The following editorial originally appeared in The Seattle Times:
There is something very wrong with state laws on juvenile gun crimes. Rep. David Hackney, D-Renton, sponsored a bill to do something about it.
Still, the Legislature failed. Washingtonians deserve better.
The issue revolves around the appropriate consequence for young people repeatedly arrested with guns.
Currently, when a juvenile is caught possessing a gun it takes five convictions — which can be five different guns in five separate, potentially deadly scenarios — before the youth can be held for longer than 30 days at a state Juvenile Rehabilitation program.
The first four gun convictions are limited to a maximum of 30 days in a local juvenile facility, although judges often order less than that.
The problem, as local law enforcement officials discovered: Deferring strong intervention until the fifth conviction can come with a terrible cost. The King County Prosecutor’s Office reports that seven juveniles with previous firearm convictions are facing murder or assault charges in adult court.
Other young people have lost their lives in gun violence following a conviction for unlawful possession of a firearm, according to officials. Prosecutors want a better way to more forcefully intervene in a young life when guns are involved.
Hackney sponsored House Bill 1536. It would have increased the penalty for juveniles with guns. The bill moved between legislative committees before dying without a hearing.
Turned over to The Seattle Times Editorial Board after public disclosure requests, emails from King County prosecutors to state lawmakers take on an increasingly urgent tone as legislative deadlines passed with no action.
“These kids are frankly in free fall when they face 1, 2, 3, 4, firearm convictions and face no meaningful response under Washington law. HB 1536 would change that,” wrote a staff member in the prosecutor’s office to Rep. Lauren Davis, D-Shoreline, who co-sponsored the legislation.
Prosecutors have regular meetings with the office of Rep. Roger Goodman, D-Kirkland, the powerful chair of the House Community Safety Committee. The legislation was discussed, but in the end, emails to Goodman requesting action went unreturned and the legislation went nowhere.
To Hackney, the indifference of lawmakers to youth gun possession reeks of a double standard. If the shootings were taking place in wealthier communities, there would be hue and cry, he said.
“If this was going on in Bellevue or another northern suburb, that law would be changed yesterday,” he said. “But they don’t do it for my kids. And that’s unfortunate.”
Unfortunate, and morally wrong. For community safety and the future of young people on the wrong path, Olympia must take juvenile gun crime more seriously and understand how the laws they pass — or don’t — impact real lives.
