Gun-rights activists, including the National Rifle Association and Alan Gottlieb of the Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation, filed the lawsuit against Secretary of State Kim Wyman, who has certified I-1639 for the ballot.
OLYMPIA — A Thurston County judge Friday morning dealt a major blow to a proposed firearms-regulation measure, raising questions about whether Initiative 1639 will appear on Washington’s fall ballot.
Superior Court Judge James Dixon ruled that the signature petitions used in the Alliance For Gun Responsibility’s campaign[1] “did not comport” to Washington law.
Dixon ordered that the state Secretary of State’s Office stop its certification of the initiative. The decision is expected to be appealed.
Gun-rights activists, including the National Rifle Association and Alan Gottlieb of the Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation, filed the lawsuit against Secretary of State Kim Wyman, who last month certified I-1639 for the ballot.Most Read Local Stories
Unlimited Digital Access. $1 for 4 weeks.[2]Gottlieb, the NRA and others have argued that I-1639’s petitions violated state law because they did not include text formatting such as underlines and strike-throughs to demonstrate how exactly the initiative would change the language of existing gun laws.
Attorneys for the Alliance have argued that people who signed the petitions understood what the initiative would do, and that the gun-rights groups were trying to stop the initiative because they disagreed with the policy.
References
- ^ used in the Alliance For Gun Responsibility’s campaign (www.seattletimes.com)
- ^ Unlimited Digital Access. $1 for 4 weeks. (www.seattletimes.com)
