I-1639 is a faulty and dangerous initiative.

If you are a Washington State resident your second amendment rights are in immediate danger. Ballot Initiative I-1639, if passed, would cause owners of any type of semi-automatic rifle or handgun to be subjected to onerous new restrictions and taxes, with the intent to discourage their possession and use while doing little to nothing to fight crime. Some of these new restrictions would be:
A requirement that gun owners lock up their guns to newly imposed standards or face criminal charges. This would surely resulting in police knocking on doors to come into your home to see if your guns are legally stored. And woe to those who fail.

A requirement that individuals applying to acquire a semi automatic rifle waive the confidentiality of their medical records. The act of applying to purchase “shall constitute a waiver of confidentiality.”
Required statewide registration for every law-abiding citizen owning a handgun or semi-automatic rifle, necessitating a massive state-level bureaucracy to monitor.
I-1639 would turn you into a felon if a criminal steals your gun and uses it to commit a crime.
It robs adults aged 18 to 20 of their Constitutional Right to self defense and the use of most hunting rifles (which are semi-automatics) for sports or other purposes. It forbids law-abiding young adults to purchase or receive such a rifle as a gift. Yet these young people can be sent to war.
These are just a few of the oppressive infringements on the rights of Washington residents that would become a sad reality with the passage of I-1639.
Please consider carefully before you participate in voting away any part of our Constitutional freedoms.  There are practical and meaningful answers to protecting our children and schools;  I-1639 isn’t one of them.
Our Constitutional heritage is not the enemy; neither are law abiding gun owners.  Let’s work on real, effective answers together, not pass legislation that mocks the freedoms so many died to protect.
We all deserve better than I-1639. Please join me in defeating this faulty and dangerous initiative.
Sincerely yours,

Richard Tingelstad
Twisp