WILL NOT COMPLY: Prosecutor, Sheriff Say They Will Not Enforce I-594 As Written

Bearing Arms – by Bob Owens

Michael Bloomberg and his gun-grabbing billionaire friends might have the cash to effective “buy” anti-gun laws like Washington’s I-594, but forcing citizens to comply with these laws, and getting prosecutors and law enforcement officers who were strong opposed to the draconian legislation in the first place to enforce it, are other matters entirely.

Just days after 1,000 people rallied at the state Capitol to intentionally violate the law (without consequence), Lewis County, Washington’s top law enforcers have released a public statement that they will not be enforcing the new provisions of I-594 as written. They will instead only go after those offenders intending to commit criminal transfers.  

You know… the real kind.

The new law stemming from I-594 is just 12 days old and already stirring up controversy. The initiative passed by nearly 60 percent of Washington voters requires background checks for private transactions of guns whether at gun shows, online or in person.

Last weekend, the state patrol estimated 1,000 people gathered at the state Capitol for an “I will not comply” rally.

Now a public letter has gone out from sheriff-elect Rob Snaza and prosecutor Jonathan Meyer of Lewis County saying they won’t be going out and prosecuting people who inadvertently violate the background check law.

“We wanted to make sure that the citizens of Lewis County knew that we weren’t looking to make criminals out of ordinary citizens,” Meyer said.

Meyer and Snaza are the first elected officials to come out publicly saying I-594 is too over-reaching. They put this message out because they feel there’s too much confusion about I-594 and they want to make it clear about what they’ll do and what they won’t do.

“‘We’re not going to try to trap citizens into transferring a gun to a friend and then try to nab them on a violation of 594,” Meyer said. “That’s not what we’re interested in.”

Gun control supporters are running into this problem of compliance more and more frequently.

In New York, Andrew Cuomo and his consortium of downstate Democrats were able to ram through the NY SAFE Act in the dead of night without public debate… but they’re having a heck of a time getting New York’s citizens to comply, or for New York’s sheriffs to force compliance.

The same goes next door in Connecticut. Anti-gun Dannel Malloy and his liberal allies rammed through a draconian raft of gun control legislation after Sandy Hook, only to find that Connecticut’s owners of banned semi-automatic rifles and standard capacity magazines have blatantly refused to comply with registration requirements. These gun owners have all but dared outright war with the Connecticut State Police if they dare attempt to come after an estimated 80,000-100,000+ gun owners who refuse to comply with the law. For now, the state police and Malloy simply pretend that the non-compliance never occurred.

In Colorado, John Hickenlooper’s government has quietly conceded that gun owners are simply refusing to comply with the new background check laws mandating checks for private transfers.

Perhaps the Republic’s citizen’s are simply following our leadership from the White House.

The word from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, over and over again, is that if President Obama doesn’t like a law, he’ll refuse to enforce it, or unilaterally attempt to make his own laws.

Why should the American people in Washington state or anywhere else act any differently?

http://bearingarms.com/will-comply-prosecutor-sheriff-say-will-enforce-594-written/