I was almost a criminal

About two years ago, I decided I wanted to buy a gun.   I’ve been getting older and feeling more vulnerable.

A friend of mine had a pistol that he no longer wanted and offered to sell it to me.  We met.   I paid him for the gun and he took the money.

About two weeks later I went to the Lacey Police Department and applied for a concealed weapons permit.  When asked where I got my gun, I said “from a friend.”   I filled out the paperwork and received my permit.

If I had done the same thing next year, I would have been a felon.   I-594, makes it illegal to sell a gun to anyone without first doing a background check.   Since most people don’t have access to the needed lists, they would have to take the firearm to a registered gun dealer.   He would do the background check and then transfer the gun ownership.   It would take about two weeks and cost around $100 for the effort.

Under I-594 you can’t even transfer a gun within your own family, unless it has been designated a “historical firearm.”

Initiative 594 is a feel good measure, that punishes citizens and does nothing to keep guns out of the hands of criminals.

Instead, it makes criminals out of all of us who purchase a gun.