The PDN misleads readers into thinking that I-1639, approved by Washington and, slimly, Clallam County, voters and codified into state law, will have law enforcement officers barging into homes and charging gun owners with felony endangerment for not storing guns safely (PDN, Feb. 3).
Not true.
The actual law states that a felony charge may be filed only if an unauthorized person obtains an unsafely stored firearm and “causes personal injury or death with the firearm.”
This is one example of opponents characterizing the law as a denial of constitutional rights.
Even Sheriff Bill Benedict publicly said he won’t enforce the law until a lawsuit brought by the NRA and Second Amendment Foundation is resolved.
We are content to observe sensible regulations on using our cars: You must be old enough to drive, get training, pass tests and obey the rules of the road.
This hasn’t led to a slippery-slope confiscation of our cars, but it has saved lives.
I-1639 is similar, enacting basic background checks, safety training and an age limit for purchasing, not having, semiautomatic rifles.
Opponents argue that the age limit is unfair because people younger than age 21 handle weapons in the military.
But the military requires basic training and safe storage of weapons.
Our military knows that firearms can inflict great harm.
Common-sense safeguards aren’t radical or unconstitutional.
Please read the law, or the text of I-1639, and decide what you think.
Should our sheriff be enforcing the law?
Marsha Maguire,
Sequim