Regarding Initiative 594: Background checks for private gun sales is the decoy issue. It will not close the real loophole in all gun control laws, which is that criminals ignore them and rarely obtain guns legally.
I-594’s real purpose is to entrap honest gun owners, making them instant felons for innocent, even laudable acts, thus permanently disarming and disenfranchising them.
Page 6: (25) defines any loan as a “Transfer”; Sec 3 (1) requires a background check for all non-exempt sales or “transfers”; 3 (2) requires that they go through a licensed dealer.
Pages 7-8: Sec 3 (4)( f)(ii) By explicitly exempting sharing a gun at an “authorized” shooting range — a “transfer” of a few minutes — I-594 clearly claims to govern such short-term “transfers” and to require a background check by a licensed dealer for any “transfer” not at an authorized range, or explicitly exempted. Examples:
My brother recently let a second cousin and her fiance shoot his rifle on private property. Lock him up and seize his guns!
A soldier “transfers” her guns to a friend for safe keeping before deploying. Gotcha!
A gun safety student hands a pistol to the instructor to check its safety. Gotcha!.
“Transferring” two rifles to an airline in checked baggage per TSA requirements, or letting a porter or cabbie touch the gun case. Gotcha!
Page 8: Sec 3 (4)(g): Didn’t know that box from your aunt’s estate contained two of your great-uncle’s pistols? Gotcha!
Bad law!
John R. Alberti
Everett
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