Gov. Inslee Calls for Gun Ban & Permit Mandate

Governor Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced that they will continue Washington’s incremental assaults on your rights by asking the Legislature to pass more gun control in 2023.

While text of the proposed legislative package is not yet available, they stated that they want to (1) ban commonly-owned firearms, (2) require a permit to exercise the Second Amendment right to purchase or acquire firearms, and (3) allow lawsuits to bankrupt law-abiding firearm manufacturers when criminals misuse their products.

Inslee explained that Connecticut had a 40% drop in homicide when permit to purchase laws were enacted in 1995.  Inslee failed to mention that the rest of the country had a parallel drop in homicide at the same time, despite no such law.  [Macrotrends]

 

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"The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men." - Washington State Constitution’s Article 1, Section 24.

Oregon Judge holds gun control law (Measure 114) from taking effect

An Oregon state court judge placed a hold on the state’s strict new voter-approved gun control measure late Tuesday, only hours after a federal court judge allowed a ban on the sale and transfer of high-capacity magazines to go into effect.

Now, Harney County Judge Robert Raschio’s ruling muddies the waters on the implementation of Measure 114, which was set to go into effect Thursday. Oregon Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum vowed to appeal the matter straight to the state Supreme Court (Washington Examiner).

"What’s next? We will petition to the Oregon Supreme Court ASAP, seeking to align the result in our state courts with the federal court’s well-reasoned and thoughtful decision (Ellen Rosenblum: Twitter)."

Last month, when the measure looked to pass, some members of law enforcement in Oregon said that they would not enforce aspects of it (Townhall).

WA State Supreme Court: state can collect income tax now

And  decide later whether it’s a legal tax ... .

Washington’s Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed the state can begin writing rules to collect its hotly contested capital gains income tax long before hearing arguments about whether Douglas County Superior Court Judge Douglas Huber’s ruling the measure unconstitutional should be reversed.

In a one-page announcement citing no reasons for accepting the state’s argument for issuing a stay of Huber’s ruling, the justices granted a motion filed in November by Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson allowing the state’s Department of Revenue to proceed with plans to impose the tax despite a looming Jan. 26 hearing on its merits.

The Democratically controlled Legislature last year passed, and Gov. Jay Inslee signed into law a measure that would impose a 7 percent tax on income from capital gains above $250,000 a year, such as profits from stocks or business sales.

Exceptions include the sale of real estate, livestock and small family-owned businesses.

The Washington State Constitution, however, requires that such taxes be applied uniformly and cannot exceed one percent without voter approval.

Backers of the tax describe it as an excise tax, but previous court decisions have consistently regarded income as property — which must be taxed at the same rate for everyone.

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