Washington Governor Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced in December new legislative proposals that would prohibit military-style weapons, require a permit to purchase a gun and make those who sell guns responsible for negligent sales in the state.
The bills SB-5265 and HB-1240 will tack onto a law that prohibits large magazine capacity.
The magazine size can’t be any more than ten rounds.
Walla Walla County Sheriff Mark Crider the Vice President of the Washington State Sheriff’s Association says “There’s really no way for us to enforce it. There’s no way to tell when and where they got that magazine.”
Sheriff Crider also says that these new gun laws shift the focus from offenders to non-offenders.
“It just makes law-abiding gun owners worry. Do I have the right magazine capacity? Do I not have the right magazine capacity?” said Crider.
Gov. Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson were joined by Senator Jamie Pedersen who was a supporter of the new bills.
Sen. Pedersen said in no way do these bills have an effect on people’s 2nd amendment rights and just wants to hold those who sell or manufacture the guns responsible.
“If the manufacturer or retailers are employing practices that are leading criminals to have access to these firearms then they are going to be responsible for the damage that’s caused,” said Sen. Pedersen.
Sheriff Crider says he has three people on staff and if the three of them went around to every registered gun owner in Walla Walla County, they’d have to check 66 people a day for a year.
Sheriff says he just doesn’t have the resources for that.
” I’m not going to divert resources away from public safety to go check on law-abiding citizens to make sure they have their gun permits,” said Crider.
Sheriff Crider says that he agrees, gun laws do need to have rules.
However, he says the two new bills are feel-good legislation that doesn’t do anything for the problem.
In a statement from the WSSA, it says: The most effective path to addressing the root of the problem is addressing the misguided desire to take human lives.
Sen. Pedersen says if you’re involved in manufacturing a dangerous product, you have a special responsibility to keep the public safe.
Pedersen says it’s not just the legislators that are passing these laws, but the community, the people have been voting on these measures for the last ten years.
