Washington: 2016 Legislative Session Convenes With Misguided Anti-Gun Legislation Introduced

On Monday, January 11, the Washington state Legislature began its 2016 legislative session. The 2016 session commences with legislation carried over from 2015 as well as newly introduced anti-gun legislation aimed at attacking your Second Amendment rights!

Here are the most pressing issues as the 2016 session opens:

House Bill 2354, sponsored by state Representative Jim Moeller (D), would ban the possession, purchase, sale, transfer and manufacture of many semi-automatic rifles, pistols and shotguns, defined as “assault weapons” based solely on their cosmetic features.  The bill would also prohibit arbitrarily-defined “large capacity” ammunition magazines.  This misguided piece of legislation would only affect law-abiding gun owners in Washington by criminalizing individuals for simply exercising their constitutional right to Keep and Bear Arms.

House Bill 1857, carry over legislation sponsored by state Representative Laurie Jinkins, would allow a family, “household member” or police officer to petition a court to take away a person’s firearms without consideration of due process.  

Another bill from 2015, House Bill 1747, sponsored by Representative Ruth Kagi, would create criminal penalties for “child endangerment due to unsafe storage of a firearm" if a “child” (defined as up to age 17) causes personal injury or death with a firearm.

Please call the legislative hotline at (800) 562-6000 and urge your legislators to oppose these bills! Also, call Representative Moeller’s Olympia office at (360) 786-7872 and tell him that banning your lawfully owned semiautomatic firearms will have NO impact on criminal activity as proven by the failed Clinton Gun Ban of 1994!  On Thursday, January 21, the anticipated date for gun control hearings, be prepared to attend and make your voices heard!

It’s vital that gun owners and sportsmen across the Evergreen State stay actively involved to avert anti-gun legislation from moving through the legislature this year.

Your NRA will keep you updated on the status of important legislation in addition to providing a simple and convenient way to contact elected officials.  To help assure success in 2016, please continue to check www.NRAILA.org and your email inbox for alerts on the latest action items.