March 20, 2014 In the News
Seattle PI: Campaign begins on Initiative 594 to require background checks on gun-show buys
The Seattle PI reports
Washington voters will be watched across the nation for the second time in three years: The Evergreen State faces a duel over gun laws on its November ballot.
The attention in 2012 was to Referendum 74, legalizing same-sex marriage.The 2014 focus will be on rival Initiatives 594 and 591: I-594 requires criminal background checks for those buying firearms at gun shows and on-line. I-591 would block any state gun regulation that has not been enacted nationally.
The pro-594 campaign kicked off Thursday with testaments of support from gun violence victims, clergy and a bipartisan team of prosecutors.
“The only people with anything to fear from a criminal background check are people with a criminal record,” said Snohomish County Prosecutor Mark Roe, a Democrat.
King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, a Republican, cited the Wednesday night shooting death of a 17-year-old in White Center, and argued that the state’s laws on selling firearms to underage buyers, convicted felons, and those who have been involuntarily committed are easily evaded.
[…]I-594 starts off with a healthy lead in the polls, even in conservative parts of the state east of the “Cascade Curtain.”
“Criminal background checks on gun purchases are even more popular than the Seattle Seahawks,” said the Rev. Sandy Brown, pastor of Seattle First United Methodist Church, who once had a pulpit in Wenatchee.