Give An Inch, Washington Takes A Mile: Bill Proposed To Create Annual Licenses For Semi-Automatic Rifles

OLYMPIA, WASHINGTON — You know that AR-15 rifle sitting in your gun safe? Well, if you’re a Washington resident, you may need to apply for an annual license to continue to own it. Under a new measure proposed by Rep. Laurie Jinkins, D-Tacoma, possession of a semi-automatic rifle will have to apply for a license from law enforcement every single year. This applies to private sales, as well.

Jinkins insists that this new proposed bill is not a gun ban.

via the Spokesman Review

“This is not a ban,” she said. “Washington voters have said, ‘We expect the state to keep dangerous weapons out of the hands of dangerous people.’ ”

Another measure would allow for the state to revoke and take possession of firearms from people deemed a danger. This “extreme risk protection order” is a continuation of previous policy that allows the state to take away guns despite the person not having committed any crime.

Politicians like Jinkins insist that these gun control measures are the “will of the voters”, but with one of the supporters of the bill already being on the Judiciary Committee, this bill is expected to whip through the House and Senate.

In a separate bill, Washington politicians are looking to outright ban the new sale of some types semi-automatic rifles.

While we’re watching states go permitless for concealed carry, we’re watching Washington become stricter than California insofar as gun laws go.

Complacency in everyday carry and complacency in representation — both of these can get law-abiding gun owners stuck in hot water. How many criminals would these bills make of otherwise law-abiding citizens?

So, if some guy has a gun in his safe that he takes out maybe once or twice a year to the shooting range, now he needs a special license just to own it. If he wants to transfer that semi-automatic rifle over to a different person, that person has to have a license.

You need a license to drive, a license to carry concealed, and now a license to own certain types of guns. How many licenses are enough?

Will Washington residents eventually need a special license to buy ammunition and another license to possess it?

This type of overly redundant bureaucracy, inserted into the lives of everyday citizens, is ridiculous. It doesn’t make anyone safer. It doesn’t keep guns out of the hands of bad guys. It doesn’t stop violence.

When will these politicians learn that if you keep punishing and heavily restricting law-abiding gun owners, only the criminals will be left?