The late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis wrote, “Experience should teach us to be most on our guard to protect liberty when the government’s purposes are beneficent.
“The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding.”
Initiative 1639 is an example of insidious encroachment.
It’s a 30-page initiative, advertised as a school- and child-safety initiative.
But the title is misleading.
I-1639 classifies every semiautomatic rifle manufactured after 1898, yes, 1898, as a “military-grade assault rifle.”
It’s ludicrous to think that a classic Winchester Model 63, .22 rim fire that was handed down from your grandfather to you, or a collectors-grade Browning .22 rim fire or numerous other vintage firearms are military-grade assault rifles.
Yet, if this initiative passes, every semiautomatic rifle manufactured after 1898 will be subject to the restrictions of I-1639 and all future restrictions imposed on firearms classified as assault rifles.
Firearms abolitionists are exploiting recent tragedies to coerce an uninformed public to believe that every semiautomatic rifle is a military-grade assault rifle.
I support keeping firearms out of the hands of felons, violent and mentally unstable individuals.
The firearms abolitionists are hoping you are willing to sacrifice your rights and liberties for a perceived sense of security.
I can’t support I-1639.
There is a better way.
Why should a non-gun owner care?
If this liberty can be lost through exploitation and fear, any liberty can.
Jerry Barker,
Sequim