Moms claim victory, background check mandate passes in Washington State

Authors S.H. Blannelberry

After pouring millions of dollars into the effort, Moms Demand Action is claiming victory Wednesday as Washington State voters approved a ballot initiative, I-594, on election day that would expand background checks to cover private firearm transfers and sales made over the Internet and at gun shows.

I-594 has some notable background check exceptions, which include gifts between immediate family members, the transfer of antiques and relics, temporary transfers for self-defense and loans for lawful hunting or sporting activities. Not included under the exceptions are sales or permanent transfers between neighbors, friends and extended family.

“When it comes to guns, the only Washington that mattered this election was Washington state, and the victory for I-594, the background check ballot initiative there, proved the polls right — when Americans vote on public safety measures to prevent gun violence, gun safety wins,” said John Feinblatt, a former advisor for Michael Bloomberg and the president of Everytown for Gun Safety.

Bloomberg’s group spent about $4 million in Washington State to campaign for I-594, the only background check initiative up for a vote this elections cycle. The group was aided by donations from Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, who cut a check for $1 million, and former Microsoft CEO Steve Balmer, who also gave $1 million to the cause.

Former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly, who run the pro-gun control organization Americans for Responsible Solutions also spent $500,000 in support of I-594.

“It’s no surprise that the people of the Evergreen State did the responsible thing: they stood up to the corporate gun lobby and stood up for a commonsense law that will make their communities safer,” Giffords said in a statement on Tuesday. “Tonight, Washington voters showed that when Americans are given the chance to vote to close the loopholes that let guns fall into the wrong hands, common sense wins.”

“This victory for responsibility in Washington State sends a clear message to the other Washington that if Congress is not ready to act to reduce gun violence, voters in states around the country can and will take the matter into their own hands,” Giffords added.

Meanwhile, a competing initiative, I-591, which would have mandated that the state’s background check standard not be any tougher than the current federal standard (under federal law, private transfers do not require FFL- facilitated background checks, though it is illegal for one to knowingly sell a firearm to a prohibited person, i.e. a felon, mental defective or minor) failed to pass, with 54 percent of the voters rejecting it according to early ballot returns.

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  • benjy 58 June 16, 2017, 8:40 am

    I’m curious to know what kind of guns Bloombergs bodyguards carry.

  • RD Lankes March 31, 2017, 5:59 pm

    Good idea. Since we have no legitimate functions or ideas, let’s do our level best to f__k over law abiding citizens so that we can look like we know what we are doing, and are actually contributing to the common good.
    It is a crying shame that they cannot actually contribute to any actual solutions to the problems.

  • olBiker November 10, 2014, 8:29 pm

    So the Bloomberg bunch got a small consolation prize in a state where such could be expected. The NRA was brilliant here in Kansas the way it blew so-called “independent” multimillionaire Greg Orman out of the water, who was expected to unseat loyal 2nd Amendment supporter Sen. Pat Roberts. The NRA exposed Orman as a tool of Bloomberg, the kiss of death here in Kansas, and he lost not just slightly but by 10 percentage points. Thanks to the NRA, Pat and his team didn’t even need the robo calls where Foot Chomper in Chief Joe Biden let it slip that Orman was “with us.” Way to go NRA!

  • PHIL November 10, 2014, 12:54 pm

    Moms demand action in the bedroom didnt win in Iowa or Arkansas.People will still sell their guns privately and say they transferred them before this idiotic law.remember the more they overhaul the drain the easier it is to stop up the plumbing..

  • PHIL November 10, 2014, 12:53 pm

    Moms demand action in the bedroom didnt win in Iowa or Arkansas.People will still sell their guns privately and say they transferred them before this idiotic law.remember the more they overhaul the drain the easier it is to stop up the plumbing..

  • Dan November 10, 2014, 12:03 pm

    I guess now we need a Constitutional Amendment that protects the 2nd Amendment and even the whole Constitution from having laws made that go against it.
    (I thought that’s why our founding fathers created the Constitution).

    This useless bill will do nothing but create more hurdles for Law Abiding Citizens to go through. Criminals do not obey the law. The never have and never will! Criminals also don’t buy guns from gun stores or off the internet. They steal them or buy them from other criminals who stole them.
    The reason mass shootings happens are because of foolish useless laws that only affect the Law Abiding and disarm them so only criminals are armed (which is illegal anyway).

    Common sense law- All Law Abiding Citizens will be armed, they are to have a firearm in the house and carry one when they go out in public!
    It’s a law that can’t be enforced, but criminals won’t know who is armed or who isn’t. Most criminals will not want to take a chance because they don’t want to get shot and suffer.

    The only gun restriction we should have is that convicted felons can’t buy/ possess a firearm.
    Every State should have a laws similar to “Stand Your Ground” Means you don’t have to try to run away before defending yourself. Any place that you are legally allowed to be. That way if or when you have to defend yourself or a innocent victim from an attack, you can’t be sued by the attacker or their family.
    Then second, “The Castle Doctrine”. You don’t have to try to leave your home or even go the the farthest room and barricade your self in to “hide” from a home invasion. If your home is broken into, you can defend yourself with out fear of being prosecuted for doing so.

    Criminals should be punished, not the law abiding citizens.

    • Pat November 14, 2014, 12:02 am

      Your right Dan, all law abiding legal citizens should be required to have some type of firearm in their home and be trained to use it. Some think this is ridiculous but look at the countries that Hitler disarmed before massacring them. After WWII, some countries did just that, made it mandatory ownership. And guess what, their crime stats are far less than here in America where nuts like Bloomberg wants everyone disarmed except his bodyguards. These kind of B.S. laws are in direct violation of the 2nd amendment…. “shall not be infringed”.

    • Pat November 14, 2014, 12:03 am

      Your right Dan, all law abiding legal citizens should be required to have some type of firearm in their home and be trained to use it. Some think this is ridiculous but look at the countries that Hitler disarmed before massacring them. After WWII, some countries did just that, made it mandatory ownership. And guess what, their crime stats are far less than here in America where nuts like Bloomberg wants everyone disarmed except his bodyguards. These kind of B.S. laws are in direct violation of the 2nd amendment…. “shall not be infringed”.

      • John March 26, 2018, 1:59 pm

        England had largely disarmed before WWII, and quaked in fear, as The Hun approached Dunkirk. The English knew they didn’t have the hardware for street to street war. WE jumped in, with our manufacturing might, and re-armed them. We also helped them design and build the $1.50 Wonder, that was the Sten submachine gun, that was used, to great affect, by the resistance forces on mainland Europe. In short, they disarmed after “The Great War”, then we had to take an active role in rearming them for the second. What did they do after that??? The idiots disarmed AGAIN! We left troops, tanks, artillery, nuclear missiles and bases in Europe this time, as a security blanket against the Red Threat (though communism has fallen, until all of the old guard, including Putin, is dead, that threat is not gone. Just ask Crimea).

  • Robert November 10, 2014, 10:30 am

    Another victory for the Ruling Oligarchs… Gates, Allen, et al. are the real perpetrators of this madness. It will do nothing to protect anyone in our state and only acts as a wedge to start the drive toward firearm registration and, then, confiscation. These psychopaths will not rest until they have disarmed the masses – retaining, of course, private armies for themselves. What is especially sickening is how the Neo-Libs and Pseudo-Progs fall for this assault on freedom and believe that they are oh so righteous and enlightened. Useful idiots. But, hey, we have a championship football team!

  • JR November 10, 2014, 10:06 am

    I think we may have missed the bigger picture here. Now Bloomberg knows if you throw enough money in the pot and run ads that are full of half truths and lies you can get the lemmings to vote for anything..

  • Terry November 10, 2014, 9:01 am

    There is a little known glitch in this law. Loaning a weapon to a friend during, let’s say a hunting trip, would make you a felon. Passing a weapon to a firearms instructor during training for them to demonstrate an issue would make you and them a felon. The law is poorly written and will never pass SCOTUS scrutiny. Stupid gun control advocates like Ms. Giifford and her hanger on husband along with nanny Bloomberg continue to weasel their way into the 2nd amendment under the guise of “protecting” the public. BS!!! Not one of the mass shootings would have been prevented with this law and that includes the unfortunate incident against Ms. Gifford. This is nothing more than another attempt to strip away the consitutional protection of the 2nd amendment.

    • Alan Robinson November 10, 2014, 2:33 pm

      Terry, the article stated that a hunting loan was one of the exceptions. While I think these kinds of laws are symbolism over substance, I still want the truth in any claim or statement.

  • Bill November 10, 2014, 8:08 am

    This idiocy is unenforceable. Calling this “common sense” is laughable. It is anything BUT common sense.

  • larry November 10, 2014, 4:27 am

    Background checks will not prevent a murder from taking place. I was a cop for 30plus years. Most guns used were stolen from individuals or sporting good stores. What good did your stupid registration form for those victims.zilch. we can not stop Dru’s in this country. Just order 1000 guns with my next order of drugs. Get you air head out of the clouds. You are not stopping nothing.

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