OLYMPIA, Wash. (DDN) – A bill to expand gun-free zones is approved by the Washington State Senate.
On Wednesday, a bill that would increase the number of gun-free zones passed the Washington State Senate by a vote of 28 to 21.
Sen. Javier Valdez, a Democrat from Seattle, is the sponsor of encroaching second substitute Senate Bill 5098, which would forbid gun ownership in parks, government buildings, and other places where “children are likely to be present.”
In the past, the law was changed to exempt those with concealed handgun licenses.
Republicans proposed a number of amendments prior to a final Senate floor vote, but all but one were rejected.
Adopted as part of ESSSB 5098, the amendment was proposed by Sen. Chris Gildon, R-Puyallup.
Sen. Leonard Christian, R-Spokane Valley, was one of the other Republicans who introduced an unsuccessful amendment to alert legitimate gun owners who might inadvertently visit a park area where children are present without knowing it is a gun-free zone.
Sen. Manka Dhingra, a Democrat from Seattle, asked her fellow senators to vote against the amendment’s passage.
Sen. Keith Waggoner, a Republican from Sedro Woolley, reacted to Dhingra’s claim that signage would be adequate notice.
Sen. Jeff Holy, R-Cheney, praised Valdez for the exemption for those with concealed handgun licenses prior to the final vote.
Holy objected to the emphasis on law-abiding gun owners.
“Lawful gun owners are not the problem,” he said.
Before the final vote, Senator Phil Fortunato, a Republican from Auburn, spoke out against the bill.
“We’re not trying to take away your gun rights. You just can’t carry here, and you can’t carry here and over there,” he said. “It makes it more difficult for a legal gun owner to obey the law, and it’s like we’re trying to create a situation where the person we’re targeting isn’t the bad guy who’s going to do some harm to someone, but the average citizen. People intent on doing harm aren’t stupid. They’re going to go someplace where they know there isn’t going to be any resistance.”
In her testimony, Sen. Liz Lovelett, a Democrat from Anacortes, defended the bill.
“There is no way to know who the good guy with a gun is, and who is the bad guy with a gun,” she noted. “All we are seeing is a person at the playground with a gun, and we just have to hope that they are not there to shoot our children. Playgrounds should be a place for juice boxes and picnics and pushing your kid on a swing. It’s no place for lethal weapons.”
Along with all Republicans, two Democrats opposed the bill: Sen. Claudia Kauffman, D-Kent, and Sen. Adrian Cortes, D-Battle Ground.
The House of Representatives will now consider it.
Reference: Washington State Senate passes gun-free zone expansion bill
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