Gun-control advocates hope recent wins signal changing tide

PORTLAND, Ore. — It’s long been conventional wisdom that fighting for gun control is a good way to end a politician’s career.

But advocates of tighter gun laws are pointing to a pair of victories in the Pacific Northwest as evidence that the tide is shifting.

Last year in Washington, voters overwhelmingly supported mandatory background checks on private gun sales. Lawmakers in Oregon approved similar legislation this year, and last week it became clear there wouldn’t be political consequences. Gun-rights supporters were unable to gather enough signatures to force recall elections for the bill’s supporters.

“We are seeing it again and again, that this is actually a winning issue and you can vote to protect the American public and make the American public safe, and your political career will flourish,” said John Feinblatt, president of Everytown for Gun Safety, an advocacy group backed by millions from billionaire Michael Bloomberg, the former New York mayor.

Gun-rights supporters scoff at the idea that their political power is eroding. While gun control advocates have notched a string of successes since the 2012 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary, they’ve come largely in battleground or left-leaning states. Changes at the national level have stalled. And conservative states have gone toward fewer gun restrictions.

“Once again we see Michael Bloomberg funded gun control groups lie and distort the facts in an effort to further their anti-gun agenda,” said Lars Dalseide, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association.

The NRA and other gun rights advocacy groups have spent the past two decades pushing state legislatures to adopt laws friendly to gun owners, such as less restrictive policies on concealed weapons and protections for using a gun in self-defense. Gun-control advocates have only recently started taking a similar track, focusing on victories at the state level, said Harry Wilson, a Roanoke University professor who wrote the 2015 book “The Triumph of the Gun Rights Argument.”

“What we saw after Sandy Hook, states that tended to have very strict laws made their laws even more strict,” said Wilson, director of the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research at the Virginia university. “But states that tended to have lenient laws in many cases made their laws even less strict. States continued on the path that they’ve run.”

The new Oregon law requires gun buyers and sellers who aren’t related to visit a licensed firearm dealer who can conduct a background check. If the buyer passes, the gun can be sold.

Gun rights advocates — who say the law infringes on their rights — began collecting signatures in an effort to recall four of the lawmakers who supported the bill. Three of the movements quickly fizzled, but organizers of a recall targeting the bill’s primary sponsor, Democratic Sen. Floyd Prozanksi of Eugene, collected more than 10,000 signatures. Last week, state elections officials ruled that more 15 percent or more were invalid and the organizers fell 200 short of the threshold to require a recount.

The Legislature’s approval came only after Democrats — with the help of money from gun-control interest groups — expanded their legislative majorities in the 2014 election.

Kevin Starrett, head of the Oregon Firearms Federation, which funded the recall attempt, said gun-control advocates are reading too much into the recall’s failure. According to the secretary of state’s count, it barely fell short even after getting no money or support from national gun-rights groups, he said.

Washington state voters last year overwhelmingly supported an initiative to require background checks on all gun sales, including private transactions that don’t involve relatives.

Colorado’s Legislature approved stricter gun laws following the 2012 shooting at an Aurora movie theater. Two Democratic lawmakers who supported the bill were recalled in 2013, a move that sparked concern among Democrats that they could lose their job if they earn the wrath of the NRA by supporting gun restrictions. But groups seeking tougher gun laws point out that Democrats won those seats back in the next election.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.