WA assault weapons ban bill volleys between House and Senate over amendments
After House lawmakers refused to concur on amendments the Senate made to the assault weapons ban bill earlier this month, the proposed bill has now cleared the Senate for the second time this session.
House Bill 1240, absent a previously adopted amendment by the Senate, will now go back to House lawmakers for concurrence. The House will consider a version that makes no exceptions for active duty military personnel on orders to the state or military retirees living in Washington.
The bill passed the Senate again on Tuesday with a 28-21 vote.
If the House approves the version of the bill the Senate passed, the bill will then be ready for Gov. Jay Inslee to sign. The proposed measure would become law immediately once signed, banning the manufacture, importation, distribution, sale, or offer for sale of any assault weapon in the state of Washington.
Senate lawmakers first passed the bill on April 8 with a 27-21 vote. During that debate, an amendment that would have exempted active duty military personnel on orders to the state and military retirees living in Washington was introduced by Sen. Keith Wagoner, R-Sedro Wooley. Senate Democrats and Republicans voted in favor of the amendment during that debate.
Because changes were made in the Senate, the bill was then sent back to the House where that amendment was ruled beyond the scope and object of the bill on April 14. House lawmakers then asked the Senate to withdraw their amendments.
Senate lawmakers on Tuesday receded the amendments, the bill was placed back on second reading, and the amendments were re-debated.
An amendment was adopted that clarified the definition of importation. That clarification said that individuals who live in Washington but travel back and forth from other states with the assault weapons they currently own would not be “importing” the weapons.
Additionally, that amendment clarifies that dealers in the state can still sell or transfer stock that was acquired prior to Jan. 1 of this year for up to 90 days after the bill goes into effect, but that stock can only be sold or transferred out of state.
Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, spoke during the bill’s final passage. He said that in 2019, his son was stationed at Naval Air Station Pensacola when an active shooter killed three people and injured multiple others. Six months later, his son was stationed at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi when another gunman opened fire, injuring a sailor.
“So I’m very motivated to get after this issue,” Braun said. “We have to find a way to stop these events, or at least slow these events, and I’m open to a whole range of solutions to get us there. This absolutely deserves to be our highest priority but I don’t think this bill gets us there.”
He argued that law-abiding residents will follow the assault weapons ban, while others will find ways to circumvent the ban.
“To get after this problem we have to change people, we have to change behavior,” said Braun, who voted against the proposed measure.
Sen. Annette Cleveland, D-Vancouver, spoke in favor of the bill on the floor.
“Gun violence is preventable. Gun violence is not inevitable,” she said. “A public health approach to preventing violence recognizes that violence is contagious. It recognizes that we must interrupt the transmission of this contagious violence, and we do so with policies that data show really will lower the threat of that contagion. Policies like the one before us today.”
