Washington Governor Jay Inslee signs law banning assault weapons, including AR-15s

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Jay Inslee, Governor of Washington state, has signed legislation to prohibit dozens of semiautomatic rifles.

AR-15-style rifles come in many sizes and have many options, depending on the manufacturer.

The bill bans the sale, transfer, distribution, manufacture and importation of 62 gun models it defines as “assault weapons”, including AR-15s, AK-47s and similar high-powered rifles that have been used to carry out the mass shootings across the US.

“These weapons of war, assault weapons, have no reason other than mass murder,” Inslee said at the signing ceremony on Tuesday. “Their only purpose is to kill humans as rapidly as possible in large numbers.”

The bill took effect immediately upon Inslee’s signature.

“No one needs an AR-15 to protect your family,” Inslee said, even as family members of shooting victims stood next to him. “You only need it to kill other families.”

Inslee also signed into law two other major gun measures, including a 10-day waiting period for gun purchases and a bill that would hold gunmakers liable for negligent sales.

The three gun bills passed the legislature on largely party line votes, with Republicans opposing them and most Democrats voting in support, according to a report by The Seattle Times.

The signing ceremony took place in the state Capitol, which was closed to the public on Tuesday morning out of security concerns.

The state of Washington joins nine other states, including California, Illinois, New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey, as well as the District of Columbia, which have imposed bans on AR-15s (AR stands for ArmaLite Rifle) and similar guns, according to the Giffords Law Center.

Fox News reported that earlier this legislative session, lawmakers passed a bill that mandates safety training and requires a 10-day waiting period to buy a gun, as well as a bill that requires gun makers and dealers to take “reasonable steps” to keep their products out of the hands of “dangerous individuals.”

The bill that requires safety training and a waiting period takes effect January 1, 2024.

A lawsuit challenging the assault weapons ban was announced almost simultaneously with Tuesday’s bill signing. The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) filed a complaint in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, accusing lawmakers of violating the Second Amendment with an outright ban on semiautomatic rifles.

“The state has put politics ahead of constitutional rights, and is penalizing law-abiding citizens while this legislation does nothing to arrest and prosecute criminals who misuse firearms in defiance of all existing gun control laws,” SAF founder Alan M. Gottlieb said in a press release. “It is absurd.”

According to Fox News, the National Rifle Association (NRA), too, signalled opposition to at least two of the bills and said the organization already has lawsuits working their way through the courts against similar bans in California, Delaware and Illinois.

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