Washington state is about to pass one of the dumbest, most dangerous gun control laws most could imagine.
State lawmakers recently approved a bill that would require residents to obtain a permit to purchase a firearm, according to Axios.
The big picture: The permit-to-purchase bill builds on recent gun control measures passed in Washington state, which have included bans on selling high-capacity firearm magazines and so-called assault weapons.
State of play: The gun permitting measure, which won final approval in the Washington state House on Tuesday, now heads to the desk of Gov. Bob Ferguson.
It was the highest-priority gun control policy this year for top legislative Democrats, who control both the state House and state Senate.
What's inside: The legislation, House Bill 1163, would require most people in Washington to have completed a certified firearms safety training course within the previous five years before they can get a permit to buy a firearm.
Prospective gun owners would have to apply for the permit and pay a fee to the Washington State Patrol, which runs firearm background checks.
If the required training has been completed, the State Patrol would have to grant permit applications unless someone is restricted from owning a firearm for another reason, including having an outstanding arrest warrant or being subject to a no-contact order.
This isn’t surprising given that Washington’s government despises the notion that anyone other than law enforcement should be allowed to keep and bear arms. Oh, and also violent criminals too. We can’t forget them, right?
But it was this line from state Rep. Liz Berry, a Democrat, who said: “If this policy saves one life, it’s worth doing.”
How many times have we heard this mantra? It’s a favorite among anti-gunners who pretend their cherished gun control laws would actually save lives.
This is because they know most of those they want to persuade haven’t looked at the data, which provides a much deeper – and more accurate – perspective.
The FBI reported 19,252 homicides, including murder and non-negligent manslaughter in 2023, according to the agency’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program.
The data further reveals that there were about 70,500 instances where someone was either killed or wounded by a firearm in the commission of a criminal act. This includes about 13,500 gun homicides and 57,000 non-fatal injuries from criminals using firearms.
Pretty bad, right? Perhaps people should have to ask the government’s position to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
Not so fast.
The data also shows that gun owners are light years more likely to use their firearms to defend their lives, loved ones, and property than they are to commit a crime. Rutgers University published a study estimating about 489,000 defensive gun uses each year in the United States. These involve incidents in which the gun is actually fired. There are plenty more defensive gun uses in which one simply brandishes their firearm in a threatening manner to scare off a potential threat without ever pulling the trigger.
In light of this, those who are truly concerned about “saving one life” or perhaps hundreds of thousands should want as many responsible people carrying firearms as possible. Anti-gunners love to paint a dystopian picture of America becoming the wild, wild west if more people carry guns. But the numbers don’t lie.
Carrying a firearm is the best way to protect oneself from violent criminals who care about Democrats’ gun laws about as much as America cares about women’s basketball. Anti-gunners literally believe that they can save lives by forcing law-abiding people to bring a cell phone to a gunfight and hoping the criminal will be polite enough to wait for the boys in blue to show up.
But let’s be real. This isn’t about keeping people safe. It is about control. It is about keeping people dependent on the government. It is also yet another reason not to live in Washington.
