Legislature considers bill to ban assault weapons in Washington

OLYMPIA – A controversial assault weapons ban proposal returned on Tuesday to the state House of Representatives and received testimony on both sides of the idea from the Spokane area.

Ami Strahan, the mother of 15-year-old Sam Strahan, who died in the 2017 Freeman High School shooting, testified in support of the ban.

“I’m one of far too many who have lost their children so suddenly, and so tragically. It has to stop,” Strahan said. “No one law can prevent all gun violence. Restricting access to assault weapons may not have saved my son’s life, but it will save countless others.”

Opponents of the ban said they want harsher punishments for those who commit crimes while armed. Tougher sentencing and more support for law enforcement, they say, would reduce gun violence.

“Nobody wants criminals charged with gun crimes more than those of us who are law-abiding gun owners; let’s stop being so soft on crime,” said Robin Ball, founder of Sharpshooting Indoor Range and Gun Shop in Spokane.

The Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee heard from the public on several gun-related bills Tuesday, including ones that would create a waiting period and require safety training ahead of purchasing a firearm. Most of the testimony Tuesday was about the assault ban, which would prohibit the manufacture, importation, distribution, sale or offer for sale of any assault weapon. This is the seventh session that the Legislature has heard the proposal.

Supporters of the assault weapons ban argue that firearms like these have no place in the hands of private citizens, and the Legislature should pass laws to restrict access.

On the other hand, gun rights advocates argue that legislation won’t affect gun violence, only punish law-abiding citizens. Testifiers cited a 2021 statistic from the Department of Justice, saying 88.8% of firearm offenders are prohibited from possessing one.

Opponents of the bill also say the definition for “assault weapons” is vague and untechnical, so legislation to ban these weapons oversteps and may violate the Constitution.

Guns that would be banned under the proposal include semiautomatic rifles shorter than 30 inches, some kinds of semiautomatic pistols that can have a detachable magazine and some kinds of semiautomatic shotguns.

Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, spoke out against each of the bills heard on Tuesday.

“These bills try to do several unconstitutional things, including banning so-called ‘assault weapons,’ a term that has no technical meaning, so it’s applied sloppily to many types of firearms,” Walsh said in a statement.

Also testifying in support was Mike Van Dyke, a Spokane pediatric critical care physician. Van Dyke said in his work treating children with severe injuries and diseases that some of the worst cases he sees are children who are victims of gun violence.

“Assault weapons are designed to make it easier to fire more rounds faster, getting more targets and hitting targets more than once,” Van Dyke said. “The shooter at Freeman High School killed one of his classmates, Sam, and wounded three others in the blink of an eye. If his assault weapon hadn’t jammed, there would’ve been even more injuries and loss of life.”

Lawmakers on Tuesday also heard testimony on a bill that would repeal the statute that prevents local governments from enacting gun laws. Another bill would require a person to wait 10 days after the completion of a background check and take a safety training course before purchasing a gun. A fourth bill would ensure purchasers of firearms obtain the required permits.

The bills have not been scheduled for votes in committee.

If the assault weapons ban were to pass this session, Washington would become the 10th state in the nation to implement such a ban.