Gun Activists Rally In Olympia

Joseph Sherman, 3, carries a toy pop gun as he walks with his grandfather at a gun-rights rally Thursday at the Capitol in Olympia, Wash. The rally was in opposition to Washington state’s Initiative 594, which requires - with only a few exceptions — background checks on all gun sales and transfers. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

Voter-approved background checks on private gun purchases are unconstitutional and therefore not law, Rep. Matt Shea (inset photo: shown in Olympia in this Jim Camden photo) 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. “God gave us that,” said Shea, who told the crowd he is sponsoring a bill to repeal Initiative 594 and supporting other gun-rights measures. The Washington Firearms Leaders Action Group held the first of what it expects to be monthly rallies against I-594, which drew between 250 and 300 activists, the Washington State Patrol and organizers estimated. Many openly carried rifles, shotguns or handguns to the gathering on the north steps of the Capitol and brought their weapons inside the building/ Jim Camden , SR. More here .

Question: Is a voter-approved law unconstitutional simply because a Washington legislator says so?