There are two different gun-related initiatives on the November ballot. But I-591 would cancel out I-594.
I-594 would require that any person buying a gun in the state of Washington, from any source, submit to a criminal background check before purchase.
There are a few exceptions: gifts between immediate family members; antiques and relics; temporary transfer for self-defense; and loans for hunting and sporting activities.
The current rule is that if you buy from a licensed gun dealer in Washington, you must go through a criminal background check. But if you buy privately — at a gun show, online or from an acquaintance — no check is required.
Forty percent of all gun sales in this state are done privately, without a criminal background check. This allows felons and others who could not pass a check to buy guns.
I-591 would prohibit Washington state from requiring background checks on all gun sales, unless this becomes the federal standard.
Sixteen states have already passed legislation requiring background criminal checks before gun purchases. As a result, these states have 38-percent fewer women shot to death by their partner; 49-percent fewer firearm suicides; 39-percent fewer law enforcement officers shot to death by handguns; and 64-percent fewer guns sold in their state later recovered at crime scenes.
Grandmothers Against Gun Violence — a grassroots organization that has many members in the Madison Park, Washington Park, Canterbury, Denny-Blaine and Broadmoor neighborhoods — is volunteering its time to make sure voters understand that they need to vote on both issues and understand the differences between them.
For more information, visit www.grandmothersagainstgunviolence.org.
Liz Brandzel
Grandmothers Against Gun Violence
Madison Park