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Gun control initiative campaign kicks off in Seattle

SEATTLE — On Tuesday, supporters of Initiative 1639, dressed in orange, gathered across from Garfield High School to pitch a ballot measure they said will make schools safer.

Kamiak High senior Niko Battle is anxious about returning to class in an era of mass shootings.

"Some of my classmates and I will be forced to think of where the nearest exit is or what office supplies we can use to defend ourselves," Battle said.

I-1639 would require enhanced background checks and a 10-day waiting period for assault-style weapons.

It would hold gun owners responsible for safely storing firearms and would raise the age to buy semi-automatic rifles and shotguns from 18 to 21, the same as handguns.

"The gunman who shot my son was 19 years old," said Paul Kramer, I-1639's citizen sponsor.

In 2016, his son was wounded in a shooting at a house party in Mukilteo.

Allen Ivanov used a legally purchased semi-automatic rifle in the shooting.

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"If Initiative 1639 had been in place in 2016, he would not have been able to purchase the semi-automatic assault rifle that allowed him to seriously injure my son and kill three of his close friends," Kramer said.

Dave Workman, senior editor of TheGunmag.com, suspects that, if I-1639 passes, the courts will find it violates the constitutional rights of 18 to 21-year-olds.

"You let them vote, you let them join the military and, suddenly, we take our Second Amendment rights away from them," Workman said.

Workman said the initiative’s definition of semi-automatic assault rifles is far too broad.

"When you write a piece of legislation that essentially classifies a .22 rimfire rifle as an assault rifle, you're really stretching the bounds of credulity, and that's what this initiative is doing," Workman said.

Workman said I-1639 might violate the state's rule that ballot measures have only a single subject.

Supporters call the initiative the most comprehensive measure to prevent gun violence in state history.

Supporters have the most money by far.

Filings with the Public Disclosure Commission show the Yes on 1639 campaign has raised $4.3 million.

The top donor, Paul Allen, contributed $1.2 million.

The No on I-1639 campaign has two committees, and, so far, the NRA is the sole donor  to one of them, with a $150,000 contribution.

A second No on I-1639 committee lists a total of $21,387 in contributions.