SPOKANE, Wash. – I-594 was written with the intent to strengthen gun transfer rules. Gun shop owners are seeing an increase in customers, but not in the way you might think.
Many gun owners are worried they might lose their guns in light of I-594 passing. The surprising thing is many gun owners are now voluntarily getting rid of their own firearms.
It was one of the most hot button topics of the recent election season.
I-594 passed with 60 percent of the vote, making it mandatory for a background check to be performed during any transfer of a gun.
All is quiet for Spokane's gun shops with some notable exceptions two months after that law began.
"The laws are getting so complicated now that the layman doesn't know," said Vern Wiggins, a gun collector.
This unabashed gun collector loves his firearms, but since I-594 passed, he is considering selling back some of his most prized possessions.
"They keep adding more and more to it, and you don't know how to interpret it," said Wiggins
Vern is in good company. After I-594 passed, one of the chief complaints among gun owners was that the law was too vague to understand.
As a result, people like Vern are avoiding any future trouble and misunderstandings, by selling back their guns.
In Spokane, at least three gun stores told KREM 2 News they have noticed an increase of people hawking their firearms.
"They just don't want to make a mistake in transferring a firearm to someone who shouldn't have a firearm," said Terry Rodgers, a Spokane gun store owner.
Before the passage of I-594, around five customers a week would try to sell back their guns at Terry's store. Currently, it has been as much as 20 a week.
"You just don't know what can happen to you, so it's a lot easier to get rid of your guns or part of them," said Rodgers.
Normally whenever new gun legislation is passed, sales soar. In Spokane County, that did not happen.
The number of gun permits issued last year dropped by 39 percent.
While the Connecticut school shootings led to a huge spike in permits through 2013, gun experts said it is surprising that there was such a huge drop last year.
For people like Wiggins, it means more potential trouble for one of his favorite past times.
Since I-594 passed, there have been several attempts to have the law repealed. So far, those efforts have not worked.
end quote from:
| KREM.com (subscription) | - |
(Photo by Ann Hermes/The Christian Science Monitor via Getty Images) (Photo: Christian Science Monitor, Christian Science Monitor/Getty ). CONNECT 3 TWEETLINKEDINCOMMENTEMAILMORE. SPOKANE, Wash. - I-594 was written with the intent to ...
Ambiguous laws regarding guns are not useful. We have enough laws no one can figure out even now.
For example, there is a law in Los Angeles where it is illegal to shoot jackrabbits off the back of a trolley car or train.
This is a law made to prevent people from doing this and scaring other passengers or accidentally shooting them. But, how useful is this in 2015? It might have been useful from around 1880 to 1925 but not now.
No comments:
Post a Comment