A new report from state Attorney General Bob Ferguson regarding background checks for gun sales should be viewed as valuable guidance for lawmakers and the governor’s office.
Ferguson’s office last week issued a report recommending specific improvements while noting that the state’s system for conducting background checks is fragmented. According to the Associated Press, “Under the current system, 260 local law enforcement agencies conduct background checks when someone in their jurisdiction wants to buy a handgun or get a concealed pistol license,” leading to a complex and inconsistent bureaucracy. Ferguson also said the state should ensure that resources are available for the timely and complete input of data.
Other items also were addressed in the report:
• Federal law prohibits firearm possession by an illegal drug user or addict, but Washington has legalized the possession of marijuana. “Officials in Washington should appeal to Congress … to allow legal access to firearms for individuals whose use or possession of marijuana is legal under state law,” Ferguson said.
• In Washington, an estimated 24,000 youths live in homes with unlocked and loaded firearms, and the report recommends legislation creating a criminal penalty for gun owners who don’t secure firearms when they know those firearms can be accessed by a minor.
• And the state should help law enforcement share information about people who fail background checks, while also improving the system for some to regain their gun rights.
All of this rekindles much of the debate that surrounded Initiative 594, which was passed by 59 percent of Washington voters in 2014 (58 percent of Clark County voters approved the measure). I-594 extended background checks, attempting to close a loophole in which people who could not purchase a firearm at a gun shop could buy one at a gun show. Gun-rights activists have unsuccessfully attempted to overturn the law in the courts and the Legislature.
The law created by I-594 is being used by prosecutors for the first time in the case of an Oak Harbor man who sold a gun without procuring a background check. Two days later, the gun was used in a murder. Opponents of background checks have alternately argued that such checks would infringe upon rights, or that if the law rarely is used then it is unnecessary. Both arguments fall flat. As King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said last year about I-594: “Responsible gun owners aren’t going to see a difference. What it might do is raise the risk for people who are willing to sell guns, no questions asked.”
An efficient and equitable system of background checks can be created while balancing the rights of responsible gun owners and helping to keep guns out of the hands of those who are irresponsible. Ferguson’s report noted that firearm deaths in Washington exceed motor vehicle deaths, and that about 80 percent of gun deaths are suicides. Those facts call for reasonable action on the part of the citizenry.
Meanwhile, the report also points out the drawbacks of advocacy on the part of state executives. Ferguson has called for a ban on the sale of military-style weapons in the state, and taking a stand on the issue can obscure what needs to be an even-handed discussion.
That being said, lawmakers should pay heed to the report from the attorney general’s office and work to improve Washington’s system for background checks.
