Washington State’s Semiautomatic Weapon Ban Faces Multiple Legal Challenges
A law prohibiting the future sale of so-called “assault weapons” in Washington has drawn multiple lawsuits since the moment Democrat Gov. Jay Inslee inked his approval for the ban on Tuesday.
The new law, which passed the Evergreen State’s Democrat-led legislature on largely party-line votes before it was approved by Inslee, bans the sale, manufacture, and importation of some 60 popular gun models by name, including the “AK-47 in all forms,” and the “AR-15, M16, or M4 in all forms.”
Going well beyond that list, the ban also applies to any semiautomatic rifle, pistol, or shotgun that has one or more of such common features as a pistol grip, forward grip, thumbhole stock, folding or telescoping stock, flash hider, sound suppressor, muzzle brake, recoil compensator, or threaded barrel. It also bans the future sale of unassembled kits or a “combination of parts from which an assault weapon can be assembled.”…