Encouraging news on I-1639

Via the Spokesman Review:

A gun control initiative should not appear on the November ballot because the proposed changes in the law on the petitions that some 378,000 voters signed were not readable, a Thurston County Superior Court judge said.

Judge James Dixon agreed with gun-rights advocates that the size of the print was too small and the proposed changes not clearly marked.

“I have 20-20 vision. I can’t read it,” Dixon said in granting a court order to keep Initiative 1639 off the ballot.

A notice of appeal was filed within minutes after the order was drafted and signed, and will go to the state Supreme Court on an expedited process in an effort to get a decision before counties have to print ballots in early September.

Safe Schools Safe Communities spent nearly $2.8 million to pay people to gather signatures for the initiative.

Via the Seattle Times:

A Thurston County judge Friday dealt a major blow to a proposed firearms-regulation measure, raising questions about whether Initiative 1639 will appear on Washington’s fall ballot.

Superior Court Judge James Dixon ruled that the formatting of the signature petitions used in the Alliance For Gun Responsibility’s campaign “did not comport” with Washington law.

Dixon’s decision, however, might not stand for very long, according to Hugh Spitzer, a professor at the University of Washington School of Law.

The state Supreme Court has generally “been quite hesitant to knock out initiatives because of technical defects,” said Spitzer. As a result, Dixon’s decision appears to be “inconsistent with a century of case law,” he added.

I find it “interesting” that the Spokesman Review mentions the size of the print was a critical issue in the decision while the Seattle Time does not even mention print size.

The Washington State Supreme Court has been rather mixed in it’s support of gun ownership in recent years. The Second Amendment Foundation and the NRA have kept this particular legal battle over the process of the initiative rather than the constitutional issues at stake. So perhaps this will somewhat dull the court’s dislike for private gun ownership.

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2 thoughts on “Encouraging news on I-1639

  1. Re: difference in newspaper coverage between Seattle and Spokane.

    It’s time to evacuate the left coast. The contagion is spreading, and has reached 100% saturation in the coastal areas.

    The only reason you saw a moment of clarity in what is otherwise Spokane’s favorite liberal fish wrapper, is because the virus is still creeping up the Eastern Washingtonian’s brainstem, but hasn’t yet fully enveloped the brain. Don’t worry, the brain will be swimming in purulence soon. If you want a picture of the future of Eastern Washington, just look west.

    Infection rates in Idaho have reached concerning levels, as refugees of the Left Coast come here in increasing numbers in unscreened and unwashed conditions. Our saving grace, however, may be the paradoxical cold winter’s of Al Gore’s global warming. It is up to every God fearing Idahoan to continue driving our circa 1970s pickups, and to saw off the oppressive catalytic converters of any other vehicles which happen through, to ensure the global cooling that somehow is created by global warming continues to bathe Idaho in wintery liberal immunoglobulin each January.

    Demonstrably, victims of the Left Coast Disease cannot tolerate the cold:
    https://youtu.be/EaksWCnHaDM
    https://youtu.be/rhZCyQ3emQg

  2. Pingback: We lost a battle on I-1639 | The View From North Central Idaho

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