Western Washington gun store owners respond to potential assault weapons ban

BONNEY LAKE, Wash. — The Washington State Senate’s approval of House Bill 1240, legislation that would ban the sale and manufacturing of assault weapons, continues to draw interest from both sides of the aisle.

While there is support for the bill, there’s also a lot of pushback from Senate Republicans and gun store owners in western Washington, as they believe this bill isn’t truly addressing the issue of gun violence.

“I don’t think they’ll publish it. There would be a big ole bleep,” said Melissa Denny, owner of Pistol Annie’s Jewelry and Pawn Store in Bonney Lake.

Denny is also the president and founder of the Washington State Firearms Coalition. She said in the weeks leading up to this bill, she and other gun stores have seen an increase in assault-style weapons sales. She believes this ban will only create more problems and put a lot of gun stores out of business.

“It’s frustrating because a lot of my friends in the industry are going to be gone by next week,” Denny said.

Denny said they are continuing to come up with ways to move past the ban. She believes that if they only sold guns and ammunition, then they would be in bigger trouble.

“And that diversity is going to go a long way for us in not losing our business over this, but if we were solid guns, we’d go. We’d leave. We’d have to,” Denny said.

Sen. Jeff Wilson was one of many Senate Republicans who opposed the bill during the vote over the weekend. He believes if this bill does get signed into law by Gov. Jay Inslee, then there will be challenges in the courts.

“And that step will take it all the way through the local courts. And eventually to the district courts and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and then eventually up to the United States Supreme Court,” Wilson said.

Yet despite the potential looming court battle, those in favor of the bill saw this vote as a victory.

“We know they are weapons of war. We know that they have no place in our neighborhoods,” Victoria Muzyk with the Alliance for Gun Responsibility said.

And while there are two sides on how to address the issue of gun violence, both would agree on what result they want in the end.

“This is a chronic epidemic. It is a violent reoccurring epidemic that does not need to be happening and requires our immediate addressing,” Muzyk said.

“There is fixing that we can do. But I think we need to talk to people who do this for a living,” Denny said.

This bill was actually requested by both Gov. Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson. Ferguson released a statement applauding the legislature for the decision, saying the Senate put public safety above the interest of the gun lobby.

The bill heads back to the House for final approval before it can go the governor’s desk.

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