From Newsgroup: alt.law-enforcement

a few of the keys:
"One Democratic lawmaker described his frustration that the party wonrCOt
make it easier to lock up juveniles with multiple convictions for
illegal possession of a gun.'
"Another gun recovered after the shooting had a switch that turned it
into an automatic weapon, which is already illegal.
"And so few juveniles are convicted of firearms charges now that a
proposal to give judges more leeway to confine repeat offenders might
not affect many people."
"Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, said the shooting at the Bite of Seattle
proves the arguments he and other lawmakers have been making against restricting access to firearms for law-abiding people rCo it doesnrCOt
prevent bad actors from disobeying the laws."
"Republicans tried to run bills to strengthen sentencing standards for gun-related crimes, including property crimes, rCLand we canrCOt,rCY he said, adding that crimes should be prosecuted more effectively and that
penalties should be stiffened for those who use guns to commit crimes.
rCLAll we need to do is make the sentencing guidelines apply, regardless
of the age of the perpetrator,rCY Walsh added.
Walsh called it rCLinsanerCY that Democratic lawmakers have lightened penalties when a firearm is used in a crime, such as legislation passed
in 2023 that barred most juvenile convictions to be counted in any
subsequent convictions as an adult.



from https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/after-seattle-center-shooting-wa-gun-reform-up-against-rifts-fatigue/

After Seattle Center shooting, WA gun reform up against rifts, fatigue
Aug. 26, 2026 at 10:00 am Updated Aug. 26, 2026 at 10:00 am

People light candles July 27 before a vigil for the victims of the
previous night’s shooting at the Bite of Seattle. (Jennifer
Buchanan / The Seattle Times)
Candles illuminate two crosses rCo for Carlos Israel Sanchez Villalba and Ashley Whitehead, Bite of Seattle shooting victims rCo after a silent
vigil at the Seattle Center on July 29. (Erika Schultz / The Seattle Times)

By Joseph OrCOSullivan and Shauna Sowersby
Seattle Times staff reporters
As Washington state Rep. Liz Berry stood near Seattle CenterrCOs
International Fountain at a vigil for the Bite of Seattle shooting
victims one month ago, she took stock of whatrCOs next for lawmakersrCO efforts to reduce gun violence.

The Democrat from Seattle has worked on several firearms-related
proposals in the state Legislature, including a permit-to-purchase law
that passed and will take effect next year: rCLIrCOve already started
thinking about what the planrCOs going to be.rCY

But in interviews, Democratic lawmakers described disagreements within
their ranks over how to tackle gun violence and bewilderment that a safe-storage bill never advanced to a House floor vote in the past two
years. One Democratic lawmaker described his frustration that the party wonrCOt make it easier to lock up juveniles with multiple convictions for illegal possession of a gun.

Rep. Liz Berry, D-36th District, during the opening of the 2025
legislative session, on Jan. 13, 2025, in Olympia. (Ken Lambert / The
Seattle Times)

Rep. Liz Berry, D-36th District, during the opening of the 2025
legislative session, on Jan. 13, 2025, in Olympia. (Ken Lambert / The
Seattle Times)
To Berry, lawmakers must move on multiple fronts. In an interview, she
vowed to restore funding for community violence-prevention grants that
got slashed in recent years amid a state budget shortfall. She and other lawmakers are reviving proposals that have not advanced in the
Legislature, including a safe-storage law to prevent gun thefts and
another seeking to make it impossible to manufacture rCLghost gunsrCY via 3D printers.

Meanwhile, the shooting during the annual Bite of Seattle festival
illustrates how difficult it is for policymakers to stop every nightmare scenario in a nation awash in firearms.

Legislation to make it harder to obtain ghost guns might have kept a gun
out of the hands of the 15-year-old arrested at the scene. Ballistics
evidence has shown that ghost gun didnrCOt kill two bystanders, and it
isnrCOt yet known whether it was produced in Washington. Also unknown is whether any of the firearms were stolen, which a safe-storage law might
have prevented. Another gun recovered after the shooting had a switch
that turned it into an automatic weapon, which is already illegal. And
so few juveniles are convicted of firearms charges now that a proposal
to give judges more leeway to confine repeat offenders might not affect
many people.

ATF Special Agent Kenton Weston holds two Glock handgun slides, one with
a machine gun conversion switch, right, and one without, during a demonstration on the danger of such devices that make handguns fully
automatic at the Canton Police Department training facility in Canton,
Mich. (Kimberly P. Mitchell / USA Today Network, 2024)

ATF Special Agent Kenton Weston holds two Glock handgun slides, one with
a machine gun conversion switch, right, and one without, during a demonstration on the danger of such devices that... (Kimberly P.
Mitchell / USA Today Network, 2024)More
Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, said the shooting at the Bite of Seattle
proves the arguments he and other lawmakers have been making against restricting access to firearms for law-abiding people rCo it doesnrCOt
prevent bad actors from disobeying the laws.

Republicans tried to run bills to strengthen sentencing standards for gun-related crimes, including property crimes, rCLand we canrCOt,rCY he said, adding that crimes should be prosecuted more effectively and that
penalties should be stiffened for those who use guns to commit crimes.

rCLAll we need to do is make the sentencing guidelines apply, regardless
of the age of the perpetrator,rCY Walsh added.

Walsh called it rCLinsanerCY that Democratic lawmakers have lightened penalties when a firearm is used in a crime, such as legislation passed
in 2023 that barred most juvenile convictions to be counted in any
subsequent convictions as an adult.

That critique isnrCOt coming only from Republicans.

State Rep. David Hackney, D-Tukwila, has sponsored a bill that would
reduce the number of gun possession convictions needed before a juvenile
can be confined by a judge for longer than 30 days. Five convictions for illegal gun possession now are needed before a judge can take those
measures; HackneyrCOs bill would reduce that to three. But his party
hasnrCOt scheduled House Bill 1536 for a legislative hearing in either of
the last two sessions, much less push it forward for the votes necessary
to send it to the governorrCOs desk for signature.

Hackney, in an interview, described the divisions within the Democratic majority.

rCLSouth King County has some of the worst crime in the state, violent
crime and property crime,rCY said Hackney, a former prosecutor, who is
Black in one of WashingtonrCOs most diverse voting districts. rCLAnd IrCOve got colleagues who represent South King County districts who are, in my opinion, anti-police.rCY

He said a number of his colleagues oppose sterner criminal penalties,
and rCLanything that makes it easier for the police to do their job, they
will oppose.rCY

rCLItrCOs just a real split in the Democratic caucus,rCY Hackney added.

Safe gun storage
The latest firearms debate comes as a conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme
Court has loosened firearms regulations nationally. Next year, the court
will hear a challenge to state-level bans of semiautomatic rifles, which
could strike down such laws across the nation, including WashingtonrCOs ban.

Ren|-e Hopkins, CEO of the Alliance for Gun Responsibility, said the
national political dynamics make organizing for local and state firearms restrictions more important than ever.

rCLWe have a captive Supreme Court, we have a White House and federal
agencies that have been infiltrated by the gun lobby, we have a Congress
that continues to both actively push policies that enrich the gun lobby
and to undo laws that help keep our communities safe,rCY she said last month.

Alliance for Gun Responsibility CEO Ren|-e Hopkins stands during a news conference calling for federal gun safety legislation in Seattle. (Kori
Suzuki / The Seattle Times, 2022)

Alliance for Gun Responsibility CEO Ren|-e Hopkins stands during a news conference calling for federal gun safety legislation in Seattle. (Kori
Suzuki / The Seattle Times, 2022)
For the coming legislative session beginning in January, Hopkins said
the alliance is prioritizing the safe storage bill. House Bill 1152,
sponsored by Rep. Beth Doglio the past two years, would require people
storing handguns in their vehicles to secure them unloaded in a locked, hard-sided container. Rifles or shotguns could be kept in a soft-sided container, but they must have a trigger lock on them.

The bill requires firearms in homes to be secured with trigger locks or
in locked containers or gun safes when they are not being carried or controlled by the owner or an authorized user.

Violations set out in the bill range up to a class C felony, in
instances where rCLthe violation allows a prohibited person to take
possession of a firearm and use that firearm to cause personal injury or
death to a third party,rCY according to an analysis of the bill.

rCLIf you have a gun in your car, you have to keep it in a safe storage box,rCY said Doglio, a Democrat from Olympia. rCLItrCOs a pretty simple bill.rCY

But it stalled each of the past two years without getting a vote on the
House floor. When asked why, Doglio said: rCLGood question, I wish I knew
the answer to that.rCY

Berry acknowledged the toll that Republicans in the minority have
extracted by loading up proposed bills with amendments that slow down
debate and eat up precious time in the legislative session.

rCLWhat I think happened is we ran out of time and people were tired,rCY
Berry said. rCLI think thererCOs a fatigue about passing more gun laws, because they take a long time to pass.rCY

One reason the bill stalled was over concerns that the law could disproportionately affect marginalized communities, said Rep. Amy Walen, D-Kirkland. One solution lawmakers discussed was a funding mechanism to
pay for locked safes for low-income gun owners.

Asked if she thinks the bill would be brought back and had a chance of
passing in future sessions, especially during a budget shortfall, Walen
said rCLthere are always waysrCY lawmakers get things done. One solution,
she suggested, might be to add a surcharge to ammo to help pay for gun
storage for those who canrCOt afford it.

Finding ways to use money from the budget to fund safe storage gun safe programs for people in low-income communities is rCLjust a matter of
political will,rCY she said.

Walsh, who is also the Republican state party chairman, criticized the
bill, calling it an Orwellian rCLtransfer of liability.rCY He added that lawmakers in both parties talked about the concerns around the law
affecting marginalized communities rCLexplicitly.rCY

rCyThey are going to get shotrCO
Next year, the city of Seattle will make another lobbying push at the Legislature on firearms, said Jonah Spangenthal-Lee, a spokesperson for
Mayor Katie Wilson, in an email.

Among other things, Seattle will push for rCLrestrictions on firearms in sensitive locations rCo such as city buildings, parks, and community
centers rCo and requiring secure firearm storage in vehicles and homes,rCY Spangenthal-Lee wrote.

Meanwhile, the state Office of Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention
fell victim to the staterCOs budget shortfall. The office lost 25% of its community violence prevention funding in this yearrCOs supplemental
operating budget, bringing it to about $6.5 million in annual grant
funding, according to the state Office of Financial Management. That
reduction came after a 10% cut in the 2025-27 state operating budget,
when the office was at its peak funding for such grants.

rCLThere were programs set up that were doing great, successful work, that have lost funding from the state because of whatrCOs going on,rCY Berry said.

Rep. Osman Salahuddin, D-Redmond, sponsored a bill earlier this year
making illegal the possession and distribution of ghost gun blueprints.
That bill passed on party-line votes in the House and Senate, and Gov.
Bob Ferguson signed it into law in March. He said he intends to sponsor
his other ghost gun proposal again. HB 2321 would require 3D printers
sold in Washington to have technology that scans for blueprints of
firearms and blocks them from being printed.

That technology exists, and Salahuddin said herCOs been in touch with companies that manufacture it. Salahuddin acknowledged he doesnrCOt yet
know whether the ghost gun recovered after the Bite of Seattle shooting
was 3D-printed.

But rCLgetting these unlicensed, un-serialized weapons, whether 3D-printed
or not, is a top priority for many folks to make sure that our
communities are safer,rCY he said.

Hackney, the Democrat from Tukwila, said he plans to reintroduce HB
1536, and he may even lower the threshold to two convictions for illegal
gun possession.

His proposal has a rare thing in the firearms debate: a bipartisan
co-sponsor.

Rep. Andrew Barkis, R-Olympia, said he signed on to the bill because of
the harm caused by juvenile violence, like at the Bite of Seattle shooting.

rCLWerCOve spent too many years going the opposite way,rCY by reducing criminal penalties, including for juveniles, Barkis said.

rCLOf course, changing anything in the Washington state Legislature that
has anything to do with increasing penalties rCa is more of a challenge,rCY
he added.

Rep. Andrew Barkis, R-Olympia, looks up while participating in a transportation budget panel during a legislative session preview at the Capitol in 2025. (Lindsey Wasson / The Associated Press)

Data from the Washington State Caseload Forecast Council, however, shows
how few firearms convictions there are among juveniles.

For fiscal year 2025, only 17 juveniles had one prior conviction for
unlawful gun possession, five who had two prior convictions, and one who
had four prior convictions. None had five or more convictions, according
to the forecast council.

For Hackney, confining a juvenile who has illegal gun convictions is an
effort to ultimately spare them a long prison sentence down the road. Or worse.

rCLIf they use the weapon, then theyrCOre going to be charged as an adult
with murder, attempted murder and aggravated assault rCa and then theyrCOre going to get an adult sentence for decades,rCY he said. rCLOr they are going to get shot themselves, because if yourCOre shooting at people, people are shooting at you.rCY

Staff reporter Lauren Girgis contributed to this article.

Joseph OrCOSullivan: josullivan@seattletimes.com: Joseph OrCOSullivan is a breaking news reporter at The Seattle Times.
Shauna Sowersby: 206-652-7619 or ssowersby@seattletimes.com: Shauna
Sowersby is the state politics reporter for The Seattle Times. She
covers the state Legislature, government agencies and the inner workings
of state government from Olympia.



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