New bill clarifies semi-automatic rifles, adds school safety

Gun control supporters were out in force Tuesday morning in Olympia as a new bill for enhanced background checks on guns like AR-15s got a hearing in the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

An earlier version of this bill for enhanced background checks for assault weapons would have raised the age to buy an assault weapon to 21 and required buyers go through state background checks in addition to the federal checks they already do. That bill [SB 5444] stalled, but after the Florida school shooting, Governor Inslee called for lawmakers to revive it.

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Instead of reviving the old bill, lawmakers came up with a new one [SB 6620], billed as a school safety package. It does the same thing as the original bill, but rather than label the guns as assault weapons, it describes them as semi-automatic rifles and shotguns with tactical features.

The bill also includes school safety programs: One establishes a grant program through the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction for school districts to implement emergency response systems to expedite the response and arrival of law enforcement in the event of a school shooting. The second is called the Students Protecting Students Program, which creates a program for students to safely and anonymously report potential threats that will be run by the Attorney General’s Office.

The dozens of people who testified supported the school safety programs, though some said more was needed. Others criticized lawmakers for including those programs with gun control rules.

Response from the National Rifle Association

Keely Hopkins, who represents the National Rifle Association in Washington, told lawmakers SB 6620 would keep law abiding adults between 18 and 20 from being able to buy commonly used rifles for self-defense and argued there was no need.

“Rifles of any type are only used in roughly three percent of violent crime here in Washington state and when Congress banned certain semi-automatic rifles for a period of 10 years, studies found that it had no impact on crime because these types of firearms are so rarely used in crime,” Hopkins said.

Bellevue Gun Club firearms instructor Brett Bass took that argument even further.

“If you look at school specific mass shootings — of the most recent 19 high profile ones — rifles of any sort were only used in 11 or 12 of those.” That comment led to some criticism from the crowd, but Bass added, “If we’re going to look at the majority case, we should dictate our policy based on that and not the marginal one.”

But Jim Parsons, whose daughter was killed in the Las Vegas shooting in October, told lawmakers they needed to act to save lives.

“We will never have the opportunity to see our daughter again because Carrie is not coming home,” Parsons said. “We also have grandchildren in school. After what our family has endured, the thought of having one of those precious little children senselessly slaughtered is unimaginable.”

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Snohomish County Deputy Prosecutor Adam Cornell echoed that sentiment, telling lawmakers a law like this could have made a difference with Allan Ivanoff , the then 19-year-old who opened fire at a Mukilteo house party in 2016, killing three teens and injuring a fourth.

“Something must be done and you all have the power to do something about it,” Cornell said.

There is also a companion bill in the House [HB 3004]. All the sponsors for both bills are Democrats, but Senator David Frockt, who is the prime sponsor of the Senate version, says they included Republican ideas, such as the school safety measures, and he describes it as a bi-partisan effort.

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