Trey Veston
Member
Eastside Washingtonian here, and I am moving to Idaho within the year. I value freedom and liberty. Weird. The gun laws get more ridiculous and more restrictive every year as Inslee and Ferguson conspire to see just how much damage they can do to the innocent and rural citizens of their state.Aaannnd...the Washington state bashing continues. Please feel free to say what you want about Seattle's city government, King County and the county commission, our governor, attorney general and dysfunctional state legislature, but remember that those of us in the far more numerous red counties are still living pretty good lives, in spite of being under "enemy control."
We still have cheap CPLs with no training requirement (for now) and few restrictions as to where we can carry (for now); the recent gun laws mostly impact only those who didn't already own semi-automatic centerfire rifles and pistols that use standard capacity magazines. The nagging training-to-purchase requirements can be satisfied in ten minutes while the waiting period does suck, as we got used to not having one...
But more to the point, the state has tons of gun shops, private gun clubs, shooting ranges open to the public, plenty of public land to shoot on, commercial indoor ranges (very handy on the wet side of the state) everywhere, plenty of IDPA/IPSC and other competition readily available and a very vibrant gun-owning and shooting culture -- even in King County. I'd also posit that you're going to see a lot of diversity when you go shooting in Western Washington. Lots of Asian, Black, Hispanics, Samoan and LGBT folks at many of the ranges and lots of these folks have CPLs and actually carry.
So, while I agree with most everyone that disclosing that one is a gun-owner and shooter at a job interview almost everywhere is not a good idea, one would probably find in almost any business or organization around here that there's bound to be more than a few gun owners and probably quite a few hunters as well. Hell, even the gun club on the East Sound side I used to belong to is popular with a lot of Microsoft employees and more'n a few millionaires (pretty sure @Mark_Mark will agree).
To the OP (@twofewscrews) I'd say, take that advice from some, about never letting anyone up here know you like guns, with a grain of salt. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised when you realize how gun-friendly most folks up here really are.
Are you aware of the ban on the sale of gas-powered cars in 2030? That's five and a half years from now. How about HB1868 that is currently moving through the system that will ban gasoline outdoor equipment motors under 25hp including lawnmowers, generators, and chainsaws? That will go into effect Jan 1 of 2026.
Still not enough proof that WA hates freedom and rural folks? Then consider SB 6304 that will ban the sale of automotive tires that do not meet certain standards of low-rolling resistance. In other words, just about every All-Season, All-Terrain, snow tire, and mud tire sold in America does not meet low rolling resistance standards. I have only found one SUV tire that is considered an AT tire and is approved. It is about $500 per tire. Of course the folks on the West side have no problem banning tires that they have no use for.
The state politicians have gone off the deep end and are out of control. The only FFL within 50 mile of me is going out of business when this law passes...
"House Bill 2118, the "FFL-Killer" bill, was passed by the Senate with a vote of 28-21. The bill will now return to the House for concurrence due to an amendment adopted in the Senate. The onerous requirements of House Bill 2118 will likely put most Washington-based FFLs out of business because of the financial burden to comply. Any FFL that does more than $1,000 of sales per year must run annual background checks on their employees, carry $1 million liability insurance, install steel doors or bars at the business, and meet onerous requirements for storage and security systems with 24-hour audio and video surveillance. Even the Seattle Times agrees “… HB 2118 pushes gun control to a level of punishment for legitimate businesses… [and] unnecessarily tightens the rein on gun dealers while using the public’s safety as a smoke screen.”
Washington is a beautiful state with a lot of innocent folks who are quickly becoming criminals for not being able to afford electric mowers or low rolling resistance tires. While my house has doubled in value the past ten years, an identical one to it across the border in Idaho has tripled. I'm taking my money and self-respect and moving to a state not taken over by those who hate liberty.