Top gun control bills to watch in Washington's Legislature
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Washington state already has some of the nation's strictest gun control laws. But some legislators want to make them even tougher, including by possibly requiring permits to buy firearms.
The big picture: Washington's firearm death rate has increased in recent years, rising from 9.8 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2015 to 12.4 per 100,000 in 2022, per CDC data.
- More than 1,000 people were fatally shot in Washington in 2022, the latest year of CDC data available.
Zoom in: One proposal before the state Legislature would make people obtain a permit showing they've passed a background check and taken a certified firearm safety course before they can buy a gun.
Other bills proposed by Democrats would beef up licensing requirements for gun dealers, increase safe storage requirements for firearms, enact a new tax on gun and ammunition sales, and limit the amount of guns and ammo a single person can buy in a 30-day period.
- A sixth measure would ban firearms in more government buildings and limit guns in public parks, adding to the state's growing list of gun-free zones.
What they're saying: At a press conference last week, state Senate Majority Leader Jamie Pedersen (D-Seattle) said two shootings last year outside Seattle's Garfield High School highlight the need for lawmakers to do more to combat gun violence.
- "My family and every other family in Washington should have the right to send our kids to school and feel like they're going to be safe," said Pedersen, who said he has four sons attending Garfield.
The other side: Senate Minority Leader John Braun (R-Centralia) told reporters last week that the gun bills filed by Democrats are "going down the wrong path."
- "They're trying to restrict rights on law-abiding citizens," Braun said.
- Opponents of the gun licensing bill told lawmakers at a public hearing last week that it would infringe on citizens' constitutional right to bear arms.
Between the lines: Researchers with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found in 2015 and 2020 that permit-to-purchase laws helped reduce firearm homicides in Connecticut, which enacted its licensing system in 1995.
State of play: Similar permit-to-purchase bills have stalled before in Washington's Legislature.
- House Majority Leader Joe Fitzgibbon (D-Seattle) said Democratic lawmakers over the past two years were more focused on passing other gun measures, including a ban on selling so-called assault weapons.
- With that policy and others now law, the licensing proposal has become "the highest priority gun bill on the agenda this year," Fitzgibbon said.
- The state Senate has a slightly larger Democratic majority and more progressive members than it did a year ago, which may also improve the bill's prospects, Pedersen told Axios.
What's next: The House Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on several gun control measures, including the permit-to-purchase bill, sometime this week.
- To reach the desk of Gov. Bob Ferguson, the bills would also need to pass the full House and Senate.