I don’t think it will pass, at least not in it’s current form, but this bill would make most of my guns illegal in Washington State. My bolt action Boomershoot rifle has a muzzle brake therefore these anti-freedom bigots want to call it an assault weapon and ban it (wrong). Both of my carry sidearms are capable of holding more than 10 rounds (18+1 in one and 15+1 in the other). I think I can get a 20 round magazine for one of them. I think I’ll order one right now…
Nope. The highest capacity magazine for my STI in .40 S&W doesn’t hold 20 rounds. It holds 22! I bought two. I should received them in two to five business days. Just because these bigots want to ban anything over 10 rounds in a magazine I’m now going to be packing 45 rounds of 180 grain hollow points, nearly a full box, when I carry.
As I said in the comments for the online order at Shooters Connection, “I read banned books. I shoot banned (or soon to be banned) guns.”
Update: I was too angry when I wrote the above and wasn’t thinking clearly. Bolt action rifles aren’t covered by the proposed ban (yet). The short version of the legalese below is that nearly all my semi-auto firearms are to be banned. If already have such a firearm you can either turn it in, with no compensation, to the police for destruction (once such an evil gun has been in the hands of private ownership it cannot ever again be trusted, even in the hands of the police), register it, or deactivate it. The registration option means you have to not only allow the police to visit your assault weapon storage facility yearly you have to pay them to do that and to do a yearly background check on you. Yes, this bill was introduced in 2005. But it will be back in the next session. The battle for freedom never ends.
Here’s the details from the anti-freedom bigots in Washington State:
(18) “Assault weapon” means:
(a) Any semiautomatic pistol or semiautomatic or pump-action rifle
5 or shotgun that is capable of accepting a detachable magazine, with a
6 capacity to accept more then ten rounds of ammunition and that also
7 possesses any of the following:
8 (i) If the firearm is a rifle or shotgun, a pistol grip located
9 rear of the trigger;
10 (ii) If the firearm is a rifle or shotgun, a stock in any
11 configuration, including but not limited to a thumbhole stock, a
12 folding stock or a telescoping stock, that allows the bearer of the
13 firearm to grasp the firearm with the trigger hand such that the web of
14 the trigger hand, between the thumb and forefinger, can be placed below
15 the top of the external portion of the trigger during firing;
16 (iii) If the firearm is a pistol, a shoulder stock of any type or
17 configuration, including but not limited to a folding stock or a
18 telescoping stock;
19 (iv) A barrel shroud;
20 (v) A muzzle brake or muzzle compensator;
21 (vi) Any feature capable of functioning as a protruding grip that
22 can be held by the hand that is not the trigger hand;
23 (b) Any pistol that is capable of accepting a detachable magazine
24 at any location outside of the pistol grip;
25 (c) Any semiautomatic pistol, any semiautomatic, center-fire rifle,
26 or any shotgun with a fixed magazine that has the capacity to accept
27 more than ten rounds of ammunition;
28 (d) Any shotgun capable of accepting a detachable magazine;
29 (e) Any shotgun with a revolving cylinder;
30 (f) Any conversion kit or other combination of parts from which an
31 assault weapon can be assembled if the parts are in the possession or
32 under the control of any person.
33 (19) “Detachable magazine” means a magazine, the function of which
34 is to deliver one or more ammunition cartridges into the firing
35 chamber, which can be removed from the firearm without the use of any
36 tool, including a bullet or ammunition cartridge.
37 (20) “Barrel shroud” means a covering, other than a slide, that is
38 attached to, or that substantially or completely encircles, the barrel
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1 of a firearm and that allows the bearer of the firearm to hold the
2 barrel with the nonshooting hand while firing the firearm, without
3 burning that hand, except that the term does not include an extension
4 of the stock along the bottom of the barrel that does not substantially
5 or completely encircle the barrel.
6 (21) “Muzzle brake” means a device attached to the muzzle of a
7 weapon that utilizes escaping gas to reduce recoil.
8 (22) “Muzzle compensator” means a device attached to the muzzle of
9 a weapon that utilizes escaping gas to control muzzle movement.
10 (23) “Conversion kit” means any part or combination of parts
11 designed and intended for use in converting a firearm into an assault
12 weapon.
13 NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW
14 to read as follows:
15 (1) No person in this state shall manufacture, possess, purchase,
16 sell, or otherwise transfer any assault weapon, or any assault weapon
17 conversion kit, except as authorized by subsection (3) of this section.
18 Any assault weapon or assault weapon conversion kit the manufacture,
19 possession, purchase, sale, or other transfer of which is prohibited
20 under this section is a public nuisance.
21 (2) No person in this state shall possess or have under his or her
22 control at one time both of the following:
23 (a) A semiautomatic or pump-action rifle, semiautomatic pistol, or
24 shotgun capable of accepting a detachable magazine; and
25 (b) Any magazine capable of use with that firearm that contains
26 more than ten rounds of ammunition.
27 (3) Subsection (1) of this section shall not apply to any of the
28 following:
29 (a) The possession of an unloaded assault weapon for the purpose of
30 permanently relinquishing it to a law enforcement agency in this state.
31 Any assault weapon relinquished pursuant to this subsection shall be
32 destroyed;
33 (b) The transfer of any assault weapon by a licensed manufacturer
34 or dealer to a law enforcement agency in this state for use by that
35 agency or its employees for law enforcement purposes;
36 (c) The possession of an assault weapon that was legally possessed
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1 on the effective date of this section, but only if the person legally
2 possessing the assault weapon has complied with all of the requirements
3 of subsection (5) of this section;
4 (d) The possession of an assault weapon that has been permanently
5 disabled so that it is incapable of discharging a projectile.
6 (4) Subsection (2) of this section shall not apply to any person:
7 (a) While lawfully engaged in shooting at a duly licensed, lawfully
8 operated shooting range;
9 (b) While lawfully participating in a sporting event officially
10 sanctioned by a club or organization established in whole or in part
11 for the purpose of sponsoring sport shooting events.
12 (5) In order to continue to possess an assault weapon that was
13 legally possessed on the effective date of this section, the person
14 possessing the assault weapon shall do all of the following:
15 (a) Within ninety days following the effective date of this
16 section, submit to a background check identical to the background check
17 conducted in connection with the purchase of a firearm from a licensed
18 gun dealer;
19 (b) Unless the person is prohibited by law from possessing a
20 firearm, immediately register the assault weapon with the sheriff of
21 the county in which the weapon is usually stored;
22 (c) Safely and securely store the assault weapon. The sheriff of
23 the county may, no more than once per year, conduct an inspection to
24 ensure compliance with this subsection;
25 (d) Annually renew both the registration and the background check;
26 (e) Possess the assault weapon only on property owned or
27 immediately controlled by the person, or while engaged in the legal use
28 of the assault weapon at a duly licensed firing range, or while
29 traveling to or from either of these locations for the purpose of
30 engaging in the legal use of the assault weapon, provided that the
31 assault weapon is stored unloaded and in a separate locked container
32 during transport.
33 (6) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, any person
34 in this state who, after the effective date of this section, acquires
35 title to an assault weapon by inheritance, bequest, or succession,
36 shall, within thirty days of acquiring title, do one of the following:
37 (a) Comply with all of the requirements of subsection (5) of this
38 section;
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1 (b) Dispose of the assault weapon pursuant to subsection (3)(a) of
2 this section; or
3 (c) Permanently disable the assault weapon so that it is incapable
4 of discharging a projectile.
5 (7) The sheriff of a county may charge a fee for each registration
6 and for each registration renewal pursuant to subsection (5) of this
7 section. However, such fee may not exceed the costs incurred in
8 administering the registration program established under subsection (5)
9 of this section.
10 (8)(a) Any person convicted of violating subsection (1) or (2) of
11 this section is guilty of a class C felony.
12 (b) Any person convicted of violating subsection (5) of this
13 section is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
14 (9) Any violation of this section shall also result in the
15 immediate revocation of the registration of every assault weapon
16 registered to such person.
17 (10) This section does not apply to:
18 (a) Marshals, sheriffs, prison or jail wardens or their deputies,
19 or other law enforcement officers of this or another state while acting
20 within the scope of their duties;
21 (b) Members of the armed forces of the United States or of the
22 national guard or organized services, when on duty;
23 (c) Officers or employees of the United States duly authorized to
24 possess assault weapons; or
25 (d) Any person engaged in the business of manufacturing, repairing,
26 or dealing in assault weapons, or the representative or agent of the
27 person who is properly licensed under federal or state laws to do so
28 and who is acting within the usual and ordinary course of the business.
I don’t really want to read that ugly chunk of legalese. Care to sum up?
James – Summation: All your guns are belong to us.
Jim –
Recipe for “Instant Felon”:
Take law abiding citizen, add government.
Stir.
Oppress at will.
I recently moved to Washington state and your blog is the first place I read of this bill. The NRA and GOA websites do not appear to have recent info on its status, and the Washington Senate website doesn’t have any new information, either. Did you hear something new about this, or can we hope that it died and will not be resurrected? (I will write a few letters regardless…)
This sounds like California law…
I know that you pacific northwest folks aren’t too happy with imported Californians, why import the even worse laws?
Is there a .50 BMG ban in there too?
Sheesh!
Find the GFW lawyer who is spreading this and have him er… sent to New Jersey where he can’t do much damage with this nonsense.
Well, it’s horrible but not *quite* as bad as you say. The claim that nearly all semi-auto firearms will be banned is a tad exaggerated.
Virtually all semi-auto shotguns won’t fall under this because they don’t have detachable magazines or hold over 10 rounds in their tubular magazines. As also all the tubular magazine rimfire rifles are exempted.
My Remington 7400 is not on the bad guns list, or pretty much any of the standard hunting type (non-EBR) rifles due to the over 10 round magazine requirement. In fact, I’ve got 7 semi-auto weapons and none of them would qualify. The only one that I could even get to be on the list would be my Ruger 10/22, and I’d have to buy accessories (folding stock or a pistol grip or a muzzle brake or somesuch) for it to do that.
Terrible, terrible, law. Maybe even worse because it excludes so many common guns so it won’t get as much opposition as it deserves. It’s just not as inclusive as you thought.
I misread it again. I read it as any firearm that had the capacity to accept a magazine holding more than 10 rounds. That’s not true. It has to have “one additional feature” in addition to being able accept the greater than 10 round magazines.
But if you have a gun and a full capacity magazine for it that actually has more than 10 rounds of ammunition in it you go to jail:
Sec 2(2)
No person in this state shall possess or have under his or her control at one time both of the following:
(a) A semiautomatic or pump-action rifle, semiautomatic pistol, or shotgun capable of accepting a detachable magazine; and
(b) Any magazine capable of use with that firearm that contains more than ten rounds of ammunition.
All my loaded semi-autos (except the .22 pistol) would declared an AW. This includes my SKS, AR-15, Saiga shotgun, all my loaded pistols and my loaded Ruger 10/22 (I have a greater than 10 round magazine for it).
Why do you think they will reintroduce it? Last time around, they got smacked down by gun owners when they opened the floor to us civilian types. As I recall, we overflowed the room with over 200 ordinary folks, and the anti side had 3 die hards from the anti-gun lobby. The really funny thing was that both sides got equal time to talk.
One thing’s for sure, I’ll be there this time if they try that again.
Why?
1) Because of a comment from Joe Waldron (executive director of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms in Bellevue and president of the Washington Arms Collectors) on an email list I subscribe to.
2) Because it’s what they do. They keep trying and trying. The last time I checked there was a bill introduced each year as Federal legislation to amend the constitution and remove the 2nd Amendment. It desensities people and makes it more acceptable if they keep trying.
I have a question: What would it take to induce them to stop– to pack up, go home, and find honest work?
Once we can answer that, then we can ask ourselves if anyone would be willing to see it through, and then we’ll know whether there is any hope, or whether we can look forward to years of further NRA-style holding actions, after which there will be no rights to bear arms at all, after which all rights have evaporated.