Washington Votes Forum

 Hmmm, have we not yet learned from history?  "Gun free" zones are nothing but victim rich environments for the disgruntled and crazy to shoot up and get their 5 minutes of fame.  This bill should be fully rejected.

 Actually bill is pointless, it DOES NOT create a gun free zone, it merely makes it a misdemenor IF you intend to cause harm/intimidate OR some one else is made fearful.

We already have more stingent laws on the books that make it a crime to cause harm or intimidate, we already have laws that are concerned with the generation of fear. Even though this is an open carry state, you will be asked to leave if the sight of your hog leg causes general public apprehension.

 Essentially I can carry concealed all I want as long as I do not intimidate, since concealed means third parties won't know its there in the first place, ergo, can not cause fear.

 Wording is too vague anyway , as some might claim the sight of a Seattle Police Officer with a gun causes fear in some minorities. The proposed law does not say the fear must be legitimate

 This bill is poorly written.  The purpose of this bill is to prohibit individuals from carring firearms on college campuses or at college-sponsored events. However, page #2 of this bill seems to contradict the first page. Page #2 lists several several situations that are exempted from this bill. One exemption that is listed starts on line #9 and stops on line #12. This exemption states that an individual may use a firearm to protect ones self or a third party from bodily attack by an individual who is committing a felony. My question is, if it is illegal for me to carry a firearm on a college campus for protection even if I have a permit to carry one then why would it be legal for me to use one when I am being attacked. Again this law is poorly written and is open to a wide range of interpretation. This bill needs to be scraped.

 Current Washington state firearms laws provide more adequate guidance to the law abiding citizen.  This is a poor effort to duplicate existing statute but with no clearer purpose nor any additional value.  This isn't about safety, but perhaps only about control?

 Personally I am hoping that the state of WA follows Utah's lead (and soon Texas's) lead about making carrying a concealed weapon legal in institutions of higher learning.  These are progressive states that recognize that no matter how draconic the firearm laws are, if one person wants to circumvent the law the can and will.  These two states also recognize that LE cannot be everywhere and that it is up to the individual to defend/protect themselves. 

It is a shame that WA is a nanny state and has people convinced that the state will take care of you.  They certainly protected Jayme Biendl the prison guard that was killed earlier this month. 

DK

Senator Shin does not get it. If the objective is to make campus' safer there should be a movement to have MORE people carrying weapons on campus. A coward who plans to shoot innicent people would not open fire if they thought there would be someone in the area that would shoot him.