Gun Control Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Gov. Inslee leans into housing and homelessness in 2023 State of the State address

By Tom Banse January 10, 2023

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee walks through the Capitol building in Olympia, en route to deliver his annual State of the State address, Jan. 10, 2023

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee emphasized housing construction and homelessness response during his 2023 State of the State address on Tuesday. The issue is a bipartisan priority for the state Legislature, but approaches differ among the lawmakers who convened in Olympia this week.Read More

New Gun Restrictions Take Effect July 1 In Washington

By Austin Jenkins June 30, 2022

A new Washington law that takes effect July 1 will ban the manufacture and sale of gun magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition.

Two new laws aimed at reducing mass shootings and cracking down on the proliferation of so-called "ghost guns" go into effect July 1 in Washington. Majority Democrats in the state Legislature passed the new restrictions earlier this year.Read More

Election Offices And School Board Meetings Could Become Weapons-Free Zones In Washington

By Austin Jenkins January 13, 2022

A law passed last year banned the open carry of firearms at the Washington state Capitol and at demonstrations anywhere in the state. Now, state lawmakers are considering restrictions on guns at school board and local government meetings, as well as at election-related locations.

Guns and other weapons would be banned from election-related locations and at school board meetings in Washington under a pair of proposals that received a public hearing in the Democratically-controlled state Legislature on Wednesday.Read More

‘It Has To Stop’: President Biden Takes Initial Action On Guns, Calls On Congress To Do More

By NPR News April 8, 2021

Biden greets former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords after speaking Thursday about gun violence prevention in the White House Rose Garden. Giffords and other advocates in favor of stricter gun laws attended the announcement. CREDIT: Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Declaring U.S gun violence an "epidemic" and "an international embarrassment," President Biden outlined actions to regulate certain firearms and to try to prevent gun violence after a spate of mass shootings in recent weeks and pressure from advocates.Read More

President Biden Urges Immediate Action From Senate On Gun Bills After Colorado Shooting

By NPR News March 23, 2021

President Biden speaks about the Colorado shootings in the State Dining Room of the White House on Tuesday, March 23, 2021. CREDIT: Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

President Biden said Tuesday that he and first lady Jill Biden were "devastated" by Monday's shooting in Boulder, Colo., and called on the Senate to pass to gun bills passed by the House earlier this month that would tighten gun laws.Read More

How Loren Culp’s Book Tour Turned Into A Campaign For Washington Governor

By NWPB News October 4, 2020

Republican gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp greets the crowd at a rally in Arlington in Snohomish County on Aug. 22, 2020. CREDIT: Jason Redmond for Crosscut

When he applied to be a police officer 10 years ago, Loren Culp was 49. He had no experience in law enforcement, but said the job would fulfill a childhood dream. Six years later, the former construction business owner was promoted to police chief in Republic, a town of 1,100 people in northeastern Washington. In that role, Culp has managed a department that, at its peak, Read More

Federal Appeals Court Throws Out California Ban On Large-Capacity Gun Magazines

By NPR News August 14, 2020

John Jackson, co-owner of Capitol City Arms Supply shows off an AR-15 assault rifle for sale Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2013 at his business in Springfield, Ill. President Barack Obama launched the most sweeping effort to curb U.S. gun violence in nearly two decades, announcing a $500 million package that sets up a fight with Congress over bans on military-style assault weapons and high-capacity ammunition magazines just a month after a shooting in Connecticut killed 20 school children. CREDIT: Seth Perlman/AP

The court on Friday rules that the state's "near-categorical ban of [the magazines] infringes on the fundamental right to self-defense." The decision is a blow to gun control activists. Read More

Ban On ‘Assault Weapons’ Appears Unlikely To Pass Washington Legislature This Year

By Austin Jenkins January 21, 2020

Gun-rights supporters rally on the steps of the Washington state Capitol on Friday. Among the speakers was Republican state Rep. Matt Shea who participated in an act of domestic terrorism, according to a recent House investigation.

Despite a push by Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson, a ban on so-called “assault weapons” appears unlikely to pass the Washington Legislature this year.Read More

Pew Survey: Number Of Americans Who Favor Stricter Gun Laws Continues To Grow

By NPR News October 20, 2019

Supporters of gun control measures gather at the Legislative Office Building in Concord, N.H., in August, to urge Republican Gov. Chris Sununu to act after mass shootings in Texas and Ohio. CREDIT: Michael Casey/AP

The overall percentage of Americans who support tougher gun laws is on the rise, even as the partisan divide remains stark, according to a Pew Research Center survey. Read More

In A Break From The Past, Oregon Sheriffs Change Their Approach To Gun Laws

By NWPB News June 24, 2019

Coos County Sheriff Craig Zanni, center, speaks with Sheriff Department dispatchers on June 6, 2019, in Coquille, Ore. CREDIT: JONATHAN LEVINSON/OPB

In 2013, eight Oregon sheriffs sent letters to the Obama administration saying they wouldn’t enforce new federal gun laws. Two years later, the state legislature passed a bill requiring background checks for private gun sales. And again, Oregon sheriffs dug in. So it was already a well-worn path when sheriffs in Washington and Colorado started making similar assertions Read More

Oregon Democrats Give Up Gun Control, Vaccine Bills To Get Republican Members Back

By Dirk VanderHart May 13, 2019

State Sen. Herman E. Baertschiger Jr., R-Grants Pass, in the Oregon Senate on Monday, Jan. 14, 2019, in Salem, Ore. CREDIT: BRADLEY W. PARKS/OPB

Democratic leaders in the Oregon Senate have agreed to give up high-profile bills on gun control and vaccines in exchange for the end of a Republican walkout. Read More

‘My Plan Is Not To Enforce It.’ Washington Gun Law Highlights Constitutional Sheriffs Movement

By NPR News February 21, 2019

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee speaks in support of firearm restrictions in 2017, as his wife, Trudi, looks on. The initiative passed, but some Washington state sheriffs are refusing to enforce all the measures. CREDIT: Ted S. Warren/AP

In November 2018, Washington voters approved a package of firearms restrictions, generally called I-1639. It raises the minimum age for buying semi-automatic rifles, tightens background checks and makes it a crime to fail to store a gun safely, if the gun ends up in the wrong hands. The restrictions have raised the ire of some county sheriffs.Read More

Washington, Oregon, Idaho Residents: Hurry Up And Register If You Want To Vote Nov. 6

By Zachary Garner October 5, 2018

Gus Clark deposits his vote-by-mail ballot in a collection box in Seattle in the 2016 election. CREDIT: TED S. WARREN/AP

With a month before the next election, you don’t have much time left to register if you want to vote November 6th in Washington, Oregon or Idaho.Read More

A Crime Victim And A Grieving Grandmother Are On Opposite Sides Of Washington Gun Initiative

By Austin Jenkins October 2, 2018

Carla Tolle's 13-year-old grandson Edgar Vazquez of Kelso, Washington was killed in an accidental shooting involving an unsecured shotgun. She is now campaigning for I-1639. CREDIT: AUSTIN JENKINS / NW NEWS NETWORK

Initiative 1639 is a sprawling, 30-page ballot measure that seeks to restrict access to semi-automatic rifles like the popular AR-15, which has become synonymous with mass shootings. But the initiative would also require the secure storage of firearms. Under the initiative, if a gun wasn’t safely stored and ended up in the wrong hands and someone was injured or killed, the Read More

Washington Couple Learning To Cope A Year After Near-Death At Las Vegas Concert Mass Shooting

By NWPB News September 30, 2018

Survivors of the Oct. 1, 2017, Las Vegas shooting are still struggling to put their lives back together one year later. Chris Gilman, right, of Bonney Lake, Wash., says she still has the urge to look behind her whenever she leaves her home. Her wife, Aliza Correa, and two off-duty sheriff’s deputies helped save her.

In the year since the 48-year-old was nearly killed in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history, Chris Gilman has had to get used to living with fear: She has nightmares about family members getting shot, she only sits in spots in restaurants where she can see the exits, and she has to mentally prepare herself for movies that might include rapid gunfire.Read More

Backers Of Washington Gun Control Measure Submit Petitions For Ballot Initiative

By Austin Jenkins July 6, 2018

Washington legislature Gun Legislation Hearing - 011518

Backers of a proposed gun-control initiative in Washington plan to deliver their final batch of petitions July 6th to the Secretary of State. Read More

Oregon Gun-Control Proposal Might Be Out Of Time To Make Ballot

By Dirk VanderHart June 27, 2018

File photo. Backers of a ban on semi-automatic, military-style weapons in Oregon hoped to win permission to start collecting signatures soon.

The Oregon Supreme Court announced June 27 it would not certify ballot language for Initiative Petition 43, a proposed ban on military-style semi-automatic weapons in Oregon. Instead, the court referred draft ballot language back to Attorney General Ellen Rosenblum for revision, finding substantial flaws in her office’s last attempt.Read More

After Late Hurdles, Oregon Gun Control Proposal Might Come Up Short

By Dirk VanderHart June 15, 2018

The Oregon Capitol building. CREDIT: CHRIS LEHMAN / NORTHWEST NEWS NETWORK

Three parties appealed proposed ballot language for Initiative Petition 44 to the Oregon Supreme Court. That means backers of the measure won’t be able to begin circulating petitions to land it on November's ballot for weeks, a potentially decisive blow.Read More

Federal School Safety Commission Holds First Public Session. Its Chair, Betsy DeVos, Wasn’t There

By NPR News June 10, 2018

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Chairs the Trump Administration's School Safety Commission. She is seen here during a House Education and the Workforce Committee meeting in May 2018.

The Trump administration's school safety commission held its first public listening session June 6, a day after the panel's chair, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, told lawmakers on Capitol Hill that the commission wouldn't focus on guns. DeVos didn't attend the listening session. She was in Switzerland.Read More

Oregonians Deliver Loads Of Comments About Proposed Weapons Ban

By Dirk VanderHart May 10, 2018

File photo of a modified civilian legal AR-15. CREDIT: ZGAUTHIER - TINYURL.COM/Y7PYGKCZ

In what is likely a record, the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office in recent weeks fielded nearly 1,600 pages of comments criticizing a ballot title for Initiative Petition 43.Read More

In Unusual Move, Washington Attorney General Endorses Gun-Related Ballot Measure

By Austin Jenkins April 23, 2018

Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson. Courtesy of The Washington State Attorney General's Office

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is breaking with tradition and will endorse a ballot measure dealing with guns. Read More

19 Years After Columbine, Students Walk Out To Shine Light On Gun Violence In Schools And Streets

By NPR News April 20, 2018

High school students march from the White House to the U.S. Capitol to call for stricter gun laws on Friday in Washington, D.C.

At least 2,600 school walkouts were planned across the country, starting at 10 a.m. in each time zone.Read More

March For Science And Pro-Gun Rallies Coincide On Saturday

By Tom Banse April 13, 2018

The first March for Science took place in many cities around the nation on April 22, 2017. This scene is from Portland. CREDIT: ANOTHER BELIEVER/TINYURL.COM

The capitol grounds in Salem and Olympia will offer a colorful juxtaposition of political movements Saturday. Marches for Science are scheduled in 10 Northwest cities. These roughly coincide with separate pro-gun rallies at the state capitals.Read More

Hundreds Of Thousands March For Gun Control And School Safety Across The U.S.

By NPR News March 24, 2018

People on the balcony at the Newseum cheer the protesters on Pennsylvania Avenue as they look toward the stage near the Capitol in Washington.

Massive crowds descended upon Washington, D.C., and across the nation Saturday to march for gun control in the U.S., galvanized by the deadly shooting at a high school in Parkland, Fla., last month.Read More

Dispatches From March For Our Lives Demonstrations Around The Northwest

By NWPB News March 24, 2018

Demonstrators in Seattle gathered on Capitol Hill and then marched through downtown to Seattle Center during the March For Our Lives demonstration. CREDIT: ANNA FERGUSON

People from across the Northwest in Yakima, Richland / Tri Cities, Seattle, Salem, Tacoma, Moscow, Idaho, Olympia, Portland, Eugene, Spokane, and elsewhere in the Northwest joined the nationwide March For Our Lives against gun violence on Saturday, March 24.Read More

Fred Meyer Stores To Stop Selling Guns And Ammunition

By NWPB News March 17, 2018

Fred Meyer in Hillsboro, Oregon. CREDIT: STEVE MORGAN/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Grocery and general retail company Fred Meyer will stop selling guns and ammunition. The Portland-based chain in a statement Friday said it made the decision after evaluating customer preferences. The company has more than 130 stores in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska.Read More

Students Across Northwest Join Demonstrations For School Safety And Gun Measures

By NWPB News March 14, 2018

Students from some Seattle high schools march to a school safety rally at the University of Washington on March 14, 2018.

Students from across the Northwest joined a nationwide walkout today on the one-month anniversary of a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School to bring attention to safety, gun violence and to remember the 17 people killed in Parkland, Florida.Read More

How School Walkouts Test Student Rights And School Responsibilities

By NPR News March 13, 2018

Wednesday morning, March 14, students at schools across the country -- including Washington, Oregon and Idaho -- will walk out of their classrooms. The plan is for them to leave school — or at least gather in the hallway — for 17 minutes. That's one minute for each of the victims in last month's school shooting in Parkland, Fla. The walkout has galvanized teens nationwide Read More

Florida Governor Rick Scott Signs Package Of New Gun Restrictions

By NPR News March 9, 2018

Florida Gov. Rick Scott signs the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act on Friday. The legislation includes a number of gun restrictions and also permits school personnel who are not full-time teachers to be armed

Among other things, the legislation raises the legal age for gun purchases to 21, institutes a waiting period of three days and allows for the arming of some school personnelRead More

Washington Legislature Declines Bill To Address School Shootings

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa March 9, 2018

File photo of the Washington Senate gallery. CREDIT: WASHINGTON LEGISLATURE

After the recent mass shooting in Florida, Washington state lawmakers faced immense pressure to enact gun control legislation. But a bill to address school shootings made little progress, despite Democratic control of the House and Senate.Read More

Washington High School Students Rally In Olympia For Gun Control

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa March 7, 2018

High school students rallied at the Washington state Capitol Tuesday demanding restrictions on purchases of military-style weapons and tougher background checks. CREDIT: ENRIQUE PEREZ DE LA ROSA / NORTHWEST NEWS NETWORK

More than 100 Washington high school students rallied at the state Capitol Tuesday, March 6 demanding restrictions on purchases of military-style weapons and tougher background checks.Read More

It’s A Crime To Lie And Try To Buy A Gun, Now People In Washington Are Being Prosecuted

By Austin Jenkins March 2, 2018

Daniel Legeer of Lacey, Washington, was arrested for unlawful possession of a firearm under a new law that requires gun dealers to report failed background checks. He believes he is an unintended target of the new law. CREDIT: AUSTIN JENKINS

A new Washington state law designed to crack down on felons, domestic abusers and others who lie and try to buy a gun is already resulting in prosecutions.Read More

After Parkland, Number of Americans Who Want Gun Restrictions Grows

By NPR News March 2, 2018

More than 9 in 10 Americans support mandatory background checks for all gun buyers. That's one finding in a new NPR/Ipsos poll that shows an increasing level of support for gun control policies.Read More

Age Restriction On Semi-Automatic Rifle Purchases Moving Through Washington Legislature

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa March 1, 2018

The Washington Legislature is considering a bill that would raise the minimum age to buy a rifle from 18 to 21. CREDIT: MICHAEL SAECHANG / FLICKR - TINYURL.COM/HJQMT6U

President Donald Trump has called on Congress to raise the minimum age to buy a rifle from 18 to 21. In Washington state, a proposal to do that passed a major legislative hurdle Thursday when it was voted through a powerful Senate committee.Read More

Fred Meyer Stores Raise Minimum Age For Gun Purchases

By Ericka Cruz Guevarra March 1, 2018

Portland shoppers rushed to grocery stores in droves in preparation for a winter storm Saturday, Jan. 7, 2017. CREDIT: JOHN ROSMAN/OPB

Kroger, the company that operates Fred Meyer stores in Oregon, Washington, Alaska and Idaho, is increasing the minimum age for firearm and ammunition purchases from 18 to 21 at all its Fred Meyer locations that sell firearms.Read More

Washington Legislature Passes Ban On Bump Stocks

By Austin Jenkins February 27, 2018

The Washington Legislature has sent a ban on bump stocks to Gov. Jay Inslee for his signature. A bump stock is a trigger modification device that make a semi-automatic rifle function more like an automatic weapon.Read More

Congress Stalled On Bills To Tighten Gun Background Check System

By NPR News February 27, 2018

House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said at a Capitol Hill press conference on Tuesday that the House would wait "to see what the Senate can do" on gun legislation. CREDIT: WIN MCNAMEE

Lawmakers have made little progress in advancing any new gun control measures in since the Feb. 14 shooting that left 17 people dead at a high school in Parkland, Fla.Read More

Jay Inslee Critical Of President Trump’s Response To School Shootings

By NWPB News February 27, 2018

The White House, Monday, Feb. 26, 2018 in Washington. CREDIT: AP PHOTO/ ANDREW HARNIK

While speaking to governors from around country, the president pointed to a number of ideas he's suggested since the shooting at a Florida high school. Including one idea that would allow some teachers to carry concealed weapons.Read More

Washington House Passes Bump Stock Ban, Senate Passage Uncertain

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa February 23, 2018

Washington State Capitol CREDIT: BRIANHE / WIKIMEDIA

The Washington state House passed a ban on bump stocks Friday, Feb. 23. It's a gun modification that allows certain weapons to fire more rapidly. Legislators debated the ban under the shadow of last week’s school shooting in Parkland, FloridaRead More

Oregon Legislators Pass Bill Stripping Gun Rights From Stalkers, Abusers

By Lauren Dake February 22, 2018

Oregon Governor Kate Brown - AP PHOTO DON RYAN

Oregon state senators approved a measure Thursday that would strengthen the state’s gun laws by expanding the number of people who are banned from owning a gun in the case of domestic violence or stalking cases. The bill, a priority measure for Gov. Kate Brown, now heads to her desk for her signature. Read More

Invoking Florida School Shooting, Jay Inslee Urges Lawmakers To Act On Gun Bills

By Austin Jenkins February 21, 2018

At his weekly news conference Wednesday, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee called on state lawmakers to pass gun control measures.

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is reiterating his call for state lawmakers to pass a series of what he calls “common sense” gun control measures. He made his comments Wednesday, Feb. 21 in response to the Florida shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people were killed.Read More

‘All Clear’ For Highline College After Lockdown Draws Large Emergency Response

By Zachary Garner February 16, 2018

Harsimran Bagri, 24, right, and Gurkeert Bagri, 26, left, hug their 16-year-old sister, center, who was inside the college during the lockdown on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018, outside of Highline College in Des Moines. CREDIT: KUOW PHOTO/MEGAN FARMER

Highline College in Des Moines, Washington, south of Seattle, has been given the all-clear following reports of gunfire on campus Friday morning. No evidence was found of gunfire on campus.Read More

Bump Stock Ban Faces Uncertain Future In Washington Legislature

By Austin Jenkins January 16, 2018

A ban on firearm bump stocks has passed out of a Washington state Senate committee. But it faces an uncertain future.Read More

Las Vegas Shooting Victims Testify In Olympia On Proposed Washington Gun Legislation

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa January 15, 2018

Hundreds of people crowded hearing rooms in the Washington state Capitol Monday to testify on proposed gun control legislation. Several of the people who testified in favor of a ban were victims of the 2017 mass shooting in Las Vegas.Read More

Gun Rights Advocates Rally In Olympia Against Bump Stock Ban, Background Checks

By Enrique Pérez de la Rosa January 13, 2018

Washington state Rep. Representative Matt Shea, R-Spokane, speaks at the ''Rally 4 UR Rights'' gun rights rally in front of the state Capitol steps in 2018. CREDIT: ENRIQUE PEREZ DE LA ROSA / NORTHWEST NEWS NETWORK

Gun rights activists from across Washington state rallied in Olympia recently. They came to protest proposed gun control legislation that supporters say will reduce mass gun violence. Most were openly carrying weapons including pistols and semi-automatic rifles.Read More