Washington State gun rights advocates are urging gun owners to vote with their feet on Election Day, otherwise be prepared for gun regulation, registration and confiscation.
Two initiatives are on the ballot this November in the Evergreen State that involves firearms:
Initiative 591 directs it unlawful for any government agency to confiscate firearms without due process or for any government agency to require background checks unless a uniform national standard is required.
Initiative 594 prohibits gun owners, who are not licensed dealers, from selling, or transferring a firearm to another person at no charge to include gifts and loans, unless the person is a licensed dealer, or satisfies requirements.
For purchase of a pistol, approval by police or sheriff is required, with a 10-day waiting period. ???I-591 protects against illegal search and seizure, preventing politicians and bureaucrats driven by an anti-rights agenda from depriving citizens of their property without due process,??? said Alan M. Gottlieb, in a video voters??? guide presented by the secretary of state and TVW news.
???It protects the integrity of background checks.??? said Gottlieb, who is the chairman of Bellevue, Washington-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.
The gun prohibition lobby responsible for anti-civil rights and self-defense laws in New York, District of Columbia and Chicago, is now targeting unsuspecting Washingtonians with out-of-state money and resources and out-of-state draconian gun control laws. I-591 is supported by over 7500 statewide police and sheriffs, he said.
Microsoft founder billionaire William H. "Bill" Gates, who contributed more than $1 million to I-594 efforts, was challenged by Gottlieb to debate the initiative, but Gottlieb said he has not received a response, reported the Citizens Committee.
Gottlieb said he challenged former New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and founder of Mayors Against Illegal Guns also contributed over $1 million to I-594 efforts to make it a ???two-on-one??? discussion; Gottlieb vs. Gates and Bloomberg.
CCRKBA, which was founded in 1971, has more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists.
In the video voter guide, Gottlieb warns citizens that confiscation of firearms will be a reality if outside interlopers penalize law-abiding gun owners. ???Those who say this could not happen have forgotten the chaos that followed Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans,??? he said.
???More than 1100 firearms were seized without due process, warrants, or probable cause.??? Some people never got their property back, he said. Gun confiscation of firearms is occurring in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and California due to restrictive gun laws that pretend to reduce crime rates but actually criminalize law-abiding citizens, said Gottlieb.
???I-591 stops the state from creating a gun registry for future confiscation.??? Phil Shave, who is retired Washington state law enforcement, advocates against I-594 in the 2014 video voter guide.
He said the initiative is being heavily promoted as a crime prevention measure, yet it will not prevent a single, violent crime from occurring.
???It is the proverbial ???wolf in sheep???s clothing??? scenario,??? he said.
???It is punitive to lawful firearm owners.??? Initiative 594 is being supported by out-of state lobbyists, he said. ???Do not be fooled.??? Shave said the measure essentially creates a uniform data-base of all gun owners, which can easily be used for confiscation, later.
???I-594 is 18-pages of costly and confusing regulatory excess meant to discourage traditional firearm ownership and use,??? he said. ???We cannot change criminal behavior by criminalizing lawful behavior.???
