Yesterday, anti-gun Lieutenant Governor Cyrus Habib issued an order that will ban all firearms from Senate Galleries at the Washington State Capitol when the session convenes on January 8th. This order, which expands upon a previous order from 2015 that banned the open carry of firearms in Capitol galleries, will now prohibit all firearms, including those carried by individuals with a legally issued Concealed Pistol License (CPL).
This misguided order does nothing to prevent criminal acts and will only disarm and restrict law-abiding gun owners from being able to defend themselves while visiting the Capitol. Furthermore, Lt. Governor Habib’s announcement that this order will be used to help target popular semi-automatic firearms and standard capacity ammunition magazines is just another attempt to stigmatize commonly-owned firearms in Washington state as we head into the 2018 Legislative Session. This order follows shortly after Attorney General Bob Ferguson renewed his push to ban so-called “assault weapons” during the upcoming session that begins in January.
Please stay tuned to your email inbox and www.nraila.org for further updates on this issue and other measures impacting your Second Amendment rights in the Evergreen State.