New Gun Background Checks Take Effect in Washington State

dart · 发表于 2014-12-4 16:23

http://online.wsj.com/articles/new-gun-background-checks-take-effect-in-washington-state-1417729292?mod=WSJ_hps_sections_news

New Gun Background Checks Take Effect in Washington State
Initiative 594 sponsors on Nov. 4, the day Washington state voters passed tighter gun controls. Associated Press

A new gun-control law that takes effect in Washington today has energized activists pledging to push for more changes, as the state becomes the latest battleground over gun regulation.

Initiative 594, which passed with 59% of the vote in November, requires background checks for all gun sales and transfers—an expansion that includes private transactions but exempts gifts from immediate family members, antique firearms and certain temporary trades.
Advocates of tougher gun controls see the election results as a mandate to push for further stringency.

“We feel like we’re headed into the legislative session with the wind at our backs,” said Zach Silk, campaign manager for the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, which sponsored Initiative 594.

Mr. Silk said his group plans to push for legislative changes to widen the group of people prohibited from owning guns and to allow gun-violence protection orders that could allow a firearm to be taken from someone with threatening behavior or mental-health issues.

In addition, the group will focus on public-education campaigns and decreasing children’s access to guns.

Weeks before voters approved the new gun law, a 15-year-old student shot five other students at a high school in Marysville, north of Seattle, shocking the community and reigniting the debate over gun control.

The National Rifle Association, which opposed the initiative, has vowed to overturn the new regulation.

“All options are on the table,” said Andrew Arulanandam, spokesman for the NRA. “It was a bogus measure that was sold to Washington voters as a means of keeping them safer from criminals and the mentally ill. It will not do that.”

Also in November, Washington voters rejected a separate gun measure that would have limited restrictions by preventing the state from adding regulations beyond federal law requirements.

Across the country, 18 states plus the District of Columbia have extended their background-check requirements for private sales in some capacity, according to Laura Cutilletta, senior staff attorney with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

After an application is approved, workers at the Washington State Department of Licensing record the movement of handguns after they are sold or transferred for law-enforcement officials’ reference. Officials said they don’t intend to hire additional staff, but do see some changes coming with the new law.

The firearms program at the state’s licensing department, which has an annual budget of about $1 million, anticipates additional costs of about $186,000 for the 2015 fiscal year as a result of the new law, according to state officials. State officials said the law will generate extra paperwork and an estimated 13,000 additional application forms that need to be filed with the state.

“It’s hard to know quite yet, but it’s safe to say we’re going to get more paperwork,” said Christine Anthony, spokeswoman for the department.
In 2013, the department received nearly 200,000 pistol-transfer reports—or logs of handgun sales—and by October 2014, it had received more than 120,000 reports filed with the state. There is currently a backlog of about 180,000, according to Ms. Anthony. The backlog doesn’t prevent gun sales from going through.

Some gun-store owners reported increases in sales following the election, before the initiative took effect. Industry groups fear that additional registration costs may drag down sales and transfers now that the initiative is in place.

“This law makes it uncomfortable for law-abiding citizens to own firearms,” said Philip Shave, executive director of the Washington Arms Collectors, a firearms advocacy organization formed in 1951 with about 18,000 members in the Pacific Northwest, he said.

Mr. Shave believes the new rule is hostile to recreational and private ownership. He also cites harsh penalties and a narrow definition of gun transfers, when a gun changes hands.

Mr. Shave said his group, which is hosting a gun show this weekend in Monroe, Wash., has negotiated with dealers to create a $10 flat fee for the costs of gun transfers, which he said can often range from about $20 to $50.

“With low-cost transfers, we hope not to lose our membership and to bring private sellers and our membership into the gun shows,” he said. “We comply with Initiative 594 and at the same time do it affordably, and we can continue to offer gun shows.”