Owner Fury Erupts as Lawmakers Pass Magazine Ban
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
