With the defeat of a 'Universal Background Check' bill in the Republican controlled State House, the newly formed Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility is already looking ahead on how to get their agenda fulfilled. This article in the Everett Herald outlines the various way's of getting it done.
As long as the Republican's control the State House, I don't see the bill making it through there...even if they bring it back as an 'election year issue'.
Trying to make it through the initiative process though...that would come down to which side gets their votes out. In an off-year (no Governor, no President), I think the advantage would come down to our side...but it wouldn't be a sure thing. There are a LOT of people that live in the I-5 corridor who would vote in support of an initiative like this. Our side would have to attack in terms of increased cost and increased work load for the police running through all these background checks.
The end result it, we have to accept this is now a constant battle. In the past, if an attempt at passing gun control legislation was defeated, you could rest reasonably assured it wasn't going to come back for a few years. I think now though, we should expect to see things like this yearly...or at least until the failed attempts start hurting the checkbooks on the other side.
Now...it's important to keep writing letters, and contacting the politicians. Thanking them for doing the right thing is almost as important as writing and asking them to to it in the first place. A little positive reinforcement never hurt anyone...and today's State Representative is next decade's U.S. Senator.
I hate to be absolutely blunt, it is a constant and, over time, losing battle. Demographics don't allow an option. Republicans will not get the black, nor will it ever get the brown vote, and that last is the future.
ReplyDeleteDemographics don't lie, and while many of those who are brown who are here or coming are Catholic, it is a socialist pseudo-Catholicism, much like the Catholicism from Haiti is mixed with voodoo. Neither are very good at basic civil principles. It takes generations to... craft a man who finally trusts to rely on himself, with God's grace. The numbers coming in don't allow that.