Washington Votes Forum

Introduced in the House on January 1, 2007

Click here to view bill details.

Legislation such as this is just one more step in take away the guns fight. The gun laws in place are totally adequate we don't need more. I'm sure the next step would be to regulate the buying and selling between fathers, sons and daughters. If we sit by our legislatures will further legislate us to the point of being fearful of leaving our own homes. Contact your legislator stop these worthless bills.

There is no such things as “The Gunshow Loophole” any more than there is a “Father to Son Loophole” or a “Neighbor to Neighbor Loophole”. Law abiding citizens who buy, sell or trade firearms at gunshows are not what the legislature needs to be worrying about. Criminal control should be the order of the day in the state legislature, with the recent murder of a King County Sheriff’s Deputy at the hands of a felon who should have been in jail instead of supposedly under the “custody” of the justice system at his own home. If legislators will not lock up violent criminals, then they should not also try and keep those of lesser monetary means from legally purchasing their means of protection at a gun show from their fellow law abiding citizens instead of at a brick and mortar storefront. If this legislation is passed, will the next step will be to make me go through a federally licensed dealer when I inherit my father’s firearms? Focusing on the writing of legislation such as this while ignoring the rampant lack of confinement of the criminal and/or the mentally unstable in Washington State is immoral, not only to the average law abiding citizen, but to my right as law abiding citizen to privacy.

Just try to buy a firearm at the Puyallup gunshow without being a member of the Washington Arms Collectors Society! You need, and I stress that, a FBI, NICS background check to become a member, so that you may buy or sell at the show. 'Nuff said!!!

the urban liberal termites aren't interested in closing the "loophole"... they want to shut down gun shows. period. obviously, if they require anyone who sells or offers to sell a gun at a show to be a licensed dealer, then there will be no private sales possible, and that's what they really want. if private citizens cannot sell firearms at shows without having an FFL, they'll quickly find other venues, and the shows will be little more than monthly gatherings of dealers. once the libs have the private sales curbed, they'll go after dealers next.

Why isn't the law itself more specific, whereas ALL transfers or sales of firearms in the state of Washington must be handled/recorded by a licensed (FFL) dealer? The very idea that you can only sell or transfer if you are licensed completely rules out private transfers/sales. This is unnecessary and allows the dealers to take over the entire gun show experience. The idea behind a guns show is that fellow owners/collectors can gather and trade without the dealers making a killing. With this new law, the gundealers alone would control the supply and therefor the pricing of the weapons (or, is this the intention, to form a Washington State mandated Monopoly?). The cure is simple. Require all sales/transfers and gifts of weapons to be witnessed/recorded by a licensed dealer. This not only protects the buyer from unknowingly purchasing a stolen firearm, but helps ensure the person in receipt of the firearms is legally entitled to do just that. Establishing a transfer fee schedule allows the dealers to put something in their pocket, after they have provided a useful service. I do feel forced to echo similar statements mentioned here; we really need to enforce the laws that are on the books and punish those who are dealing in or possessing arms illegally. Felons don’t use the gun show or storefronts to procure their firearms. Maybe the Mayor of Seattle can get a clue regarding this issue as well?

Ya know…when reading through the leftist, anti-gun rhetoric in this bill, the one stark reality that stands out above all others: It boils down anti-gun, anti-constitutionalist ilks to trying to restrict sales from one private citizen to another. The only thing is the setting in which the sale is accomplished. They wouldn’t dare to try and restrict or license Joe Blow from selling his 9mm pistol via an ad in the local paper, or the Nickel ads (or would they)? I suppose THAT is the REAL loophole isn’t it? Oh, but that is protected by the constitution isn’t it? Gun shows are a target simply because they can regulate the rules under which the shows are conducted and therefore, get a foot in a door that is otherwise off limits to their gun grabbin mitts. What a crock! Read this you commie creeps…F.M.C.D.H.!

You already have to get a background check at gunshows. I should know, because in the last year I've bought three guns from a gun show and each time it was called into the ATF's background check system. What is the point of this, aside from looking TOUGH ON CRIME?

No more laws! Leave guns alone!

This is the latest "harassment of firearms owners" legislation. It will not reduce crime. It will not reduce stolen firearms, which are the source of firearms used in criminal acts. I am ashamed of my fellow Democrats who consistently ignore the rights of gun owners. Once again they seek to make criminals out of those with neither criminal history nor intent. Shame.

...see the post "A rose by any other name" That blogger got it right on the money. You had to go thru NICs because you probably bought from a licensed dealer OR you went to a state like Oregon where the legislature was able to pass a similar bill to this travesty and thus restrict ALL sellers at the show, not just the dealers. Like the post said, it is the PRIVATE citizen sales these pukes are targeting.

I oppose this bill. It clearly includes individuals conducting private transactions, and therefore exceeds the rightful authority of the legislature.

Ah, the mythical gun show "loophole." Private citizens shouldn't be allowed to sell guns, according to the actual actions of something like this. If I want to sell my guns (which I generally don't), this bill would keep me from going to a gun show with them. This will either force people to sell guns to shops (at a lower price than they could get selling them to individuals), or sell them somewhere less regulated. I, for one, like the safety and traffic of a gun show. After all, there is more federal, state, and local law enforcement at a gun show than just about anywhere else. Criminals don't get their gunsfrom gun shows. They prefer the shady back alley deals. Far fewer cops tend to be hanging around those.

The Democrats seek to make criminals out of the average firearms owner. They would have us believe that firearms owners are responsible for the acts of criminals. The people I see at gun shows are not the criminal element. The booger infested crankheads won't go near a gun show. Shame on the Democrats who place more value in homosexuals than the average firearm owner. Shame on the Democrats who identify places with unarmed victims.

I’m undecided on the bill but it appears that it is aimed at achieving the same level of background checks at a gun show as are already required at a retail store. One may argue about the lack of enforcement of current laws, but that seems unrelated to this specific issue… what’s wrong with background checks?

This is bill is a cover up pushed by the mayor of Seattle and his incompetent administration. Since his election the crime and gang activity in King County has gone through the roof.Rather than look in the mirror at the cause of crime they are useing rule number one in the democrat rule book and blame it on someone or something else.To bad you can't outlaw being stupid.

Firearms dealers at ANY gun show are already required by law to conduct NICS background checks on potential buyers. Where the myth exists is in the anti-gun brainwashing that tries to insinuate that gun shows are a big source of criminal guns. The actual truth is that statistics clearly demonstrate that gun shows are not one of the preferred places where criminals get their guns. But then again, when did the anti-gun groups in this state and country ever listen to the TRUTH or let it guide their political agenda? Folks, make no mistake about it, this is clearly an attempt to regulate private citizens in the sale of their privately owned firearms. The fact that these private citizens choose to gather at a show to share their enthusiasm about their hobbies and collections is absolutely irrelevant. If I wanted to, I could take out a classified ad in every newspaper or Nickel paper in the state and privately sell guns as I saw fit from my personal collection. Do you think a criminal is going to simply "drop in" to BUY a gun from me. Get a grip folks, the chances are far greater that the criminal will break in to my home and STEAL one rather than pay me for it. Start regulating the gun shows, and all that will happen is that private sellers will just become more "private' and find other avenues to sell their personal belongings. Want evidence: check out the listings of private sellers at any out of state, regulated show (like in Oregon)and you will find a marked decrease in private citizen sellers. Most private citizens have niether the resources or the will to put up with having to do a background check for a potential buyer - they simply go elsewhere to close the deal. Think about it realistically for a moment; There are virtually millions of cars for sale in this country in all sorts of ways; from car shows, to private dealerships, to private sales via classified ad. Cars are statistically proven to cause far more death and destruction in the hands of private citizens than do guns. Do you need a background check to buy or sell one? Ludicrous you say? No more ludicrous than this mythical gunshow loophole! Here's some more to digest: Alcohol kills far more people every year than guns do. Do you need a background check to buy it...No! How about knives, rat poison, baseball bats? How bout the materials to make a bomb? One could basically apply the same, ignorant and misguided attempts to regulate private sales of these items as well if the sellers gathered at the local baseball bat show, or rat poison show. Is that a "loophole" too? This is bad legislation. Another "band aid" bill in another misguided, politically motivated, attempt to 'appear' to be taking a bite out of crime.

This bill is the nest step to confiscation. It must be stopped. It only harasses law abiding gun owners who wish to sell from their personal collection. It will do nothing about crime.

IN the most recent incident regarding a firearm was where a criminal had position of a stolen 40 caliber pistol he bought on the street from the trunk of a car. Let me repeat stolen gun! Convicted felons and Criminals have no regards for laws. Convicted felons and Crimianls do not buy guns at gun shows because of all FBI background checks already required.We need to enforce current laws state and federal against the violators. Do you that if a convicted felon is caught with a firearm for any reason it a felony under Federal Law. Yet these criminal are not being prosecuted here at all they are back on the streets to find more victims with thier reckless disregard for human life and laws. So passing another law restricting legal law abiding citzens further regarding gun shows does no good to resolve the problem. You are not solving this problem by passing a law like this. GO after the CONVICTED FELONS AND CRIMNALS INSTEAD!

How many more times should it be made illegal? Ten? Twenty? A Hundred? Stop the harassment of people with no criminal history or intent. Gun control only protects criminals and indentifies places with unarmed victims.

ITS ABOUT TIME!!!! EVERYONE SELLING GUNS SHOULD FOLLOW THE SAME LAWS, YOU ARE NOT SPECIAL GUNSHOW SELLERS. YOU SHOULD TAKE RESPONSIBILITY AS WELL!! WE WILL MARCH ON OLYMPIA THURSDAY IN FAVOR!

Wake up....There is nothing different between me selling my firearm via a newspaper ad, setting up a table in my front yard, or setting up a table at a gunshow. This bill is about restricting PRIVATE sales; sales currently protected by law and sales that will still be protected by law if this travesty of a bill is approved. Only licensed dealers are reqired to conduct background checks and they have to at gun shows too. So just where are all these *unlicenced* dealers? These *Special* people? Of course you probably know that already but just don't care March all you want. You obviously have already had too much of the anti-gun kool aid to really understand what it is you are marching in favor of. You probably brainwashed enough by now to really believe that gun shows are just packed with criminals eagerly lining up to "legally" purchase their guns. You probably believe that they will obey the law too. (Want to buy a bridge? I have one for you.) Private sales are private sales and even if you do manage to somehow sway the legislators with your lies on this bill. Private sellers will STILL not be required to do anything but float a for sale ad to sell their firearm WITHOUT a background check regardless of what is restricted by this bill. The only thing you will accomplish is to keep private sellers out of the already strictly regulated and monitored shows and send them back to privacy in the sale which they have now and will still have later. So WHAT is it you think you have *really* accomplished eh?

It is perfectly legal in the State of Washington for a person to sell firearms from his personal collection to another person who is not restricted from owning a firearm. How when and where this private transaction is executed is beside the point as long as it is legal for an individual to sell to another. We are not the problem. You wouldn't dream of restricting the right to peaceable assembly of your beloved homosexuals and/or homeless now, would you? Why shouldn't gun owners with no criminal history or intent be given the same deal?

When is cold pizza like a gun show? I live in Seattle, but over the weekend was a visiting buddy in Spokane. For dinner, we decided to grab a pizza at one of the local spots. I ordered a large with works and paid in cash. Soon it was set on the counter and my name was called. Much to my surprise, I was asked to submit to a cholesterol check, to which I complied. Instead of receiving an ok by the shop owner who usually does the short term, 10 minute test, I was told that I would receive an answer in the next 3 to 5 days, after it was processed by the Washington State Cholesterol Patrol. I would also need to pay the testing fee of $35 plus a handling charge. My name and personal information would also be entered into the state’s data base for future reference. Why the checks I asked. Well, prior to this new law, a little less than 1% of those with high LDL problems bought one here, while 80% were bought by friends or off the street. The laws were passed so that we could clamp down on that 1 %. The heck with that I shouted, and turned to my buddy. Let’s go over to your girl friend’s place. Maybe she can make one for us and I’ll pay for the ingredients. A sad smile came across my buddy’s face. You know, don’t you, that even through she doesn’t make pizzas for a living, doesn’t have a store front, and only occasionally makes one for friends, you’ll still have to go through the same background check. You could drive back in a week and pick it up though was his reply.

Though I am not a member of the Washington Arms Collectors, I have attended gun shows at the Puyallup Fairgrounds on two occasions recently. Both times, I was highly impressed by the level of security each of the dealers displayed. They all made it clear that I would need to become a paying member of WAC, and to have a background check, before I could purchase any guns from any dealer at the show. I'm sure our legislators know the truth, and I'm sure the only reason they keep harping on this issue is because their true agenda is to give the United Nations their way and take guns out of the hands of law-abiding American citizens, despite the Second Amendment of our Constitution. While the Democracts are at it, they'll probably scrap our Consitution completely, and only God knows what form of country we'll have left once they get through!

If you actually take the time to visit a Gun Show you will soon realize that you cannot just walk in and buy a gun without going through the same Federal background checks as if you had gone to a full time gun dealer on a Wednesday during your business lunch break. Enforce the laws you have on the books now and only then will you see a difference in the crime rates. Control the criminals you do catch and enforce the laws as set forth. Do not let them go.

Give our police more time to track down criminals by putting fewer new laws on the books. Let them use the laws that exist which already are written to keep guns out of the hands of criminals. The police need to be on the street working known criminal circles instead of wasting time trying to enforce new laws on law-abiding citizens.

I agree with the writer asking you not to yell. All yelling does is illustrate how ill-informed someone is or to demonstrate a lack of reasoned behavior. Please make your points in a civil, polite manner - you'll get a lot further with people like me trying to make up my mind about how I feel about an issue like this one. Since I did not understand the rhetoric over this bill I got online and did some research. It took me a couple of days to track it down but I found that there is a few years-old federal Dept. of Justice study documenting where weapons used in the commission of crime come from. This study reported that gunshows were the source for these weapons just 7 tenths of one percent of the time. In other words 99.3% of the guns used to commit crimes come from other sources. After reading this bill, the federal study, etc. I've come to a conclusion that this bill is not about solving something meaningful or needed but rather it is about imposing the will of a small minority upon a law abiding majority via misinformation. I don't own weapons and won't but that's my choice. People who own weapons should not be prevented from doing so because of politically-driven agendas based on emotional untruths. There is clearly no need for this measure. My conclusion is that it is ill-conceived and apparently motivated by a drive to dominate the lives of others just because "they" (the sponsors) don't like gun owners. That's not how we make law in this country - we are not a third world dictatorship nor should we act like we are.

A newly released study from Minn. State U. says, among other things: WEAPON CHOICE. Predominately handguns were used in the assaults on officers and all but one were obtained illegally, usually in street transactions or in thefts. In contrast to media myth, none of the firearms in the study was obtained from gun shows. What was available "was the overriding factor in weapon choice," the report says. Only 1 offender hand-picked a particular gun "because he felt it would do the most damage to a human being." Researcher Davis, in a presentation and discussion for the International Assn. of Chiefs of Police, noted that none of the attackers interviewed was "hindered by any law--federal, state or local--that has ever been established to prevent gun ownership. They just laughed at gun laws." It would appear then entire myth of the "gun show loophole" is just that. A myth.

Gun shows bring together a wide cross section of society in agreement on one subject: Firearms ownership. That, I submit, is the element they fear the most: the coming together of the public. I will not give up any of my rights. You will have to kill me to take my guns.

I'm getting real tired that in every session of the legislature we see some sort of anti-gun legislation. Why are these people so afraid? These legislators should be more afraid of an unprotected homeland. You think the police can protect us? Wrong! The free use of and ownership of weapons keeps this country safe. Don't believe me? Study the history of the Swiss. I'm sure this history would help you understand. Did you know that home gun ownership there is mandatory? We need to learn from the Swiss before some narrow minded legislator's get us in real trouble.

This bill should not be passed

i will give up my guns when they will pry them from my cold dead fingers