The author, Ralph Fascitelli of Gun Safety Washington, argues Republicans majority in the state senate gives the gun lobby a stranglehold in Olympia.
The author, Ralph Fascitelli of Gun Safety Washington, argues Republicans' majority in the state senate gives the gun lobby a stranglehold in Olympia. Brad Sauter/Shutterstock

Gun Violence is perhaps our country’s most significant public health challenge. America’s level of gun violence is approximately 20 times that of the average for all other modern industrialized societies. Approximately 117,000 Americans are shot every year with about 34,000 fatalities. According to a study by Mother Jones, gun violence costs the country an estimated $229 billion annually. In Washington State there are more deaths from guns than automobile accidents.

The Supreme Court in 2008 determined that reasonable restrictions on firearms do not violate the Second Amendment gun rights of law-abiding citizens.

While there is no single panacea to make gun violence disappear, gun safety legislation has proven to be very effective in the aggregate. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, those ten states that have the most comprehensive gun laws have one sixth the level of gun violence versus those states that the fewest restrictions on firearm use.

Otherwise progressive, Washington State is not among those top ten “gun safety” states.

A key reason for our State’s callous approach on gun violence is due to a Republican State Senator from Spokane named Mike Padden. Padden has an A+ rating from the National Rifle Association and in his role as Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee he gets to decide which if any proposed gun safety legislation can even get a hearing.

In the 2014 legislative session Padden refused to give a hearing for a proposed law to close the gun show loophole despite surveys by Washington Ceasefire that showed state residents favored passage by a 10-1 margin. He has also over the last five years refused to give hearings to such widely popular proposed legislation such as Extreme Risk Protection Orders that could have possibly prevented the horrific shootings that occurred at the Jewish Federation Center or Seattle Pacific University. (You can vote for Extreme Risk Protection Orders by voting yes for Initiative 1491 this fall.)

Padden holds this power because of the Republicans’ majority in the senate, of which Steve Litzow (R-Mercer Island) is a part. But Litzow is vulnerable this year. The Republicans have a slim two-seat advantage in the state senate. The NRA knows that all it will take is for Lisa Wellman to win in the 41st district along with one other net Democratic gain to eliminate their stranglehold in Olympia. Litzow may be one of the more moderate members of the Republican Senate Caucus but it is an extremely low bar. His election will virtually guarantee his party’s total block on reasonable gun safety legislation to the detriment of the public safety.

Our State and its schools, children, and law enforcement continue to be at a higher risk due to such things as the easy availability of military assault rifles that can fire up to a 100 bullets per minute and penetrate the protective Kevlar coating of police vests. The tragedies at upscale schools such as Columbine and Sandy Hook show that all of us are at risk from gun violence. The 41st district senate race between Lisa Wellman and Steve Litzow is ground zero in the battle for this state’s quest for saner gun safety legislation. The choice couldn’t be more clear: A Vote for Litzow is a vote for the NRA and its lapdog lackeys such as Mike Padden.

Ralph Fascitelli is board president of the nonprofit gun safety advocacy group Washington Ceasefire, which also operates a political action committee, Gun Safety Washington.