SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Dori: Protect law enforcement and gun rights — vote no on I-1639, I-940
Nov 5, 2018, 7:23 PM
I-1639 will require gun owners to lock up their firearms or face penalties. (AP)
(AP)
A couple of the initiatives on Tuesday’s ballot would really make us less safe if passed. I-1639 would take a state that has some of the strongest Second Amendment protections in place and put in some of the strictest gun laws.
Our state constitution is very strong when it comes to rights for law-abiding gun owners. Remember 10 years ago, when Mayor Greg Nickels from Seattle Center, among other places? The state Supreme Court struck it down because it blatantly went against our state constitution.
Thank goodness they did — this past Friday, when a woman was stabbed to death in front of her 4-year-old son by the child’s father at Seattle Center, a Good Samaritan named Scott Brown had his gun on him and was able to hold the murderer until the cops arrived.
RELATED: See how Dori filled out his ballot
We have an initiative on Tuesday’s ballot, I-1639 that would impose some of the harshest gun laws in the nation on the citizens of this state. Every law enforcement agency that I’ve seen opposes I-1639.
Then there is I-940, which would make being a cop dramatically more difficult. In that one, there would be a citizen panel made up of people in “under-represented communities” to oversee police officers. Three of the under-represented communities would include undocumented immigrants, youth, and previously incarcerated people — in other words, illegals, children, and criminals would be overseeing our law enforcement.
Our region is already conducting so much de-policing. We need to empower police officers, not hinder them further. And do you think an anti-gun initiative is going to stop a criminal from getting a gun in our state? The criminals are always going to get guns. We have the worst property crime of any major city in the nation. In our region, where we attract criminals from around the country, we hear every single day about drug addict vagrants attacking innocent citizens, and breaking into cars and homes. But if we pass I-1639 and I-940, we will ensure that police are not able to respond to crimes聽and citizens are not able to protect themselves. The criminals will officially take over the region.
