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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Firearm background checks

Election Results

Option Votes Pct
Yes 1,238,970 59.27%
No 851,298 40.73%

* Race percentages are calculated with data from the Secretary of State's Office, which omits write-in votes from its calculations when there are too few to affect the outcome. The Spokane County Auditor's Office may have slightly different percentages than are reflected here because its figures include any write-in votes.

About The Measure

Current law requires background checks before a person may purchase a gun from a licensed dealer. This measure would extend this requirement to all gun purchases and transfers in Washington with specific exceptions, e.g., transfers within families, temporary transfers for self-defense and hunting, and antiques. Licensed firearms dealers would conduct the background checks and could charge a fee. It would allow additional background-check time for pistol purchases. Violation of these requirements would be a crime.

Complete Coverage

Gun activists gather, as control activists plan to grade legislators on which way they vote

OLYMPIA – Voter-approved background checks on private gun purchases are unconstitutional and therefore not law, Rep. Matt Shea told gun-rights activists Thursday on the steps of the Capitol. “An unconstitutional law is no law at all,” said the Spokane Valley Republican, who is also a private attorney. He told activists the measure that passed in November violates state and federal constitutions. But the right to bear arms is inalienable and can’t be taken away by voters or the courts.

Shea tells gun rights activists I-594 not law

OLYMPIA — Rep. Matt Shea told gun-rights activists today voter-approved background checks on private sales violate state and federal constitutions and aren’t law. “An unconstitutional law is no law at all,” said Shea told about 300 protesters on the Capitol Building steps.

‘Constitutionalists’ protest at Spokane Valley Police Precinct

A protest spurred by a Spokane County sheriff’s deputy’s statement that angered self-described constitutionalists drew more than 300 people to the Spokane Valley Police Precinct parking lot Saturday afternoon. Many of those in attendance carried rifles, handguns or both. A series of speakers criticized Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich and called on him to give back the mine-resistant ambush protected vehicle (MRAP) that the department received for no cost as military surplus.

300 protest against deputy comment; activist says people should be ‘armed equal to the police’

A protest spurred by a Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy statement that angered self-described constitutionalists drew more than 300 people to the Spokane Valley Police Precinct parking lot Saturday afternoon.

Hundreds protest I-594 at Olympia gun-rights rally

OLYMPIA – Hundreds of gun-rights advocates, some dressed in camouflage and a few wearing Santa hats, gathered Saturday on the Capitol grounds to denounce the background-check law Washington voters approved last month. A crowd estimated between 600 and 800 by the Washington State Patrol – and between 1,000 to 2,000 by organizers – cheered as a string of speakers called Initiative 594 unenforceable and “a constitutional abomination.” Some carried rifles, others shotguns, still others pistols or other handguns. One had a sheathed broadsword.

Hundreds protest new background check law

OLYMPIA — Hundreds of gun-rights advocates, some dressed in camouflage and some wearing Santa hats, gathered on the Capitol grounds to denounce the background-check law voters approved last month.

Sunday Spin3: More on the gun initiatives

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Spin Control: Slim majorities require focus on party discipline

OLYMPIA – The most ephemeral thing in politics might be big majorities. This should be particularly obvious to Democrats as they look to next year’s Legislature. Six years ago, Democrats approached the session with 31 of 49 seats in the Senate and 62 of 98 seats in the House. Those were nearly veto-proof majorities if they’d found the need to override any vetoes from Gov. Chris Gregoire, but considering she was a fellow Democrat, that point was mostly moot.

Smart Bombs: Have a party — for the kids

Initiative 1351 staged a late rally and passed. Estimated cost over four years: $4.7 billion. So now the folks who voted for smaller class sizes have a duty to smoke, toke, drink and scratch, because that’s how we raise money in the “progressive” Evergreen State. “Look, I don’t know how to pay for it, that’s why I didn’t support it,” House Budget Committee Chairman Ross Hunter told the Northwest News Network. Gov. Jay Inslee voted against it. And these are Democrats.

Gun rights activists plan I-594 protest at Capitol

OLYMPIA – Gun rights activists plan to bring their firearms to the Capitol next month to engage in civil disobedience by violating the new background check law that they despise. But there may be a flaw in the plan. What they say they’re going to do – “openly exchange guns” by handing them to someone else – isn’t against Initiative 594, according to Bob Calkins, spokesman for the Washington State Patrol, which provides law enforcement on the Capitol grounds. They won’t be arrested or cited for doing that.

Mapping the vote: Tale of 2 gun initiatives

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Expanded gun background checks passing

Washington voters clearly want more extensive background checks for gun purchases but they aren’t sure whether they want to mandate smaller class sizes in their public schools. In a duel between competing gun proposals, Initiative 594, which extends the background checks now required for guns purchased in stores to most private sales as well, was passing Tuesday night with about 60 percent of the vote. Initiative 591, which wouldn’t let the state require more stringent checks than the national standard, was failing with about 54 percent of the voters saying no.

Elway Poll: Voters split on gun initiatives

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Election 2014: I-591, I-594 differ over gun control

The duel between gun-control initiatives is not just a high-stakes clash between philosophies; it also pits a measure that’s short and sweet against one that features in-depth detail. Initiative 591, supported by state and national groups who tout their support of the Second Amendment, is one of the shortest measures to make the ballot in recent memory. Its 191 words would bar any illegal seizures of guns and wouldn’t allow Washington to change its background check laws unless there’s a new national standard.

Study: Criminals easily skirt law buying guns online

This spring, a man in King County posted an ad on an online gun market, seeking a 9mm handgun. “Cash in hand for the right deal,” he wrote.

Sunday Spin: Gun inits duel over cop support

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Gun control measure backing from Seattle region

The vast majority of money supporting the initiative to expand background checks on guns comes from just 10 ZIP codes in the Seattle area, much of it from people with ties to the tech industry. An analysis of contributions reported to the state Public Disclosure Commission shows more than $2.8 million in contributions for Initiative 594 – or about 84 cents of every dollar contributed – comes from downtown Seattle, areas around Lake Washington and Shoreline. So far, the ballot measure to extend background checks from licensed dealers to most private sales has raised about $3.2 million, about three times more than the campaign for a counterproposal.