Second Amendment advocacy groups sue Washington over 'assault weapons' ban

Washington state has been slapped with two lawsuits from gun rights advocacy groups after Democratic Governor Jay Inslee signed a ban on "assault weapons" into law.

Inslee signed three gun control bills into law on Tuesday. House Bill 1240 took effect immediately and banned the manufacturing and sale of many types of semiautomatic rifles.



During the bill signing Tuesday, Inslee said, "No one needs an AR-15." When asked if that would apply to the Governor’s protection detail, Inslee’s communication director Mike Faulk told The Ari Hoffman Show on 570 KVI, "The law exempts law enforcement and military because of their unique needs to be prepared for extreme contingencies. The governor was talking about daily civilian life."

Inslee’s office was slammed for the comment on social media with many users calling out the progressive governor for not understanding why the Second Amendment was adopted.

Before the ink dried on Inslee’s signature, the Second Amendment Foundation filed a lawsuit against the state on Tuesday.

Second Amendment Foundation founder and executive vice president Alan Gottlieb said in a statement, "The state has enacted a flat prohibition on the manufacture, sale, import, and distribution of many types of firearms, inaccurately labeled as 'assault weapons,' which are owned by millions of ordinary citizens across the country."

"In the process, the state has criminalized a common and important means of self-defense, the modern semiautomatic rifle. The state has put politics ahead of constitutional rights and is penalizing law-abiding citizens while this legislation does nothing to arrest and prosecute criminals who misuse firearms in defiance of all existing gun control laws. It is absurd."

Aoibheann Cline, state director of the NRA-ILA’s lobbying in Washington state, told Fox News after the group filed suit against the legislation, "This new law is blatantly unconstitutional. The Supreme Court long ago ruled that states cannot ban firearms that are in common use."

Cline said HB 1240 is the "worst of such schemes in the country" and  bans "nearly every modern semiautomatic rifle."

"AR-15-style firearms are the most popular rifles in America. In fact, AR-15s outsell America’s most popular truck, the Ford F-150, and there are more privately owned AR-15-style firearms than subscribers to all daily newspapers nationwide, combined," Cline added.

"It’s outrageous that states continue to pass these unconstitutional bans. But rest assured, the NRA will continue to fight each one," Cline continued. "[The] people of Washington deserve better."

The Silent Majority Foundation has also filed a lawsuit over the assault weapons ban and like the other suits, the SMF is seeking a restraining order to temporarily halt enforcement of the ban.

SMF filed its lawsuit in Grant County Superior Court and said in a statement, "SMF received interest from potential plaintiffs around the state, but decided to bring the action in the county from which a majority of interested plaintiffs resided.

"The overreach of SHB 1240 was evidenced by the widespread interest from individual citizens who wished to challenge the prohibitions, as well as the outpouring of interest from firearms dealers, law enforcement and military veterans, disabled individuals who will no longer be able to purchase accessories and parts to modify weapons they use for self-defense, and democratic voters who think the state has gone too far under the auspices of public safety."

"The provisions of SHB 1240 will do nothing to curb crime, and only impair the right of law-abiding citizens to continue purchasing the most commonly owned types of firearms in the country. Semiautomatic firearms have been in widespread use for more than a century and are as American as baseball and apple pie," they concluded.

Even the far-left Puget Sound John Brown Gun Club, which often allies with Antifa, is considering filing suit.

In a statement to KUOW, PSJBGC said, "Gun laws are classist and benefit those already in possession of firearms, which marginalized people are less likely to currently be among, while also being the least likely to be protected by law enforcement, if at all. Furthermore, the so-called assault weapons ban gives an exemption to the police, meaning that it is not truly a ban on assault weapons sales and transactions. Once again, the self-described 'progressive' WA state government have proven themselves to be the opposite of pacifists while they stand behind state-sanctioned violence."

Inslee also signed two other pieces of gun control legislation on Tuesday: HB 1143 and Senate Bill 5078. HB 1143 mandates that all new gun owners take a safety and training course instructing how to properly store firearms and about Washington’s self-defense laws, while Senate Bill 5078 gives Washington’s attorney general the authority to punish gun manufacturers for criminal misuse of their product.

Washington Democrats have been constantly called out for enabling crime by supporting a revolving-door justice system where prolific offenders are regularly released and passing legislation to reduce sentencing for offenders such as HB 1268 which would no longer subject criminals charged with multiple sentencing enhancements for firearms and deadly weapons to mandatory consecutive terms and eliminates sentencing enhancements for gang-related crimes. The legislation also removes sentencing enhancements for drug dealing in “protected zones” including schools.

Democrats in the Legislature and state government were silent during the deadly 2020 Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone when armed BLM and Antifa activists seized control of 6 blocks of Seattle. Many Seattle Democratic officials enabled the occupation and provided resources to the armed activist using taxpayer funds.

Washington Democrats ignored a video of the so-called “Warlord of the Autonomous Zone” Raz Simone giving out AR-15s to anyone who would stand a post in the occupation out of the trunk of his Tesla.

According to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs Annual Report, from 2015-2021 murder has gone up 95 percent, aggravated assault has spiked 73 percent, violent crime has soared 55 percent and rapes have increased 51 percent.