(AP)
Lewis County’s Sheriff’s Department recently joined the town of Republic, Washington[1] in its reluctance to actively enforce the gun control measures laid out in I-1639.
RELATED: Lewis County Sheriff’s Office won’t actively enforce I-1639[2]
KIRO Nights host Gee Scott[3] had a chance to sit down with Lewis County’s District Attorney, Jonathan Meyer, who expanded on the county’s position.
“The problem with the way 1639 is written is that it’s almost an unenforceable law,” said Meyer.
The text of I-1639 covers a variety of gun control measures, including waiting periods and background checks on the purchase of semi-automatic weapons, an increase to the minimum age for purchasing semi-automatic weapons from 18 to 21, storage requirements for firearms, and a class-C felony for any gun owner whose firearm is used by an unlicensed party.
Because the measure is so dense, Meyer argued that it violates the state’s “one initiative, one subject” law, which could ultimately lead to it eventually getting struck down in a court challenge.
That “one initiative, one subject” rule is known legally as the “single-subject rule,” and is exactly what it sounds like: A citizen initiative may only contain a single issue or subject. According to Meyer, the breadth of I-1639’s expansive gun control regulations violates that edict.
“When we throw this many things into one initiative, we’re going to have problems, and I think that’s what we have here,” he said.
That being so, he did note that the reasoning for Lewis County was less philosophical and more logistical, especially as the county sheriff’s department has said it will still enforce I-1639 as it applies in active investigations.
“The way
