Judge lets WA assault weapons ban stand in lawsuit brought by E WA plaintiffs

A Thurston County judge has rejected a request by Eastern Washington plaintiffs to block a new state law banning the sale of certain semi-automatic weapons.

The decision by Judge Allyson Zipp Friday followed a similar denial in a separate case in federal court earlier this month.

Eastern Washington plaintiffs had filed for a statewide temporary restraining order in Grant County, with the case then moved to Thurston County.

Plaintiffs in the case are Millard Sales, a gun store in Ephrata; Guardian Arms, a gun store in Moses Lake; Alliance for Gun Responsibility, the Silent Majority Foundation based in Pasco and six individuals, including Edgar Salazar.

The business license for Guardian Arms Training lists Edgar Salazar as owner.

Salazar, a Moses Lake Police Department detective, is credited with shooting and wounding James M. Kelly at the campground by The Gorge Amphitheatre last weekend, allowing him to be taken into custody. Kelly is accused of using a pistol to kill two people and wound three others during a concert at the venue several hundred yards away.

Gov. Jay Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson, both Democrats who were named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in Grant County, requested the Legislature take action to ban the sale of assault weapons.

The new law took effect when Inslee signed it April 25.

Ferguson said after the Friday ruling that he had proposed the ban in 2017 in the wake of a 2016 mass shooting at a Mukilteo, Wash., house party. The shooter used a military-style rifle and a high-capacity magazine.

It took effect when Inslee signed it April 25.

The new law prohibits the sale, manufacture and import of assault weapons in Washington state while allowing some exemptions, including for the sale to law enforcement and the military. The law does not prohibit the possession of assault weapons by those who already have them.

The suspect in the Gorge campground shooting, James M. Kelly, 26, was a fire support specialist assigned to the 75th Ranger Regiment with the U.S. Army. No information has been released that indicates he had an assault weapon at the campground.

The Silent Majority Foundation called Salazar a hero and thanked him for his “quick, courageous and decisive action.”

It also invited followers to come to the Thurston County Courthouse Friday to pray or offer other peaceful support to plaintiffs.

The Silent Majority Foundation has argued that the new law will do nothing to curb crime, while impairing the right of law-abiding citizens to continue purchasing what it said is the most commonly owned type of firearm in the country.

When Inslee signed the ban into law in April he said in a blog post that evidence that assault weapons sales bans prevent gun deaths comes from America’s recent history.

When a federal assault weapons sales ban was in effect from 1994 to 2004, mass shooting fatalities were 70% less likely to occur as compared to the periods before and after, he said.

Washington was the 10th state to adopt similar legislation banning the sale of certain semi-automatic weapons, including AR- and AK-style rifles.

Multiple federal courts have upheld similar laws as constitutional, according to Ferguson.

This story was originally published June 23, 2023 at 1:29 PM with the headline "Judge lets WA assault weapons ban stand in lawsuit brought by E WA plaintiffs."