Free: Contests & Raffles.
This is one of the most frightening laws I've ever seen and it was passed because of fear and deceit. Much of it was a knee-jerk reaction to the Marysville school shooting, which reports say this law wouldn't have impacted since the "transfer" was a tribal reservation issue and would have been exempt from the law. Most importantly though is that this law is just plain wrong and is truly the first giant step towards gun registration and eventual gun confiscation. It's their stated goal. If we don't stop it now then it's all over. One question that I don't get answers to is what is being done about Hollywood's part in all of this? There were several reports a few years ago that clearly linked gun violence incidents to the mass of gun violence portrayed on TV and in the movies. Instead of fixing that, the innocent, law abiding citizens are being punished. There are so many scenarios where I have done things in the past that I will now be arrested for. For instance, my granddaughter and her husband visit from Alaska frequently and we like to go to the range and do some shooting. He loves to try out my guns and usually brings one of his that I like to shoot. The law says it's legal for me to let my granddaughter shoot my guns (handing it to her is a transfer under the new law) but that the first time I hand one to him I'm guilty of a misdemeanor and each time after that it's a felony. It goes on and on. We have to fight this and we have to win.
I'm a NW native and have professed my love for this state for some 40+ years. I'm ex military and have seen corners of the world but always have wanted to remain in WA state. That is until the passing of I-594. I've never been so sick to my stomach and for the first time in my life I think it's time to move. Without a serious commitment by corporate sponsors we will lose any future legislation through media dollars, marketing and video this will absolutely be the beginning. The NRA and other organizations were a no-show in combating the pro I-594 messaging I heard on radio and endless TV spots. The only counter I saw was a hilariously poor, cheaply produced spot that sounded like a robot.
By definition 594 is pretty useless without universal gun registration. There is no way to know if a gun has been transferred or not since there's no record of who owns it. Handguns get registered when purchased from a state license holder but that info doesn't go with the gun. I have about a dozen on the record under my name. I only still own one of them. Unless somebody says they gave the gun to another person there would be absolutely no way to know. They have to register every gun to make it work.
Actually, you cannot let your granddaughter shoot your guns either, unless of course you are giving it to her as a "bona fide gift"