The ads for I-594 are, very obviously and expected, lopsided. I don’t especially mind it as that is part of the democratic process, but it does do a disservice to the voting public who need to know both sides to make an intelligent choice. For instance they don’t point out that if you go to the gun range with a friend and are shooting in a safe controlled environment it would be illegal for you to lend your pistol to your friend to try out. The criminal misuse of pistols is one thing, but that is not rational.

Even the Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs (WACOPS) recognize that the gun control measure [I-594] is not only excessive, it poses a burden on local agencies whose budgets are already stretched thin. Overlooked or ignored in the arguments for I-594 are while homicides amount to approximately 11,000 per year, it was found in a national survey conducted by Gary Kleck, a Florida State University criminologist, there are approximately two million defensive gun uses per year by law-abiding citizens. That includes 598,000 lives saved per year due to self-defensive use of guns.
Referring to the supposed loophole in gun sales , there is no “gun-show loophole.” Current law states that any person engaged in the business of selling firearms must register with the federal government, must obtain a federal firearms license, and must submit all prospective gun buyers to an FBI or state agency background check. This requirement applies at gun shows and all other locations, all of the time. Gun shows here in the Puget Sound are run by Washington Arms Collectors only allow sales at their shows to those legally allowed to own firearms.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms reports that 93 percent of guns used in crimes are obtained illegally – either stolen or sold in the black market. So adding more laws to the laws which gun shows and gun dealers already follow, will not keep the bad guys from getting guns. Again…bad guys don’t follow laws.
Any rational approach to a problem would attack the worst ones first and work down to the lesser ones. How about more effort to reduce drug abuse which accounts for twice as many deaths as guns, or from alcohol use which kills nine times as many, and how about the 170,000 killed due to doctor errors. Annually 646 people are killed with fists and 496 with hammers and clubs. These are just more indications that the object is not the problem it is the mental attitude and that is where our efforts should be directed.