Saturday, November 22, 2014

And so it begins. The aftermath of I-594

Bad law is bad law.  I wrote about this before the election.  For my pains I was told on some other discussion forums that I was chicken little (the sky is falling) and that it just wasn't that big a deal.  I was told that I was misrepresenting the law (in spite of the clear language of the proposed law itself).  Those of us suggesting that this initiative was far more problematic than the supporters were claiming were called fear mongers.

Well, here is the first of what I predict will be many news stories:

the Lynden Pioneer Museum has opted to pull eleven loaned WWII rifles currently on display and return these firearms to their collector owners before the “transfer” requirement in I-594 takes effect next month.  The reason?  The law contains no exemptions for firearms loaned for museum displays, or loaned for similar educational or cultural institution study or uses.  Once the law takes effect, the firearms could not be returned to their owners without the mandatory background checks and all the logistics and expenses that entails.

Bellingham Herald

I don't believe for a minute that any of the consequences that arise will be "unintended".  The backers of this initiative are not firearm enthusiasts who are interested in gun safety, they are against guns.  Period.  Each measure, each law, each initiative is designed to reduce the availability of guns to the general public, thus reducing the "gun culture" that they openly despise.  None of these measures affect criminals.  It is a demonstrable fact that criminals don't get their guns legally anyway.  Criminals steal guns, they buy stolen guns off the street, or they get their friends who aren't prohibited to buy guns for them.  Laws like this make it harder for the average person to own firearms or learn to shoot without doing anything about crime.  Now it might be harder for museums to show the role that firearms played in establishing and defending our country. 

My guess is that the gun ban crowd will issue public platitudes about how this wasn't the intended result (as they have already done) but in private they will be ecstatic that fewer people will see guns in a positive light and some, who might have decided to learn how to shoot and join the gun culture because of that exposure, won't.

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