(The Center Square) – A hotly debated gun control bill that fell just short of reaching the governor’s desk in the 2025 session has been resurrected, and proponents are determined to see it over the finish line this year.
House Bill 1152 would require gun owners to put locked storage in vehicles and homes for their firearms.
Chief of Staff for the Alliance for Gun Responsibility (AGR) Ryan Disch-Guzman told The Center Square the bill is the most important legislation they are backing this session.
“[HB] 1152 the safe storage [bill] is probably our top priority one because it worked its way through session last time and got very close to passing and then just ran out of time,” said Disch-Guzma. “Most of our firearms that are used in crimes were stolen at some point. Most school shootings happen because of an unsecured firearm.”
He told The Center Square his organization is not opposed to gun ownership, but believes public safety and public health demand regulations.
“We’re a high gun ownership state. You know, we’re in the top 10. We’re, I believe, seven or eight in terms of concealed carry, so we have a lot of firearms in Washington. We have to really practice safe storage and making sure that our communities are safely storing not only in our homes but also our vehicles. We have a lot of vehicle thefts where firearms are stolen,” said Disch-Guzma.
Dave Workman is the editor-in-chief of The Gun Mag.com, and a journalist whose beat is firearms. He pushed back on Disch-Guzman’s statements.
“Any “safe storage” requirement just might collide with the 2008 Heller decision on Page 58, where it states, “We must also address the District’s requirement (as applied to respondent’s handgun) that firearms in the home be rendered and kept inoperable at all times. This makes it impossible for citizens to use them for the core lawful purpose of self-defense and is hence unconstitutional.”
Workman said the fact AGR acknowledges most firearms used in crimes were stolen at some point refutes their argument for further impeding lawful gun owners’ rights.
“Why continue down the road on the rights of law-abiding citizens in their efforts to legally purchase firearms? For example, how does this acknowledgement justify a 10-day waiting period?” asked Workman.
Another bill concerning 3-D printed or “ghost” guns received a hearing Wednesday morning in the House Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee.
HB 2320 “prohibits the manufacturing of certain firearms and firearm components through use of a three-dimensional printer or computer numerical control milling machine,” according to the bill summary.
Retired teacher Jane Weiss spoke in support of the bill, describing herself as “a survivor of gun violence.”
“In 2014, my 19-year-old niece, Veronica Weiss, was shot and killed during a mass shooting near her campus at UC Santa Barbara. I miss her and think about her every day. I’m here in strong support of HB 2320 because untraceable home manufactured guns, known as ghost guns, make tragedies like the one that took Veronica even harder to prevent and harder to stop,” said Weiss.
Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, who sits on the committee that considered the bill Wednesday, told The Center Square that the legislation is well-meaning, but “poorly structured and likely to fail to make anyone safer.”
“The main problem with the proposal is that it’s overbroad, restricting many uses of 3-D printing that have nothing to do with firearms,” said Walsh.
He noted many of the themes of the testifiers who support the bill admitted they’ve never read the Washington State Constitution.
“Particularly, they were unfamiliar with Article 1, Section 24 – our State Constitution’s protection of every citizen’s right to keep and bear firearms, which is stronger and clearer than even the U.S. Constitution’s 2nd Amendment.”
Last year, majority Democrats pushed through the most controversial gun control bill in years in Washington, called the permit-to-purchase bill.
Critics contend the bill is unconstitutional and that it will not be fully implemented.
“Name any other constitutionally enumerated fundamental right that first requires a citizen to obtain permission from the police in order to exercise it?” queried Workman. “This mandate will almost certainly be struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional because rights are special and cannot be subject to first getting permission from the government. That’s the difference between a right and a privilege. This discussion isn’t really about guns. It’s about rights.”
“For permit to purchase that we passed last year, that’s incredibly important,” said Disch-Guzman with AGR. “Most people who own a firearm do not train with that firearm. And that surprised and shocked me, and I think responsible gun ownership means responsibilities like that, like making sure that you’re trained to use that firearm and that you are as safe with it as possible.
Senate Bill 5098, restricting the possession of weapons on the premises of state or local public buildings, parks or playground facilities where children are likely to be present, and county fairs and county fair facilities, passed off the Senate floor Wednesday.
One Democrat, Sen. Adrian Cortes, D-Battle Ground, joined every Republican in opposition, but the bill passed on a vote of 29 to 20.
