Initiative 594 will require criminal and public safety background checks for all
gun sales and transfers, whether they be from a regular retail gun
store, gun show, or a private sale between private persons. (594 also requires online sales to be registered, which is peculiar, since that is already required by law.) 594 will also add Washington state's 5 business day waiting period
to all legal gun transactions.
Here's
what makes 594 dangerous: What
criminal is going to register the transfer of his firearm
when he plans on committing a crime with his freshly acquired gun? If 594 becomes law, only the law-abiding will obey
594. A criminal is a criminal – criminals won't
care about obeying 594.
594 will impede people from defending themselves if they suddenly find out they need a gun to defend themselves. There is an advertizement for 594 which portrays a woman suddenly being stalked. She has no firearm to defend herself with. Under 495 she won't even be able to borrow a gun for self-defense, until 5 days go by. That scenario is a severe injustice. At the end of the advertizement, there is the sound of a gunshot. You are supposed to imagine the woman as a victim of the stalker. If 594 is enacted, that is almost certainly so.
594 will impede people from defending themselves if they suddenly find out they need a gun to defend themselves. There is an advertizement for 594 which portrays a woman suddenly being stalked. She has no firearm to defend herself with. Under 495 she won't even be able to borrow a gun for self-defense, until 5 days go by. That scenario is a severe injustice. At the end of the advertizement, there is the sound of a gunshot. You are supposed to imagine the woman as a victim of the stalker. If 594 is enacted, that is almost certainly so.
We live in reality where guns are needed to protect the innocent. Nothing should ever get in the way of defense of self. Please vote no on I-594
