In California they are confiscating tens of thousands of legally purchased firearms while in Washington state a new law has been proposed that would allow the sheriff to inspect the homes of an assault weapon owner one time per year. How far will gun regulations go?
"Well, Senate Bill 5737 out of Olympia, Washington would ban the sale of semiautomatic weapons that use detachable magazines," Glenn said on radio this morning. "it would ban the use of a semiautomatics that uses the detachable magazine and magazines that contain more than 10 rounds. But here's the ‑‑ here's the best part of it: In order to continue to possess an assault weapon that was legally possessed on the effective date of this section, the person possessing shall safely and securely store the assault weapon and the sheriff of the county may, may, but no more than once per year, conduct an inspection of the house," Glenn said.
"I'm pretty sure that I'm not having the sheriff come over to my house," Glenn said. "To inspect my guns and my house and to search to make sure I don't have any other illegal weapons. I don't think I'm for that. "
"Lance Palmer, Seattle trial lawyer says to the Seattle Times, they always say we'll never go house to house to get your guns, but when you see this, you have to wonder."
The Seattle Times spoke with two Democrats who admitted the bill shows why conservatives worry about encroaching government and that the provisions in the bill needed to be eliminated:
Responding to the Newtown school massacre, the bill would ban the sale of semi-automatic weapons that use detachable ammunition magazines. Clips that contain more than 10 rounds would be illegal.But then, with respect to the thousands of weapons like that already owned by Washington residents, the bill says this:
“In order to continue to possess an assault weapon that was legally possessed on the effective date of this section, the person possessing shall ... safely and securely store the assault weapon. The sheriff of the county may, no more than once per year, conduct an inspection to ensure compliance with this subsection.”
In other words, come into homes without a warrant to poke around. Failure to comply could get you up to a year in jail.
“I’m a liberal Democrat — I’ve voted for only one Republican in my life,” Palmer told me. “But now I understand why my right-wing opponents worry about having to fight a government takeover.”
He added: “It’s exactly this sort of thing that drives people into the arms of the NRA.”
I have been blasting the NRA for its paranoia in the gun-control debate. But Palmer is right — you can’t fully blame them, when cops going door-to-door shows up in legislation.
I spoke to two of the sponsors. One, Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, a lawyer who typically is hyper-attuned to civil-liberties issues, said he did not know the bill authorized police searches because he had not read it closely before signing on.
“I made a mistake,” Kline said. “I frankly should have vetted this more closely.”
That lawmakers sponsor bills they haven’t read is common. Still, it’s disappointing on one of this political magnitude. Not counting a long table, it’s only an eight-page bill.
"That tells you a lot too about just about every bill that's been passed in the past four years because nobody reads them. They don't know what's in them," Pat said.
"We have a bill in Missouri where they're saying basically the same things, that you're going to get rid of all of them and if you're caught with them, it becomes a felony. Now you have it in Washington State. I mean, have you tried to buy bullets lately?" Glenn said.
Glenn explained that gun prices were rising and in many places it was hard to find guns in stock. Bullets and primers which are used to make bullets are also difficult to purchase in stores due to short supplies.
