HB1612 is AN ACT Relating to [a central registry of] firearm offenders.
It is good that they REMOVED the RCW 77.15 violation for a loaded rifle or shotgun in a motor vehicle. However, central registries can be very dangerous. We should be concerned about the potential abuse of a central registry such as this. Although it is not supposed to be available to the public, one successful Freedom of Information Act lawsuit could quickly change that.
Please remember the vicious media abuse of law-abiding gun permit holders that had their names and addresses published on the internet in maps by the Journal News in New York. During the public hearings, it was explained that a judge would decide who would go on the list based on three criteria: previous criminal history, previously found guilty, or evidence of propensity for violence. A concern expressed during the public meeting was that there are judges that are definitely anti-gun, so there would be the likelihood of inconsistent application of the law regarding who goes on the list.
I referred to Nazi Germany and their central registries because people just don’t seem to understand the threat. Let me explain.
The genocide, known as the Holocaust, was the systematic, bureaucratic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of approximately six million Jewish men, women, and children by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. This started around 1932 and continued until the end of World War II in 1945.
Please understand that the German people of that time, and now, are no different than the people that live in the United States today. We are all human beings that are driven by human nature. The Holocaust happened because regular people, like you and me, allowed it to happen. They allowed a particular group of people, Jews, to be singled out and somehow made to be less human. As long as you were not a Jew, somehow it was ok to march those “less than human Jews” off to concentration camps to work as slaves, to starve them, to conduct sickening medical experiments on them, and to murder them. As long as you weren’t a Jew, somehow it was ok to let that happen.
I was always aware of the Holocaust, and knew it was a horrific chapter in human history. However, reading the progression of events highlighted some frightening parallels to the recent demonizing and vilification of guns and law-abiding gun owners. The recent barrage of anti-gun legislation and registration schemes are singling out guns and gun-owners, and attempting to create many ways to criminalize both. Make no mistake about it; our rights and freedoms are under ruthless attacks by people and legislators that have had anti-gun agendas for a long time; they are taking advantage of the emotional tidal wave resulting from the tragedy in Connecticut.
It saddens my heart to see so many people that took an oath of office to defend and protect our Constitution and Bill of Rights, be so cavalier about trashing our rights and freedoms. Somehow they think it is ok to demonize and vilify guns and gun owners. Somehow they think it is ok to trash the rights of all law-abiding citizens to keep and bear arms. These people that are attacking our rights and freedoms have lost touch, or were never in touch, with why we are a free people in this great nation.
I am borrowing quotes from the following website to help you follow the progression of events.
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/Chronology_1938.htmlYou can browse the years 1932 through 1945.
“February 1933
The weekly publication Der Stürmer,
devoted primarily to antisemitic propaganda and promoting hatred against the Jews, published since 1923 as the organ of the Nazi Party, becomes the official organ of the party in power. The motto of the paper is “The Jews are our misfortune.””
Parallel: Much of the media is devoted to propaganda and promoting hatred against guns and gun owners.“February 19 & 26 1933
Father Charles Coughlin, a Jew-hating priest--Canadian but working in the Detroit, Michigan, diocese--sermonizes on the radio that “Shylocks”
(Jews) are causing the Depression. He receives 80,000 letters of support a week, about 70 percent from Protestants. His editorials often parallel those of the Nazi press. He is friendly with several U.S. senators and representatives.”
Parallel: “Assault” weapons and high capacity magazines are causing these mass shootings and loss of life.“April 1 1933
A boycott of all Jewish shops in Germany instigated by the S.A. This action was also directed against Jewish physicians, lawyers and merchants.
Jewish students were forbidden to attend schools and universities. Due to international outrage and the apathy of many non-Jewish Germans, Hitler orders the boycott limited to a single day.”
Parallel: Guns are forbidden in schools and universities."April 26 1838
The German
government demands that all Jews register with the authorities all real estate and other assets exceeding 5000 marks. This is the first step toward expropriation of Jewish property; that is, Aryanization, a process whereby the Reich government seizes Jewish property and auctions it off to gentiles."
Parallel: Legislation has been introduced to register all “assault” weapons with the government. This is the first step toward confiscation of all “assault” weapons. June 15 1938
“Asocial¬Action”:
Arrest of all “previously convicted” Jews, including those prosecuted for traffic violations, and committing them to concentration camps (approx. 1,500 persons).
Parallel: … all previously convicted firearm violators, including those on the central registry established by HB1612 …. I’ll stop here. There are hundreds of these examples and parallels you can easily see for yourselves. I hope this will help many of you understand why it is so
important to STOP these attacks on our rights and freedoms.If we allow our rights and freedoms to be whittled away, somehow it will be ok to […]. Human nature will always be here. If we don’t fight for our rights and our freedoms, human nature will take them away. There will always be people, organizations, government entities, and other countries that want all of the power, wealth, and
control over everything YOU do.
The first step to controlling the people is to take away their ability to defend themselves.
