Politics

Virginia senators nix gun control; Washington gun hearing today

Gun sales are continuing briskly as gun control bills are being fought in state legislatures.
Gun sales are continuing briskly as gun control bills are being fought in state legislatures.

The Washington Post reported that yesterday, Virginia state senators, working primarily along party lines, scrapped a heap of gun control measures, and today there is a hearing in Washington state on four anti-gun bills.

The gun control push seems to be in high gear as the annual Shooting, Hunting and Outdoor Trade (SHOT) Show continues into Day 3. Here on the ground in Las Vegas, Evergreen State gun rights advocate Alan Gottlieb is busy, and yesterday saw the National Rifle Association’s Wayne LaPierre also making the rounds.

Indeed, a fair number of Washington citizens, who are also in the industry, are also at the SHOT Show, but their views will be well-represented in Olympia.

Yesterday’s move in Virginia, largely along party lines, “scrapped a raft of gun-control bills while advancing measures intended to expand gun rights,” the Washington Post reported. Today’s hearing in Olympia will address proposals on “safe storage” (HB 1747), “extreme risk protection orders” (HB 2461), destruction of forfeited firearms (HB 2372) and the so-called “Public Property and Parks Carry Ban” (HB 2460).

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Washington gun owners should be concerned about the latter measure, essentially aimed at nullifying the state preemption statute adopted in 1983. It has also been a model for preemption laws in other states but Seattle anti-gunners hate it. A string of mayors, including Ed Murray, have wanted to turn back the clock to a time when gun owners could be treated differently from one jurisdiction to another, simply to penalize them for exercising a civil right.

State preemption prevented Seattle from banning legally carried sidearms in city park facilities.

Gun control is being pushed hard this year by anti-gun Democrats. Virginia lawmakers rejected the measures in that state yesterday because, as the Washington Post noted, “members often voiced concerns about the constitutionality of the measures.”

All of this is happening as gun ownership is on the rise. Business in Las Vegas is lively, and most here believe that it is being fueled by all the gun control talk, especially from Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

H/T Seattle Gun Rights Examiner.

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