OLYMPIA — More than 200 gun-rights activists, most of them carrying firearms, rallied on the steps of Washington’s Capitol Thursday morning to protest the expansive background-check law state voters passed in November.
State legislators and other opponents of Initiative 594’s requirement of background checks on all gun sales and transfers voiced their belief that the new law unfairly infringes on their constitutional rights, and a handful of the protesters carried long guns into the public viewing gallery of the state House of Representatives just as the morning’s brief floor session ended.
A series of speakers urged the crowd outside the Capitol to work to build support to repeal Initiative 594, both by contacting their legislators and by lobbying their friends and relatives. Several I-594 opponents carried signs with messages including “Prosecute criminals not harass us” and “I will not comply” during the chilly morning rally.
“We’re not the bad guys, and they’re trying to make us the bad guys, but we let this happen,” said Adina Hicks, executive director of Protect Our Gun Rights Washington, one of several groups that organized the rally.
“Gun owners tend to be a live and let live kind of people,” Hicks said. “Can’t do that anymore.”
Although the protest was explicitly directed against the new background-check law, a number of speakers and crowd members said their feelings extend to an opposition to gun control efforts in general.
“This is a culture war, folks,” said Rep. Brian Blake, D-Aberdeen. “They don’t like what we do, and they want to control what we do.”
State Rep. Matt Shea, R-Spokane Valley, joined the rifle-brandishing protesters inside the Capitol and posed for pictures alongside them outside the House chamber. He declined an offer to accept a gun being handed to him without a background check. While outside, he enthusiastically told the crowd about several gun-rights bills he supports.
“Tyranny is not an option,” Shea said in a rising voice. “The right to bear arms is unalienable. It can’t be taken away by a majority vote. It can’t be taken away by the Legislature. It can’t be taken away by the Supreme Court. God gave us that.”
Garrett Bosworth, 16, of Yakima clutched a wood-stock hunting rifle as she sat in the House gallery after the outdoor rally ended.
“It’s like standing up to bullies,” she said of efforts to fight gun control. “If you don’t say anything, they’re just going to keep doing it.”
State Patrol officers stayed close to the gun-carrying protesters who entered the Capitol but made no arrests related to the rally. It’s legal to openly carry firearms into the Capitol and the public viewing galleries above the chamber floors.
Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, D-Covington, said the issue of guns in the public gallery — which doesn’t have protective glass separating it from lawmakers on the floor — has been something his caucus has been talking about.
“There are a number of members who are very uncomfortable and feel we should address the issue,” he said.
He noted that people aren’t allowed to bring signs into the Capitol, even though free speech is a First Amendment right.
“It points to the fact that we want to be consistent with our rules,” he said.
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