Senators:
I am writing you to urge you to oppose SB 6304, which seeks to give institutes of higher education the ability to define “Gun-Free Zones”.
It has been made painfully obvious over the last year that declaring a college or university, or shopping mall, or office building, or church, or indeed any location, as a “Gun Free Zone,” where possession of a firearm by any person is prohibited, is totally ineffective in preventing acts of violent crime at that location.
Simply put, if someone has already made the decision to commit the crime of murder (possibly as many times as they are able), and has already made the decision to commit suicide at the end of their rampage rather than face arrest, what do they care if they risk arrest by taking firearms to where they intend their mayhem? How will such a law hinder them in any way?
Please consider the stark illustration by Jeanne Assam in Colorado of how effective having a responsible, armed person present is in keeping an attempted massacre from going very far. If she had been disarmed by law, who knows how many people would have been murdered. Dozens?
In a gun-free zone in Columbine Colorado, 13 were murdered by gunmen. In a gun-free zone in Red Lake Minnesota, 7 were murdered by a gunman. In a gun-free zone in Blacksburg Virginia, 32 were murdered by a gunman. In a church where armed citizens were able to act in their own self defense, only two were murdered by a gunman. Yet this bill seeks to turn Washington's institutes of higher education into gun-free zones — shooting galleries, where students are required to be helpless, defenseless victims.
In addition, Article I Section 24 of the Washington State Constitution states “The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired”. Declaring that a citizen cannot lawfully bear arms in self defense while on the grounds of a state institution of higher learning is clearly prohibited.
Gun-Free Zones are wishful thinking; they totally disregard the cold, bloody facts. Please don't be a party to forcing students and faculty in Washington's colleges and universities to be helpless, defenseless victims, just waiting for the next massacre.
