Editor,

State Initiative 594 is a bad idea. If I-594 were in place one year ago Jaylen Fryberg would still be dead and he would have still murdered another student and wounded four others. Neither I-594 nor the fact that the school is a “Gun Free Zone” stopped Jaylen Fryberg from murdering fellow students.

Don’t get me wrong, I am totally against gun violence and I am totally in favor of background checks. I volunteered to have my fingerprints taken by the police so they could run a background check on me. I passed. Like the vast majority of gun owners I am also a responsible citizen. Did you know that as a group, citizens with concealed carry permits are less likely to commit a crime than cops?

Sue Todd Yates in a letter published Oct. 22 quoted an often repeated statistic about 40 percent of gun sales being done via the internet, at gun shows or other private sales without a background check. That is simply not true. The Washington Arms Collectors (WAC) hold gun shows all over the state. In October alone they held seven shows. In order to purchase a gun at a WAC show you have to pass a background check. In order to purchase a gun off the internet you have to pass a background check. The gun must be shipped to an FFL. Check out gunbroker.com or gunsamerica.com and see for yourself.

Let’s not kid ourselves, I-594 will do nothing to reduce gun violence. The only thing it will really accomplish is to increase the cost and paperwork for gun owners. Under I-594 if I loan a gun to a friend he has to pass a background check, then I have to pass a background check to get it back. This is true even though we both have passed background checks in the past. Under I-594 if I simply handed my friend the gun, I’d now be a criminal. Really? Is that how you want our understaffed Island County Sheriff’s office spending their time?

Let’s not criminalize legal behavior. Vote NO on I-594.

DAVID SHUPE

Clinton