Washington governor's debate: Ferguson, Reichert on gun control, Second Amendment

Washington state gubernatorial candidates Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, and Dave Reichert, a Republican, debate top issues such as public safety, homelessness and more.

[mwp]

I agree 💯 percent with Mr Rechart. Hold criminals accountable for their actions. Stop penalizing honest gun owners.

[davidbremson]

These tyrants need to be stopped. What is it about "shall not be infringed" isn't understood?

[jeffreyjones]

AR-15’s are NOT “Assault Weapons” 30 round magazines are NOT “high capacity magazines”.

[slimpickens]

There is no amount of words that would describe my contempt, my disgust and my disapproval of Bob Ferguson.

[michaelpcoffee]

All possession laws are unconstitutional; gun control laws doubly so.
Any restriction of the individual right to self defense is complicity with the attacker.
It's dismaying how many people react to violations of individual rights of honest, peaceful people by seeking to violate the individual rights of honest, peaceful people.

[RR]

That’s it: restrict and over-regulate law abiding citizens.

Bob, you’re just horrible for Washington.

[emeraldcitydreamz]

Focusing on gun crime and not responsible gun owners. What a concept.

[SNAKEEATER]

Laws don’t stop criminals. It stops responsible gun owners from protecting themselves and others from criminals.

[jenzpad]

GO DAVE Reichart!!!… please help us. Born and raised in seattle and grew up watching the Mariners at the King Dome. I have never seen this place go so down hill. It’s gross. My husband is from Detroit and saw exactly what happened when the left took over. He watched motor city crumble to homeless hell. Like seattle and now the surrounding areas. Please.. after long 8 years with Inslee.. something has got to give. So excited for you!! Let’s go 🇺🇸💚💙💚💙💚💙💚

[j-jayc.]

If you want more Taxes in Wa. If you want less Rights in WA . vote for Bob Ferguson….

[bobgasm]

How does restricting what law abiding citizens own..stop criminals?

[Gunzdeep]

Bob showing his knowledge, actually the supreme court ruled on the exact phrase of yelling fire in a theater in 1972. Fact is that it was determined the first amendment covers that however you are still responsible for your actions. The second amendment covers all firearms but you are responsible for how you use them.

[jackcooper]

Turd Ferguson really needs to leave law abiding people alone. Can he just move away please, ugh.

[jennywagner]

Bob doubles down on failing policies. No surprise.

[buellboy]

This Patriotic Veteran approves this mesg 


Gun deaths 


There are 30, 000 gun related deaths per year by firearms, and this number is not disputed. The U.S. population is 324, 059, 091 as of June 22, 2016. Do the math: 0.0000925% of the population dies from gun related actions each year. Statistically speaking, this is insignificant! What is never told, however, is a breakdown of those 30, 000 deaths, to put them in perspective as compared to other causes of death:

• 65% of those deaths are by suicide, which would never be prevented by gun laws.

• 15% are by law enforcement in the line of duty and justified.

• 17% are through criminal activity, gang and drug related or mentally ill persons – better known as gun violence.

• 3% are accidental discharge deaths.

So technically, "gun violence" is not 30, 000 annually, but drops to 5, 100. Still too many? Now lets look at how those deaths spanned across the nation.

• 480 homicides (9.4%) were in Chicago

• 344 homicides (6.7%) were in Baltimore

• 333 homicides (6.5%) were in Detroit

• 119 homicides (2.3%) were in Washington D.C. (a 54% increase over prior years)

So basically, 25% of all gun crime happens in just 4 cities. All 4 of those cities have strict gun laws, so it is not the lack of law that is the root cause.

This basically leaves 3, 825 for the entire rest of the nation, or about 75 deaths per state. That is an average because some States have much higher rates than others. For example, California had 1, 169 and Alabama had 1.

Now, who has the strictest gun laws by far? California, of course, but understand, it is not guns causing this. It is a crime rate spawned by the number of criminal persons residing in those cities and states. So if all cities and states are not created equal, then there must be something other than the tool causing the gun deaths.

Are 5, 100 deaths per year horrific? How about in comparison to other deaths? All death is sad and especially so when it is in the commission of a crime but that is the nature of crime. Robbery, death, rape, assault are all done by criminals. It is ludicrous to think that criminals will obey laws. That is why they are called criminals.

But what about other deaths each year?

• 40, 000+ die from a drug overdose–THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR THAT!

• 36, 000 people die per year from the flu, far exceeding the criminal gun deaths.

• 34, 000 people die per year in traffic fatalities(exceeding gun deaths even if you include suicide).

Now it gets good:

• 200, 000+ people die each year (and growing) from preventable medical errors. You are safer walking in the worst areas of Chicago than you are when you are in a hospital!

• 710, 000 people die per year from heart disease. It’s time to stop the double cheeseburgers! So what is the point? If the liberal loons and the anti-gun movement focused their attention on heart disease, even a 10% decrease in cardiac deaths would save twice the number of lives annually of all gun-related deaths (including suicide, law enforcement, etc.). A 10% reduction in medical errors would be 66% of the total number of gun deaths or 4 times the number of criminal homicides Simple, easily preventable 10% reductions! So you have to ask yourself, in the grand scheme of things, why the focus on guns? It's pretty simple:

Taking away guns gives control to governments. The founders of this nation knew that regardless of the form of government, those in power may become corrupt and seek to rule as the British did by trying to disarm the populace of the colonies. It is not difficult to understand that a disarmed populace is a controlled populace.

Thus, the second amendment was proudly and boldly included in the U.S. Constitution. It must be preserved at all costs. So the next time someone tries to tell you that gun control is about saving lives, look at these facts and remember these words from Noah Webster: "Before a standing army can rule, the people must be disarmed."


What ever happen to up hold the Oath of office to protect and up hold the CONSTITUTION of the USA....NOT MAKE YOUR OWN RULES/LAWS...

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[bladehoner]

I'll vote for Dave. We don't need more rules and regulations. Let's get to the core, which is mental health.

[justinrutledge]

Since 1983 wa state started mail in ballots an since, the state has been democratic ran!! 40 plus years they have had the opportunity to make the state of Washington what it is today... so why is their any problems if they did such a good job? Whats the mathematical equation for a state to be 1 party for 40 years straight??? This is disturbing to say the least. Just look at the tax we pay on are gasoline???? Yet the state highways an freeways are all trash... the list goes on an on, get the democrats out of office an let some other leadership try an actually reaolve issues instead of just continuing with the same.

[MoonLightBather]

What did we learn, dont vote for bob.

[jf]

The Bruen ruling says otherwise. All arms are protected under the 2nd amendment.

[knuckledraggingbreeder]

In 2018 the Washington Sheriffs and police chiefs association formed the Mass Shootings work group to find and recommend solutions for the issue of mass shootings. None of the recommendations included more gun laws. Ferguson wrote a letter ignoring all of the groups recommendations for mental health programs but insisted more gun laws were the answer. Why? Because he does not want to address the root cause of gun violence, remove a donation stream to the party, political talking point or actually fix the issue that would save the lives he claims he wants to.