Requiring permit to buy gun among 3 gun control measures announced by Inslee, AG

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and state Attorney General Bob Ferguson announced plans to support new gun control measures Monday in Tukwila.

Three proposals for the upcoming 2023 Legislature were discussed during a press conference including a ban on “assault weapons,” creating liability for gun manufacturers and requiring a permit to purchase guns.

“You need to get a license to drive a car in the state of Washington, you need to get a license to go fishing, it’s time that you get a license to make sure that you have safety training to purchase a gun in the state of Washington,” Inslee said. “It’s high time that we pass a bill to make sure that you get a permit before you purchase a firearm.”

The governor said he believes legislation to have a permit might be the “single most important” gun safety measure that legislators can pass next year, citing a 40% reduction in gun violence in Connecticut after similar legislation passed in 1995 in that state.

Inslee said that gun safety laws were “not the only thing” legislators would do to prevent gun violence this upcoming legislative session, adding that lawmakers would take on the task of providing more mental health services, homelessness services and more trained police officers around the state.

The governor said his office will request the legislation to require a permit to purchase.

The sale, manufacture or importation of assault weapons could also be banned in the state under another proposal aimed at gun control.

Alongside Inslee, Ferguson and state lawmakers, Ingraham High School senior Sofie Blazejova talked about her experience the day a fellow student shot and killed another student at the Seattle school in November.

“We learned that day a kid fired a semi-automatic weapon at least five times within my school,” she said. “It is hard to put into words the amount of fear that I felt. Fear for my friends, fear for my community and fear for myself. Fear that no child should ever feel.”

Ferguson said this was the 7th year he has supported efforts to ban assault weapons. Sen. Patty Kuderer, D-Bellevue, like previous years, will sponsor the bill in the Senate. Rep. Strom Peterson, D-Edmonds, will introduce a companion bill in the House.

“We’re done coddling the gun lobby and we can’t sit around and wait for the national level to act,” said Kuderer. “Kids and students feeling unsafe in their own classrooms is an absolute moral failing of this country.”

With the passage of a high-capacity magazine ban in 2022, Ferguson said he feels like there is a “real opportunity” to finally pass an assault weapon ban in the state.

The Attorney General also discussed the proposal that would allow families of victims of gun violence to hold manufacturers and sellers accountable when they are irresponsible.

In 2005, a federal law called the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act was passed by Congress and gave immunity to sellers and manufacturers from liability. However, Ferguson said that states are allowed to take action to provide liability for families of gun violence under state law but a state law first needs to be in place to do so.

Democrats Sen. Jamie Pedersen from Seattle will sponsor the Senate legislation while Rep. David Hackney from Tukwila will sponsor it in the House.

“...Gun manufacturers and retailers have to accept responsibility for these dangerous products that they sell and if they fail to do the job that they’re required to do, to keep guns out of the hands of folks who are going to use them to do damage,…then those people who suffer as a result of negligence are going to have their day in court,” Pedersen said.

Not all lawmakers agree with the proposals.

Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, said in a press release after the press conference that he believes the proposals are a waste of time and money.

“These performative proposals also run afoul of the Washington State Constitution’s Article 1, Section 24 - which states plainly, that ‘[t]he right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired...’ Any fair-minded person can see that banning an entire category of rifles and demanding a special state permit to buy any firearm impair that right.”

Gun violence is the leading cause of death for young people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The 105-day 2023 legislative session convenes on Jan. 9.