Hello Maria Cantwell. As newly elected senator to Washington State, I congratulate you on winning this years
election. As many issues will come and go, I wanted to send you a quick email regarding our second amendment rights
from the U.S. Constitution and our own states constitution (article 1 section 24).
Both of these guarantee our rights to keep and bear arms. Recent events around our state and our nation with gun
crime have been rattling. I only wanted to point out that as an honest and upstanding member of my community, that
it is people who have committed criminal acts and therefore are criminals, that do violent acts with firearms.
There are many laws already in place which provide means to punish illegal acts with firearms. I enjoy firearms in
sport and I also rely on firearms as a means for protection. My point is to not let these violent gun crimes sway
your opinion by emotions, but to think about what is the root of the problem. Criminals and not the guns/tools they
use to commit theirs acts.
Being a non-Felon and non-Criminal I do not like when my rights, in part or in whole, get taken away or restricted
because of criminal activity. I am a responsible gun owner who is also a voter and I pay attention to what new laws
or restrictions get enacted into law. There is an old saying : When you out law guns, only the outlaws will have
guns.
Thank you for your time.
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