Washington state gun control initiative will appear on November ballot

Washington state’s Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a gun control initiative can appear on the state’s ballot during the November elections.

The decision from the court reversed a county judge’s decision earlier this month that threw out more than 300,000 signatures and blocked the proposed initiative, according to The Associated Press.

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The signatures had been collected as part of a proposal, known as Initiative 1639, to put a gun regulations measure on the November ballot. 

Thurston County Superior Court Judge James Dixon initially blocked the petition because it did not follow election law. The AP noted that Dixon had ordered Washington’s secretary of State to halt the certification of the measure. 

But the state’s Supreme Court ruling on Friday stated that the secretary of state was not required to block the measure. 

“There is no legislative mandate that the secretary must decline to certify and present to voters an initiative based on failure to comply with the requirement that a ‘readable, full, true, and correct copy’ of the initiative appear on the back of every petition,” the justice said, according to AP. 

The initiative that will now appear on the ballot would, if passed, raise the age for the purchase of semi-automatic rifles to 21. It would also broaden background checks for purchases of these weapons.

In addition, the measure would make people take a firearm safety training course and formulate standards for safely storing guns. 

The National Rifle Association and Second Amendment Foundation had previously filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Kim Wyman (R) with the goal of getting the initiative off the ballot.

The groups argued that the people who signed the petition did not understand what the initiative was hoping to accomplish. 

Wyman thanked the Supreme Court for its quick decision. 

“This clears the way for our preparations to put I-1639 before voters in time for ballots to be printed,” Wyman said in a statement. “My priority is protecting Washington citizens’ right to make informed use of our state constitution’s initiative process.”