Inslee: New gun laws in Washington should be “a model for the rest of the United States”

On Tuesday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee approved a series of bills that will tighten the state’s gun laws.

Inslee signed the following seven bills:

HB 1465 requires an additional background check for gun buyers who currently possess a concealed carry license.

HB 1739 prohibits possession of untraceable “ghost guns” which include plastic guns printed on 3D printers and guns that do not have a serial number, which are usually acquired through a DIY kit. It also bans the transfer of files for 3-D printable guns.

HB 1786 authorizes police to confiscate guns from those served with restraining and protective orders.

SB 5027 expands “red flag” confiscation to juveniles under age 18, permitting an extreme risk protection order to be filed against them and barring their firearms possession for up to one year, renewable on an annual basis.

SB 5181 implemented a six-month gun rights suspension from anyone under 72-hour psychiatric detainment permitted by Washington’s Involuntary Treatment Act, which is not decided by a judge but by a medical expert. In the past, those laws pertained only to people who had been committed by a judge.

SB 5205 bans gun ownership to those with a history of violence and found incompetent to stand trial but not committed, where the current law has only banned guns from those declared incompetent and involuntarily committed by a judge.

SB 5508 strengthens concealed carry license requirements, requiring applicants to undergo a fingerprint-based background check through the FBI in addition to checks through the state databases.

One bill that Inslee has yet to sign would require police to confiscate any weapons found on the property of a domestic violence call and put them on a five-day hold, regardless if they were used in a crime or not.

“Our state is a leader on #gunsafety but more work is needed to protect our students & the people of WA. That’s why today I am so happy to sign bills that ban untraceable ghost guns, keep guns away from our most vulnerable Washingtonians & improve gun safety overall,” Gov. Inslee tweeted.

“I’m proud that Washington voters and legislators have done much to promote common-sense gun safety in the last several years,” Inslee said when signing the bill banning firearms made with plastic 3D printers. “We’ve come a long way from 1994, if I may say so, on a personal note.”

In 1994, during his first term in Congress, then-Rep. Inslee voted for a ban on the manufacture and import of military-style semi-automatic rifles, was targeted by the National Rifle Association and lost his re-election campaign to Republican Doc Hastings as part of a GOP wave that captured seven of the state’s nine House seats. That ban expired in 2004 and was not renewed by Congress.

22 of state’s 39 counties won’t enforce I-1639

The counties in red are those whose law enforcement officials have said they will not enforce I-1639. The three counties in green-Thurston, Clark, and Walla Walla-are the only ones that have said definitively they will enforce the initiative. The counties in white are undetermined.   It is expected that the same Sheriff’s that objected to I-1639 will also object to the newest legislation that strips citizens of their second amendment rights.

I-1639 passed with more than 60 percent of the vote, with the majority of “yes” votes coming from heavily populated, more urban counties west of the Cascades, while voters on the east side of the state mostly gave it a thumbs down.

The measure raises the minimum age for adults to buy a semi-automatic rifle from 18 to 21, redefines all semi-automatic rifles as “assault rifles” and mandates safety classes for purchases. In addition, it requires firearms dealers to sell trigger locks and gun safes and prevents them from selling to out-of-state residents. The law would also make firearm owners criminally liable if their guns were involved in any criminal incidents, even if the weapons were stolen.