To own a gun is to own an instrument of deadly force. Its sole purpose is to kill. Yes, there are people, but not many, whose sole use of a gun is marksmanship competitions. Hunters, like marksmanship enthusiasts, are a minority of the gun owners. I have done a fair amount of killing of furry and feathered creatures, having been a hunter who was raised by a hunter. I am also a gun owner.
Most gun purchases involve handguns. They are illegal to use as a hunting tool. Against a long-barrel gun, handguns are guaranteed losers in a marksmanship competition. The handgun’s only purpose can be to harm or kill another human being, either as act of aggression or self-protection.
Our society has decided that gun ownership is a constitutional right, with certain exceptions — convicted felons, persons whom a court has determined to be dangerously mentally ill and perpetrators of domestic violence. Federal law denies these persons the right to own guns. Yet, current state law contains a gigantic loophole that allows private gun sales, purchases at gun shows and from gun dealers not federally licensed to take place with no backgrounds checks of the customers. Money and guns trade hands, no questions asked.
I-594 makes this dangerous loophole far less dangerous by requiring those who sell guns to check the criminal history and/or psychiatric hospitalization history of their customers. The loophole in the federal law isn’t eliminated, but I-594 makes the loophole considerably smaller. In doing so, I-594 as law would make our streets, theaters, shopping malls, restaurants and homes a bit safer than they are now.
Mike Manley
Snohomish
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