Having notched this victory, the gun control lobby is now planning to pass similar voter referendums in a number of other states.
For some reason, the NRA mostly sat this one out, spending less than ten percent of what the anti-gunners devoted to the effort and only hiring two employees in Washington. In August, a Washington state blogger said that only half of gun owners in the state had even heard of what was going on.
Now that the measure has passed, gun groups around the country are finally starting to notice. The Virginia Citizens Defense league posted a statement warning that the bill could lead to a universal registration of all guns, with “confiscation being the end goal of the scheme.” They are calling for “a massive education effort for both gun owners and non-gun owners alike.”
But it is already too late for gun owners in Washington State, and the national gun control interests have been handed an important victory.
The NRA should be taking gun control head on — not handing victory to the enemy by failing to show up in the first place.
