Opinion
Washington – -(AmmoLand.com)- Evergreen State gun owners and Second Amendment activists are planning a big April 27 rally on the Capitol steps in Olympia that is shaping up to be bigger than a gathering there in 2018 that drew a crowd of some 2,500.
It’s the second annual “March For Our Rights” and the lineup of scheduled speakers include local lawmakers and activists, plus Maj Toure of Black Guns Matter, Savannah Lindquist with the Ladies of Liberty Alliance, Derek LeBlanc from Kids Safe Org., and Kerry Stone with We the Females, according to a schedule posted at the MFOR Facebook page.
The rally kicks off at noon, and it is not the only big activity happening that day. The Washington Arms Collectors is holding a big gun show at the Puyallup Fairgrounds about 40 miles and one county away that same weekend. Over the past two months, WAC members have been digging into their wallets to support a federal lawsuit challenging anti-gun Initiative 1639, which was passed by voters last fall. The measure raised the minimum age to purchase a semiautomatic rifle in Washington to 21, and defined every semi-auto rifle in the state as a “semiautomatic assault rifle.”
The lawsuit was filed by the Second Amendment Foundation and National Rifle Association in U.S. District Court in Tacoma. So far, WAC members have contributed thousands of dollars to help pay the legal expenses.
While WAC members will be raising cash, the MFOR rally will raise awareness that Evergreen State gun owners are fighting back. Several onerous gun control bills have already died in the Legislature, and a good turnout will signal to state lawmakers that these activists, with their rights under attack, will remember their friends and foes in November 2020.
Washington and neighboring Oregon have, as reported earlier, become something of a petri dish for the gun prohibition lobby.
North of the Columbia, wealthy elitists bankrolling the Seattle-based Alliance for Gun Responsibility has pushed through three anti-rights initiatives since 2014. Down in Salem, anti-gun Democrats holding the legislative majority in Salem are moving forward with Senate Bill 978, which is loaded with new restrictions.
One of those tenets, a requirement to lock up guns in the home unless they are being carried or under the control of the homeowner or “an authorized person,” might have a problem.
In the 2008 Heller ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court said “the requirement that any lawful firearm in the home be disassembled or bound by a trigger lock makes it impossible for citizens to use arms for the core lawful purpose of self-defense and is hence unconstitutional.”
While that issue may need some sorting out, the Oregon Firearms Federation has been urging its members to pressure Republican lawmakers to walk out. OFF has called SB 978 “the Felon Factory” because its various elements could allegedly turn law-abiding gun owners into criminals.
An eye-opening backdrop to this regional activism might be found in a Washington Post story about how Democrats now running for president have embraced gun control. One remark from a Cleveland union group revealed what might be a problem for both sides of the gun issue.
The newspaper reported that “several local (trade union) leaders said that the Democrats need to assure voters that their hunting and hobbies will be safe.” But out in the Northwest, gun owners preparing for the April 27 rally would be quick to explain that this fight isn’t about hunting or hobbies, it’s about protecting a constitutionally-enumerated fundamental right.
The Washington Post quoted Patrick J. Corrigan from the Head and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 3 in Cleveland, stating, “I want to hear them (Democrats) say, ‘I’m not going to take your guns.’ That’s a big issue for my members.”
It might also be a plea for nothing more than lip service from politicians who have made a habit of saying they “support the Second Amendment…but.” Claiming they have no intention of taking people’s guns, and then supporting bans on so-called “assault rifles” and original capacity magazines is political double-speak that no longer fools anybody unless they just want to hear something reassuring that ultimately becomes meaningless.
One week before the MFOR rally in Olympia, several gun prohibition lobbying groups will gather in Seattle at City Hall for a discussion on Extreme Risk Protection Orders and other gun control efforts. The April 20 event begins with a rally at City Hall Plaza featuring anti-gun Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson.
Whether that anti-rights event will attract counter-demonstrators remains to be seen. Anti-gunners have turned up at gun rights rallies in the past, and Second Amendment activists just might think it’s time for some karma.
RELATED:
- Oregon: Committee Passes Insane 45-Page Gun Control Package
- Why Washington May Become Tougher Nut to Crack for Anti-Gunners
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.