The FBI Uniform Crime Report for 2017 is out, and for gun prohibitionists, there is a bit of bad news in relation to the initiatives they are pushing to clamps down on so-called “assault rifles.”
This comes after a major statewide law enforcement group in Washington took a pro-gun position against Initiative 1639 on its website. In a statement, the Washington State Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors Association had this to say:
“The WSLEFIA finds that I-1639 is an attack on civil rights and is an attempt to marginalize all firearm owners, including law enforcement officers. I-1639 will impair public safety, embolden criminals, and impose burdensome restrictions on our most law-abiding citizens.” ~WSLEFIA
According to the FBI report, released on Monday, the Evergreen State recorded a single homicide last year that was confirmed to have been committed with a rifle of any kind. There was also one homicide connected to a shotgun. Out of the 228 homicides reported last year, 134 were reportedly committed with handguns.
There were 57 slayings involving a gun that was not identified. However, if the statistical pattern that has existed for decades holds true, only a couple of those killings involved rifles or shotguns.
Yet, backers of Initiative 1639 claim that so-called “semiautomatic assault rifles” need to be strictly regulated. The minimum age limit to buy or own one of those guns needs to be raised to 21. The definition of a “semiautomatic assault rifle” must apply to all self-loaders, including popular .22-caliber models such as the Browning SA-22, Marlin Model 60, and Ruger 10/22 because they all fit this description, found at the bottom of Page 27 of the 30-page, multi-faceted measure:
“’Semiautomatic assault rifle’ means any rifle which utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and chamber the next round, and which requires a separate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge.”
As Liberty Park Press earlier noted, the authors of I-1639 appear to have simply cut-and-pasted language from federal statute used to define “semiautomatic rifles” and merely inserted the word “assault” to demonize and capture all such firearms.
There is a growing and energetic grassroots effort to defeat the initiative. It involves public education, doorbelling, workshops, plus typical yard signs, handouts, posters and larger billboard-type advertising. Pro-rights activists are doing all of this on a shoestring budget, all over the state.
Washingtonians and the National Rifle Association for Freedom has raised $183,719, of which $144,248.28 has been spent, according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. Another $25,668.81 has been raised by the separate Save Our Security group, which has spent $14,183.41, the PDC says.
Compare that to the whopping $4.5 million already raised by the anti-rights Safe Schools/Safe Communities backers of I-1639. They have already spent $4.39 million, so complaints about the “gun lobby” contributing big bucks to defeat their measure are wildly exaggerated.
Nationally, according to the FBI report, rifles of any kind are identified as the murder weapon in 403 of the 10,982 gun-related homicides recorded last year. There were 3,283 slayings in which the firearm was not identified, but it is likely few of those involved rifles of any kind, including so-called “semiautomatic assault rifles.”
So, the question for Washington voters remains: How is demonizing and over-regulating such firearms going to reduce violent crime?
As Alan Korwin, the Arizona-based author and Second Amendment advocate noted at last weekend’s Gun Rights Policy Conference in Chicago, there is no such thing as “gun violence.” The problem is crime. More laws restricting the rights of law-abiding citizens will not provide a solution, gun owners insist.
This may be why WSLEFIA has come out in opposition to I-1639. The lower right corner of their website lists 19 different problems WSLEFIA has with this billionaire-backed measure. They are worth reading.
Do you think the FBI Uniform Crime Report will ever affect the opinions of the anti-gunners? Why or why not? Share your answers in the comment section.
Dave Workman is the Senior Editor at the Liberty Park Press.
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The vast majority of citizens will never be informed of ty he FBI Uniform Crime Report.
Randy M.
Anti-gunners are only worried about getting their message to as many other anti-gunners as possible! The truth is irrelevant. Crime statistics are irrelevant. The only relevance in their small minded, pathetic lives is “Get Rid of Guns, NOW”! Second amendment be damned, take everyone’s guns, and there will be no shooting deaths! Which doesn’t take into account stabbings, motor vehicles, ax attacks, machete slashings, blunt force trauma etc. ad infinitum! As long as guns are gone, they’ll be happy!
I whole heartedly support the second amendment and for every American’s right to own the firearm of their choice. With one exception, age requirement. As I posted in another article on this blog, I will repost here.
Well, I am a little conflicted with this issue. I am a grandfather with teen grandchildren between 18 and 21. And I can tell you that these are not the teens most if us grew up with. They live in social media with their faces pressed in their phones and go to full on hate with just a few tweets. I won’t even trust my 21 year old grandson with a B.B. gun, because he said he wanted something powerful enough to kill something, like a bird. Kill, not hunt for food. This was the world of our Florida School shooter. I live in Florida where our state legislature has already passed the 21 year old gun law. No politician dared stand against it after what happened here. A lot of failures happened across the board. But if that 19 year old did not own that legally purchased, high capacity, high power, similar-auto rifle, things may have been different. Notice that I did not say Assault Rifle. I support protecting everyone’s 2nd amendment rights, but sometimes exceptions have to be made. I would suggest bolt action hunting rifles and low capacity shotguns for 18 to 20 year olds. Also simi-auto rifles in 22 caliber with fixed capacity’s of 18 rounds or less. A lot of tube feed 22 rifles fall in that category. Our Florida school shooting would not have even been news worthy if the gunman had been armed with this type of rifle. I do not say this with out having done a lot of though on this matter. But if something does not change these school mass shooting will continue and state legislatures will follow Florida’s example one after another. And as for those that say, if you can Vote at 18 you should be able to buy any gun at 18. I say, the vote is a much more damaging weapon than a gun. If you look at what is happening in our colleges with these 18 to 20 year olds, we should all move to change the voting age to 21. One exception, honorable military service should over ride both gun ownership and voting age issues.