Democratic and Republican politicians fail to agree on much nowadays, but a few issues exist in our country where regular people, across party lines, see eye to eye. One of those issues is requiring universal background checks for all people purchasing firearms—including closing the loophole allowing people purchasing guns online or from private sellers to leapfrog past the background check requirement.
Nearly 40 percent of guns being purchased today in America use that loophole.
Last night, Washington state became the first state in the country to completely close that loophole and require all gun purchases in their state to preceded by a mandatory background check. Ballot Initiative 594 was approved by over 60 percent of Washington voters and becomes a potential standard for all concerned states to follow.
Championing this initiative was a smartly organized group of concerned parents and citizens, including many avid gun owners, called Everytown for Gun Safety. See the organization's fully interactive report that helped fuel the movement in Washington.
Whereas politicians are too often beholden to a gun lobby and refuse to even bring smart gun control legislation to a vote, the people of Washington made a smart decision to take matters into their own hands and won. The question that remains now is whether or not other states will follow their lead.
Speaking of the future of Everytown for Gun Safety, John Feinblatt, president of the organization, said:
The NRA might be able to intimidate Washington DC and state legislators, but they don't intimidate American voters – and we expect to prove this again in Nevada where signatures are currently being gathered to put background checks on the ballot there too.