November 13, 2014 In the News

The Spokesman-Review: Handing Off Guns at Anti-594 Rally Won’t Prompt Arrests

Jim Camden of The Spokesman-Review reports:

Gun rights activists plan to bring their firearms to the Capitol next month in an effort 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 of the Washington State Patrol, which provides law enforcement on the Capitol grounds.

. . .

Starting at 11 a.m. on Dec. 13, the event on the lawn of the Capitol Campus will feature a series of speakers for opponents of I-594. “We will hold our first rally at the capital, openly exchange guns, unveil and plan to break apart the entire legislation and violate I-594 in every possible way,” the notice for the demonstration says.

No one will be arrested for exchanging guns, Calkins, the patrol spokesman, said.

“We don’t see handing a weapon to someone else as a violation of the law,” Calkins said. “We don’t see that as a transfer.”

He likened it to the difference between loaning your car to a friend for the afternoon and signing the papers over to him. The latter is a transfer, the former is not, Calkins said.

Read the full story here.