This is
a different slant on I 594 but it should get the
attention of every woman who might become a
widow.
I
594 is a widows worst nightmare.
Initiative
594, page 13 requires that upon the death of a
firearm owner, the spouse has 60 days to take
any and all of the diseased spouse's firearms to
a dealer to have a background check run on her
for each firearm. If this doesn't take place,
she is in non-compliance with the law.
Page 15
states that an individual will be prosecuted on
a weapons felony charge for each firearm they
are in non-compliance with. If the estate
involves 5 firearms, they can be prosecuted 5
times. In many
cases, the spouse is not the Executor of the
Estate. This person is often a relative or
close or trusted friend. In any case, either
one has but 2 months to transfer the ownership
of the firearms. This is an unrealistic
requirement for a grieving spouse who has to
deal with the diseased medical bills, grief,
stress, possibly having to move to a less
expensive home if the deceased was the bread
winner, and then there is dealing with grieving
children. In many estate cases, firearms take a
back seat and don't get addressed for several
years.
In many
cases, a relative or a close friend is assigned
via the will to be the Executor of the Estate.
This is the person who is responsible for
dealing with the estate, including the
firearms. There's a good possibility this
person can't begin the proceedings for several
months due to health reasons or distance, say
living out of state. I 594 leaves this issue as
a landmine waiting to trap the innocent people
who are just trying to do the right thing.
Another
problem can take place when the surviving spouse
or the Executor of the Estate takes the firearm
or firearms to a dealer and for whatever reason,
doesn't pass the background test. I
594 requires that the firearm dealer shall not
return said firearm or firearms to that person.
If and when this takes place, in effect $2,000
to $5,000 (if 5 firearms are involved) is
confiscated from the estate. I 594 doesn't
contain any language concerning how long the
firearm dealer will store these firearms or that
he shall not sell them.
Page 10
contains the requirement that if the firearms
are being transferred to a person from out of
state, that person is required to wait 60 days
to take delivery of the firearms. Once more, if
the Executor of the Estate is from out of state,
he/she is required to wait 2 months to take
delivery of the firearms. In many cases, the
surviving spouse has to come from out of state.
Whatever
person decides to take possession of the
firearms, no matter how temporary, they need to take them in for the personal back ground
check. If that person for whatever reason
doesn't pass the background check, they darn
well better have an individual with them who can
because if they can't, they legally can't have
the firearms and the firearms are retained
(basically) confiscated by this law. This is
just what a grieving spouse needs to be
confronted with.
I
594 is just a legal land mine that's going to
criminalize more folks than people believe. A
few firearms is the last item of importance when
a spouse is confronted with a sudden death, they
are overwhelmed with grief, and more problems
than most can imagine.
I
594 is a surviving spouse's worst nightmare
designed to entrap him or her in a legal
quagmire, not to mention the trusted friend
assigned to be the Executor of the Estate.
VOTE NO
ON I 594
Feel
free to send this to all of your friends and
family members who live in WA.
