SEATTLE — Attorney General Bob Ferguson is proposing a ban on the sale of military-style assault weapons in Washington.
“What’s happening in our country right now is outrageous, it is unacceptable, and it must stop,” Ferguson said while speaking at an Alliance for Gun Responsibility news conference.
Ferguson spoke about the effort on Friday, which is National Gun Violence Awareness Day.
But apparently, his proposal is nothing new.
“I have proposed six years in a row as agency-requested legislation with the support of key legislators that are here today, banning the sale of assault weapons like the AR-15, and every year, it has gone nowhere,” said Ferguson.
Once again, his proposal was on the 2022 legislative agenda.
Referencing the recent mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 students and two teachers, the attorney general said parents would never talk to their children again because there are too many politicians who are afraid of “the NRA and the gun lobby.”
“Guess what. I am not intimidated by the NRA, we have beat them in Olympia, but we need to beat them again in Olympia,” he said. “This is the (legislative) session, it must be the session, there is no excuse.”
Ferguson said he understands that Republicans won’t cooperate.
“I don’t know what more we need and seeing what unfolded in Texas, I don’t know what more we need as a state, what politicians need to see, before passing that reform that other states have adopted, and courts have upheld all across our country,” said Ferguson.
Legislation signed by Gov. Jay Inslee to ban high-capacity ammunition magazines in March will go into effect on July 1.
According to this year’s proposal (SB 5217/HB 1229), “assault weapons are semi-automatic weapons with at least one military-style feature and the weapon design itself, including modifications, makes the weapons easier to fire and allows them to fire more accurately and rapidly than a typical hunting rifle.”
Read more about what Ferguson is proposing at this link.
“We need to do everything in our power to pass a ban on the sale of assault weapons in Washington state and we need to do it now,” said Ferguson.