I-594 – LonelyMachines

SAF Brings Suit against I-594

The press release is here. The filing itself is here [pdf].

Their argument is that I-594 is unconstitutional because it is too vague, both facially and as applied.

I-594, with its amendments to RCW 9.41 relating to non-commercial transfers of firearms, as well as Defendants’ enforcement of the same, prohibit, substantially interfere with, inhibit access to, and infringe upon the right to possess firearms and thus infringe Plaintiffs’ rights under the Second and Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as well as the rights in Article I, Section 24 of the Washington State Constitution.

Specific examples of infringement include the criminalization of shared firearms in the same home, the impractical burden on firearms training, and the inability to retake possession of a gun previously loaned to another.

They point out that the Washington State Patrol will not be enforcing the law because they can’t prove what is or isn’t a transfer.

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Civil Rights

I-594: Curios and Relics

6 comments

The ATF has long recognized that certain firearms fall into a category known as “curios and relics.” As defined, this includes weapons that “are of special interest to collectors by reason of some quality other than is associated with firearms intended for sporting use or as offensive or defensive weapons.” Most are firearms over 50 years old, or for which the value is historical rather than functional.

Collectors of curios and relics (C&R) can acquire a Type 3 FFL, which allows them to bypass some of the transfer requirements of the Gun Control Act and Brady Act. To the best of my knowledge (and please prove me wrong), Borchardt pistols and Clement carbines are hardly the preferred weapons of gang violence and mass shootings.

But folks in Washington state decided to do things their own way. Whether through haste or design, I-594 now makes it pointless to hold a C&R license there.

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Civil Rights

I-594: A Recipe for Disaster

2 comments

It only cost $13 million, but Washington State voters have passed a bill [pdf] mandating “universal” background checks for all transfers of firearms. This is bad law. It will punish those whose only failing was not knowing its stipulations in detail, and it will do nothing to deter crime.

Under the law, a transfer is pretty much any situation in which possession of a gun changes. It doesn’t just cover the sale of firearms–a transfer occurs whenever someone besides the registered owner is in possession of the gun. So, “hold my rifle while I tie my shoes” is a transfer. If a background check hasn’t been done, with a licensed dealer as the intermediary, both parties commit a gross misdemeanor.

I’m afraid it’s going to take a few innocent people getting thrown in jail or losing their right to own guns in Washington before the defects of this law come to light.