The House Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee voted along party lines, 11 Democrats to six Republicans, in favor of a bill that, if signed into law, would ban the sale and manufacture of high capacity ammunition magazines for firearms, which are defined as magazines with more than 10 rounds.
In a news release Friday, Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, ranking member on the committee who voted against the bill, claimed that in a time with violent and property crimes increasing, “In response to these dangers to public safety, more Washingtonians than ever are buying guns to protect themselves from violence and crime. Senate Bill 5078 infringes on their ability to do that.”
"This bill punishes good people. It puts irrational limits on their ability to train and improve their proficiency using firearms. It also weirdly restricts their ability to share firearms with family members and friends. With crime rates rising, this policy makes no sense,” Walsh continued. "We need real solutions to society's problems. This bill only makes those problems worse."
Walsh also said the restrictions the bill would place on gun ownership are “unenforceable” and would “limit what law-abiding people can do while offering no practical limit on what felons do,” if passed. He did not provide further detail on the bill’s enforceability in Friday’s statement.
Senate Bill 5078 now heads to the House Rules Committee, where it awaits being pulled to the House floor for a vote.
After it passed the House Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee, committee-member Rep. Peter Abbarno, R-Centralia also released a statement against the bill.
"Why are we penalizing responsible gun owners? Senate Bill 5078 infringes on the constitutional rights of citizens and completely ignores the reality that gun violence is being committed by criminals, not law-abiding gun owners,” Abbarno said. "We need to keep firearms out of the hands of criminals, empower our law enforcement officers to keep our streets safe, and stop penalizing responsible, law-abiding gun owners who should have every legal right to defend themselves.
"I urge the governor and Washington state's Democratic majorities to center their attention on the real problem: violent criminals. Instead of going after those that already obey the law, how about doing something effective — like empowering law enforcement, judicial officers and prosecutors to put the real bad guys behind bars. This bill does none of that."
