Post by gridley on Feb 22, 2023 12:22:16 GMT
This was posted on the Book of Faces. Since I refuse to give them traffic and since I know the OP somewhat, reposting here in full:
Hi Folks,
Brian here. This one is going to be long, but it is important. So, the Washington State Legislature is working overtime to eliminate the 2nd Amendment in Washington State. Of course, we have an “assault weapons” ban (HB 1240) that you should be vitally concerned with as it will ban every semi-automatic rifle from being sold or transferred in Washington State (trust and believe that your “grandfathered” guns will be next). There is also a pre-purchasing license requirement statute, and a State pre-emption statute on the table.
But the one that I want to bring to your attention is the new FFL Liability Statute. For all my friends that vote Democrat but like your guns, at this point, you need to simply stop your delusions about how your party simply wants “common sense” gun safety legislation. There is nothing common sense about this legislation and it is purely designed to make it so difficult to own or use firearms in Washington State that you give up your rights voluntarily.
You need look no further than Senate Bill 5078. The preamble to the bill says the following:
“The legislature finds that the irresponsible, dangerous, and unlawful business practices by firearms industry members contributes to the illegal use of firearms and not only constitutes a public nuisance as declared in chapter 7.48 RCW, but that the effects of that nuisance exacerbate the public health crisis of gun violence in this state.”
It goes on to say that:
“Firearm industry members profit from the sale, manufacture, distribution, importing, and marketing of lethal products that are frequently used to threaten, injure, and kill people in Washington, and which cause enormous harms to individuals' and communities' health, safety, and well-being, as well as economic opportunity and vitality.”
Did you catch that? We profit from the sale of lethal products that are used to threaten, injure, and kill people in Washington? I don’t know a single person in the firearms industry that tries to profit from the sale of products that are used to kill people. Does that mean that guns aren’t stolen by third parties and used to hurt people? Of course not. But cars are stolen and kill people all the time, and we blame the car thief and not the car dealer for that.
This law is specifically designed to put gun shops out of business, and if you just sit back and let it happen, I will guarantee you that in ten years 90% of the existing gun shops in Washington will close.
I know that sounds like I’m being dramatic, but here are the sections of the law that you should pay attention to:
Section 5 - “A firearm industry member shall take reasonable precautions to ensure the firearm industry member does not sell or distribute a firearm industry product to a downstream distributor or retailer of firearm industry products that fails to establish and implement reasonable controls.”
So, what does that mean? If I sell YOU a firearm, and YOU let your brother-in-law steal it and use it in a crime, YOU are the “downstream distributor” and I (the gun shop) am liable for not having stopped you from letting him get his hands on the gun.
Now I know that seems a bit far fetched and our English common law had a way of stopping liability for domino effect types of situations…we called it “proximate cause” in the law. You can’t be liable for something that happens way downstream unless YOU were the “proximate cause” of the injury. Well, take a look at Section 9.
Section 9 - “A firearm industry member's conduct in violation of any provision of this section constitutes a proximate cause of the public nuisance if the harm is a reasonably foreseeable effect of the conduct, notwithstanding any intervening actions, including but not limited to CRIMINAL ACTIONS by third parties.”
Did you catch that? I (the gun store) am the proximate cause, “notwithstanding any intervening actions, including but not limited to criminal actions by third parties.” So, the Mom & Pop gun shop (and most of them are) will be responsible for harm even if the harm was committed by a third party’s criminal actions.
Just to make sure that they Bankrupt the gun shop, the plaintiff’s lawyer can sue for all sorts of damages (injunctive, compensatory, punitive, and attorney’s fees) which are laid out in Section 12.
And just to make sure that the Attorney General’s office doesn’t miss out on the fun, Section 13 requires that the plaintiff notify the Attorney General’s office of the lawsuit so that they can join in and pile on the pain.
And just in case, you think that saying “hey I never meant to do any harm” is a defense, they added Section 14 to basically say that it doesn’t matter how well intentioned the gun shop was in their activities…in fact, they can have completely followed the laws related to firearms sales in every way and still be found liable.
Section 14 - “To prevail in an action under this section, the party seeking relief is not required to demonstrate that the firearm industry member acted with the purpose to engage in a public nuisance or otherwise cause harm to the public.”
So, folks, there are a couple of things to keep in mind here. 1) The Democrats in Olympia have the votes to pass all of their gun control agenda this session. 2) If this law passes, you can pretty much expect that small gun shops will start closing over the next few years. 3) The plain fact of the matter is that we only have ourselves to blame, because there are simply no political consequences for trampling on the 2nd Amendment in Washington State. The authors of the Bill are in the link, and it will be very easy to know who voted for this (basically if there is a “D” behind their name then they voted for it). If we aren’t putting our money behind alternative candidates that support our political views, we deserve what’s coming.
If this bill passes, I cannot imagine a scenario where it would be worth being a gun retailer in Washington State, and when those shops close, your 2nd Amendment rights close right along with them.
app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?billnumber=5078&year=2023
Hi Folks,
Brian here. This one is going to be long, but it is important. So, the Washington State Legislature is working overtime to eliminate the 2nd Amendment in Washington State. Of course, we have an “assault weapons” ban (HB 1240) that you should be vitally concerned with as it will ban every semi-automatic rifle from being sold or transferred in Washington State (trust and believe that your “grandfathered” guns will be next). There is also a pre-purchasing license requirement statute, and a State pre-emption statute on the table.
But the one that I want to bring to your attention is the new FFL Liability Statute. For all my friends that vote Democrat but like your guns, at this point, you need to simply stop your delusions about how your party simply wants “common sense” gun safety legislation. There is nothing common sense about this legislation and it is purely designed to make it so difficult to own or use firearms in Washington State that you give up your rights voluntarily.
You need look no further than Senate Bill 5078. The preamble to the bill says the following:
“The legislature finds that the irresponsible, dangerous, and unlawful business practices by firearms industry members contributes to the illegal use of firearms and not only constitutes a public nuisance as declared in chapter 7.48 RCW, but that the effects of that nuisance exacerbate the public health crisis of gun violence in this state.”
It goes on to say that:
“Firearm industry members profit from the sale, manufacture, distribution, importing, and marketing of lethal products that are frequently used to threaten, injure, and kill people in Washington, and which cause enormous harms to individuals' and communities' health, safety, and well-being, as well as economic opportunity and vitality.”
Did you catch that? We profit from the sale of lethal products that are used to threaten, injure, and kill people in Washington? I don’t know a single person in the firearms industry that tries to profit from the sale of products that are used to kill people. Does that mean that guns aren’t stolen by third parties and used to hurt people? Of course not. But cars are stolen and kill people all the time, and we blame the car thief and not the car dealer for that.
This law is specifically designed to put gun shops out of business, and if you just sit back and let it happen, I will guarantee you that in ten years 90% of the existing gun shops in Washington will close.
I know that sounds like I’m being dramatic, but here are the sections of the law that you should pay attention to:
Section 5 - “A firearm industry member shall take reasonable precautions to ensure the firearm industry member does not sell or distribute a firearm industry product to a downstream distributor or retailer of firearm industry products that fails to establish and implement reasonable controls.”
So, what does that mean? If I sell YOU a firearm, and YOU let your brother-in-law steal it and use it in a crime, YOU are the “downstream distributor” and I (the gun shop) am liable for not having stopped you from letting him get his hands on the gun.
Now I know that seems a bit far fetched and our English common law had a way of stopping liability for domino effect types of situations…we called it “proximate cause” in the law. You can’t be liable for something that happens way downstream unless YOU were the “proximate cause” of the injury. Well, take a look at Section 9.
Section 9 - “A firearm industry member's conduct in violation of any provision of this section constitutes a proximate cause of the public nuisance if the harm is a reasonably foreseeable effect of the conduct, notwithstanding any intervening actions, including but not limited to CRIMINAL ACTIONS by third parties.”
Did you catch that? I (the gun store) am the proximate cause, “notwithstanding any intervening actions, including but not limited to criminal actions by third parties.” So, the Mom & Pop gun shop (and most of them are) will be responsible for harm even if the harm was committed by a third party’s criminal actions.
Just to make sure that they Bankrupt the gun shop, the plaintiff’s lawyer can sue for all sorts of damages (injunctive, compensatory, punitive, and attorney’s fees) which are laid out in Section 12.
And just to make sure that the Attorney General’s office doesn’t miss out on the fun, Section 13 requires that the plaintiff notify the Attorney General’s office of the lawsuit so that they can join in and pile on the pain.
And just in case, you think that saying “hey I never meant to do any harm” is a defense, they added Section 14 to basically say that it doesn’t matter how well intentioned the gun shop was in their activities…in fact, they can have completely followed the laws related to firearms sales in every way and still be found liable.
Section 14 - “To prevail in an action under this section, the party seeking relief is not required to demonstrate that the firearm industry member acted with the purpose to engage in a public nuisance or otherwise cause harm to the public.”
So, folks, there are a couple of things to keep in mind here. 1) The Democrats in Olympia have the votes to pass all of their gun control agenda this session. 2) If this law passes, you can pretty much expect that small gun shops will start closing over the next few years. 3) The plain fact of the matter is that we only have ourselves to blame, because there are simply no political consequences for trampling on the 2nd Amendment in Washington State. The authors of the Bill are in the link, and it will be very easy to know who voted for this (basically if there is a “D” behind their name then they voted for it). If we aren’t putting our money behind alternative candidates that support our political views, we deserve what’s coming.
If this bill passes, I cannot imagine a scenario where it would be worth being a gun retailer in Washington State, and when those shops close, your 2nd Amendment rights close right along with them.
app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?billnumber=5078&year=2023
