‘Why would only the Second Amendment right have this litmus test?’: Gun law analyst breaks down WA’s 83% background check fee hike

Washington gun owners are facing a steep rate increase. The cost of background checks is climbing 83%, going from $18 to $33.

Bill Kirk, president of Washington Gun Law, broke down the reason for the stark increase on “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

“What happened is, last year, this was supposedly done at the request of the Washington State Patrol, there had been a statutory cap on the background check — and you gotta remember, folks, that the background check is going to be much more prevalent come May 1, 2027 if we have our permit to purchase license, because you’re going to have to go through a background check to get your permit to purchase before you then have to go through a background check to get your gun,” Kirk said.

“So you’re going through a background check to get to go through a background check, but that’s going to cost you $33 a pop,” he continued. “Then of course, because there is no statutory cap, that’s what the state patrol set it at this year, going forward, of course, that’s adjustable every year thereafter. And so, when you take a look at states that have had this for a while, like California, you might be paying $200 to $250 for the background check fee alone.”

Kirk argues owning a gun is a right, not a privilege like driving a car

KIRO host John Curley said one argument is that they do the same check when buying a car, because they want to prove the person can drive a car before buying it. Kirk said while he understands the argument, the truth is that buying a gun is clearly articulated in the U.S. Constitution’s Bill of Rights.

“A driver’s license, much like my bar license, much like the FCC license that your station has, is a privilege that’s been bestowed either upon by federal government or state government, and they can attach all sorts of conditions to it, but if every right in the Bill of Rights is to be treated equally, then would that permit us to require mandatory training at your own expense to prove your worthiness before you exercise your right to speak freely? Or your right to go to church? Or your right to be free from unreasonable government searches and seizures? Or your right to counsel? Why would it only be that the Second Amendment right would have this litmus test, this poll tax, if you would, which is something when we previously had required financial barriers to the entry to the access point of a constitutional right, we call them poll taxes. They were soundly struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Kirk said.

“There’s nothing wrong with training. There’s no such thing as a gun owner who’s over-trained, and I completely understand the desire to get everyone trained. The problem, of course, is that all of the violence problems that we have that are associated with firearms are not associated with poor training,” he continued. “That’s the thing, it’s not like you pick up the paper every day and some guy dropped his gun and it shot two people in a bus or something like that, because he’s clumsy. No, it is unlawful people possessing unlawful firearms, doing unlawful things, oftentimes to other unlawful people, and that’s the problem. Yet none of these gun laws want to address the actual causation of our safety issues and violence issues.”

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Follow @https://twitter.com/jcurleyshow