Down to the Wire in WA: Why State Supreme Court Election is Critical to 2A
The nail-biting in Washington state has begun, with the eyes of gun owners focused on the effort to flip the State Supreme Court from an entirely liberal makeup to one with at least five by-the-book independent justices who are being supported by conservatives, many independents, and gun rights activists.
Next Tuesday’s election will determine whether legal challenges to an insidious permit-to-purchase law, passed entirely by Democrats and opposed by Republicans—House Bill 1163—will succeed or fail.
Ammoland News broke the story back on Sept. 11 that this purchase permit will cost at least $126, and that does not include fees for the mandatory training requirement in order to qualify for the permit, which could cost several hundred dollars more.
The law will undoubtedly be challenged in state and federal court under provisions of Article I, Section 24 of the state constitution, and under the Second Amendment, which was incorporated to the states by the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in McDonald v. City of Chicago. There is no small irony in the fact that the McDonald case was brought by the Second Amendment Foundation, which is based in Bellevue, Wash.
Article I, Section 24 of the state constitution says, “The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.”
Nowhere does it state, or even suggest, that this right is dependent upon completion of a safety course or the acquisition of a permit-to-purchase. Instead, this right, as spelled out by a state constitution adopted on Nov. 1, 1889, “shall not be impaired.” Critics of the new law, which takes effect May 1, 2027, say prior restraint mandates such as purchase permits and expensive training requirements are impairments.
It will be up to the State Supreme Court to make that determination, at least at the state level.
The campaign to elect candidates Scott Edwards, Dave Larson, David Stevens, Sean O’Donnell, and Todd A. Bloom has seen a considerable amount of money spent by the opposition.
And then there’s the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and the cornerstone of the Bill of Rights. It reads a bit differently:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
Nowhere does it say people must first obtain a purchase permit to exercise this constitutionally-protected and enumerated fundamental right. It says this right “shall not be infringed.” What that means, according to the 2008 Supreme Court’s Heller ruling, is simply that government must keep its hands off.
Evidently, Washington state Democrats didn’t take courses in American government or Civics, and there is an embarrassing video floating around of Republican State Rep. Jim Walsh asking a panel of high school students testifying in support of a gun control measure whether they have read the state RKBA provision, and none had. Then, seated to Walsh’s left, House Judiciary Chair Rep. Jamila Taylor (D-District 30) admits she has not read that section of the state constitution, either.
Ammoland first looked at the Washington Supreme Court campaign back in August, and it has intensified since then.
Gun owners and conservatives in general have traditionally been lethargic during midterm elections, so there has been a vigorous effort to get them to return their mail-in ballots. The future of gun rights in the state could literally be riding on the outcome of the State Supreme Court elections.
All of the opposition candidates have been hand-picked by Democrat governors and/or they are supported by the far left.
Washington has seemingly been abandoned by the national Republican Party because voters along the I-5 corridor (Vancouver, Olympia, Tacoma, Seattle, Everett and Bellingham) traditionally vote Blue and they get a better turnout, while voters in conservative districts have become increasingly discouraged.
In addition, there has been an exodus of gun owners and traditionally conservative voters to friendlier states, putting those who remain at a numeric disadvantage.
But this year is different. Not only is the state high court up for grabs, there is a trio of politically incendiary initiatives on the ballot, which could bring conservatives out of the woodwork: I-645 to stop the so-called “Millionaire income tax,” I-638 to protect girls’ sports and I-001, protecting parents’ rights. Democrats and liberals are opposed to all three measures, but there is strong support among conservatives and even Independents. “YES” votes on all three are important to the state’s future, say supporters.
These Washington races will be the ones to watch, which is why Evergreen State gun owners, many of whom are in the field right now hunting deer or elk, are being begged, cajoled, motivated or outright browbeaten to get off their duffs for five minutes, fill out their ballots, drop them off at local ballot drop boxes (NOT at the post office, which cannot be depended upon to process ballots in time for Tuesday’s voting deadline) and perhaps flip the political landscape for the first time in decades.
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
