Washington state bans sale of AR-15s and other rifles

Washington’s Democratic Governor Jay Inslee signed three gun control bills on Tuesday, one of which immediately bans the manufacture, purchase, or importation of so-called “assault weapons.”

Inslee and Democratic Attorney General Bob Ferguson pushed for the gun control package and with the governor's signature, Washington becomes the 10th state to adopt an "assault weapons" ban.



During the state’s legislative session, Democratic lawmakers passed a bill that mandates safety training and requires a 10-day waiting period to buy a gun, as well as a bill that requires gun makers and dealers to take "reasonable steps" to keep their products out of the hands of "dangerous individuals."

A lawsuit challenging the assault weapons ban was announced almost immediately after Inslee signed the bill on Tuesday.

The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) filed a complaint in US District Court for the Western District of Washington, accusing Democratic lawmakers of violating the Second Amendment with an outright ban on semiautomatic rifles.

SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb said in a press release, "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."

The NRA has also voiced opposition to at least two of the bills and said the organization already has lawsuits working through the legal system against similar bans in California, Delaware, and Illinois.

Ferguson said in response to the suit that his office is prepared to defend the bills in court. “Our record so far is pretty good against the NRA and against the Second Amendment Foundation. We are undefeated, and we plan to keep that record intact."

The firearms listed in the legislation are not even used in a fraction of shooting incidents in Washington.

Though they claim the bill will improve public safety, state Democrats have enabled crime and released offenders. 

Democratic lawmakers have worked to reduce jail time for violent offenders and have refused to meaningfully fix the pursuit reforms they enacted in response to the violent BLM and Antifa riots that rocked the Seattle area in 2020.

As a result, police are often not able to pursue criminals and the number of people running from police as well as violent crimes and car thefts have soared to record highs. Washington now has the second-highest auto theft rate in the US.

Additionally, the Democrat-controlled Legislature and Democrat-controlled cities in the state, have pushed for “diversion” programs, rather than jail, which has led to a revolving-door justice system where prolific offenders continue to be released and go on to re-offend.

State Democrats have also supported 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 despite record narcotics use on campuses.

During Seattle’s deadly 2020 Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone, Democrats in the Legislature, state, and city government were silent when armed BLM and Antifa activists seized control of 6 blocks of Seattle, and some Democratic officials enabled the occupation and provided resources including barriers to the armed activists.

Inslee said during the signing that 'No one needs an AR-15' but local Democrats including the governor turned a blind eye to a video of the so-called “Warlord of the Autonomous Zone” Raz Simone giving AR-15s out of the trunk of his Tesla to anyone who would stand a post during the occupation.

Inslee refused to send in the National Guard to dismantle the autonomous zone, even after 6 shootings resulting in 2 deaths and crime spiking 250 percent during the occupation.

Due to these progressive policies, crime has spiked in the Evergreen State. 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.