The National Rifle Association[1] and other Second Amendment supporters are suing the state of Washington to stall a ballot initiative passed this month to limit gun sales, after gun control advocates declared victory in the 2018 midterm elections.
The initiative, which was approved with 59 percent of the vote, increases to 21 the minimum age for purchasing semiautomatic rifles, among other changes.
The NRA[2] says those are infringements on constitutional rights, and gun-rights advocates say the election was swayed by activist billionaires.
“We will not sit idly by while elitist anti-gun activists attempt to deny everyday Americans their fundamental right to self-defense,” said Chris W. Cox, who heads the NRA[3]’s legislative lobbying arm.
Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation, said gun-rights advocates were disappointed that residents got “fooled” into supporting the scheme.
“While a handful of billionaires spending millions of dollars were able to buy votes, it is our hope they can’t buy the judges,” he said. “We’re determined to fight this egregious measure because constitutionally-protected rights should never be subject to a popularity vote.”
Safe Schools Safe Communities, a political group that supported the measure, pulled in about $5.5 million in contributions during the 2018 campaign.
That total includes $1.2 million from the late Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, and about $500,000 from the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, an arm of the gun control group co-founded by billionaire Michael Bloomberg, former mayor of New York.
The NRA[4] and other gun-rights groups spent about $600,000 to oppose the measure.
It was approved, 59 percent to 41 percent.
Other parts of the initiative include requiring people who buy semiautomatic weapons to take a safety training course, undergo an enhanced background check and face a 10-day
