Washingtonians have been flocking to
local law enforcement offices to acquire permits to carry concealed weapons,
according to a recent news
report. Gun sales, too, are booming in the state. The
surge in demand in both cases likely arises from fear of impending restrictions
on gun ownership in the aftermath of the school shootings in Newtown, Conn.
Gun laws vary widely
from state to state. In Washington, the state
constitution – in Article I, Section 24 -- includes a
stronger and less ambiguous declaration of the right to bear arms than the
Second
Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
provides.
States have different
rules about concealed-weapons permits, background checks and many other elements
of firearms regulation. Washington, for example, is one of many states that
requires no permit for the open (unconcealed) carrying of a handgun, while three
states – Florida, Illinois and Texas – and the District of Columbia prohibit
“open carry.”
Two national
organizations that advocate tighter regulations – the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun
Violence and the Law Center to Prevent Gun
Violence – issue scorecards that grade the states on
their level of firearms regulation, with more regulation generating a higher
grade. In the latest Brady
scorecard, Washington scored 15 out of 100, which
actually placed well within the top half of scores nationwide (California was
first, with 81). On the Law Center
scorecard, Washington rates a “C” -- again, well within
the top half of the class.
In 2008, the Law Center
reports, Washington had the 15th lowest number of gun deaths per
capita. Generally, the center says, there is a strong correlation between high grades on their scorecard and
low gun-death rates.
Read this story in Spanish.
Read this story in Spanish.
