Second Amendment Foundation guests are available on the following topic from Ammoland Magazine:
King County, Washington is the hub of gun control extremism in the Pacific Northwest and by no small coincidence, according to new violent crime data released by County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg’s office, it is also seeing a “sharp spike” in gun-related violence.
Almost immediately after the announcement, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, which is headquartered in King County, came out swinging.
“Nothing more clearly illustrates gun control’s lack of success than the situation in King County,” noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “It is reflective of the national trend revealed in the FBI Uniform Crime Report for 2020, showing murders up by 30 percent nationwide. If restricting the gun rights of law-abiding citizens worked, this should not be the case.”
He took a swipe at the Seattle-based and billionaire-backed gun prohibition lobby which has pushed through two restrictive gun control initiatives since 2014.
“Let’s look at the embarrassing data,” Gottlieb said in a prepared statement. “According to the report, this year’s 73 gun-related homicides in King County so far have already surpassed last year’s total of 69, and there are still more than two months to go in 2021. Last year Seattle saw 52 murders, and the year before that there were 35. Seattle’s gun tax took effect in 2016, and that year the city reported just 19 murders.”
He reminded the media that anti-gun Initiative 594, mandating so-called “universal background checks” on all firearms transfers in Washington State, was passed in 2014. The following year, Seattle adopted a “gun violence tax” on the sale of firearms and ammunition. In 2018, Seattle’s elitist gun ban lobby financed another anti-gun initiative (I-1639), inventing a definition for “semiautomatic assault rifles” and prohibiting sales of such firearms to anyone under age 21. Instead of reducing homicides, the number of murders has crept upward. Ironically, Satterberg supported I-594 and according to Ballotpedia, he helped prepare arguments for the measure. Ballotpedia also reports King County Sheriff Mitzi Johanknecht helped write arguments in the 2018 Voters’ Guide supporting I-1639. A majority of Washington’s 39 county sheriffs opposed the measure.
“Statewide,” Gottlieb said, “gun control has likewise failed. In 2015, the first full year after I-594 was passed, the state reported 209 slayings, of which 141 involved firearms, according to FBI data. Last year, according to the Washington Association of Sheriffs and Police Chiefs, the state saw 302 murders, and their data shows 178 involving firearms. FBI data for 2019 shows 135 homicides involving firearms, so that’s quite a jump.”
“Instead of using this data to push for even harsher laws,” Gottlieb suggested, “it is time for the gun prohibition lobby, not just in Washington but across the country, to admit their agenda has failed. It’s time to scrap extremist gun control laws and try something else like supporting our police and locking up violent criminals.”
Gottlieb was an outspoken proponent of “Three Strikes” and “Hard Time for Armed Crime” laws 25 years ago. He opposed both gun control initiatives, insisting at the time that they would not fulfill expectations of reduced violent crime. Time and the data have proven him correct.
According to the Seattle Times, “People of color, especially young Black men, continue to be disproportionately affected by gun violence, as has been reported in previous years.”
Incredibly, Satterberg said during a Zoom press conference in which AmmoLand participated, his office doesn’t focus on the ethnicities of shooters in these cases.
The Seattle Times also noted that the bulk of information for his office’s report came from police agencies in Seattle, Tukwila, Kent, Auburn, Renton, Des Moines and Federal Way, and the King County Sheriff’s Office.
The rise in shootings and homicides comes at a time when Seattle is among the police agencies that have lost officers. At least 250 officers have left the Seattle department over the past 19 months.
“I’m concerned they’re stretched so very thin at this time when we need that kind of help both on the older cases, and these newer cases that are coming forward,” Satterberg told KIRO News.
One thing that has become evident is that more people in King County are arming themselves. Prior to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, King County reported 103,700 active concealed pistol licenses. That number plummeted during the pandemic because law enforcement agencies were not taking new applications, and apparently many people could not renew their existing licenses. At the end of April, the county reported 95,044 active CPLs, according to data from the state Department of Licensing.
But there has been a resurgence over the summer months and into the fall. By Sept. 30, more than 3,000 King County residents have renewed or obtained carry licenses, and the number is up to more than 98,000, of which roughly 20 percent are women.
EXPERT GUESTS AVAILABLE TO INTERVIEW ON THIS TOPIC:
ABOUT CAM EDWARDS (In Eastern Time)
Cam Edwards of the Second Amendment Foundation – Cam Edwards is the editor at Bearing Arms.com and the host of the Cam & Company podcast, which focuses on Second Amendment news and information. Cam is originally from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and has worked in radio, television, and online media for over two decades.
He currently lives on a small farm with his family near Farmville, Virginia, and is a member of the board of Citizens Committee to Keep and Bear Arms.
ABOUT LEE WILLIAMS
Lee Williams is also known as “The Gun Writer” and has been writing about the Second Amendment, firearms, the firearms industry, and the gun culture for more than ten years.
He is the Chief Editor of the Second Amendment Foundation’s Investigative Reporting Project and is a frequent contributor to Ammoland News and Armed American Radio. He also serves as a board member of Florida Carry, Inc.
Until recently, he was also an editor for a daily newspaper in Florida. Before becoming a newspaper editor, Lee was an investigative reporter at newspapers in three states and a U.S. Territory. Before becoming a journalist, he worked as a police officer. Before becoming a cop, Lee served in the Army.
Lee has earned more than a dozen national journalism awards as a reporter and three medals of valor as a cop. In addition, Lee is an avid tactical shooter.
ABOUT MARK WALTERS (in Eastern Time):
Mark Walters is a national board member of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms and a broadcast media spokesman for the Second Amendment Foundation.
Recipient of the 2015 Gun Rights Defender of the Year Award, Walters is a national columnist for Ammoland and author of three books, Lessons from Armed America with Kathy Jackson: foreword by Massad Ayoob, Lessons from Unarmed America with Rob Pincus: foreword by Ted Nugent, and Grilling While Armed.
Mark is the host of two nationally syndicated talk radio programs, Armed American Radio and Armed American Radio’s Daily Defense, heard on hundreds of radio stations across the country, six days per week. In addition,
Mark has appeared on national and international radio and television on gun-related stories and is a popular podium speaker on firearms topics. Mark is a husband and father of two children and resides in Georgia with his family.
ABOUT STEPHEN WILLEFORD (In Central Time):
A native of Sutherland Springs, Texas, Stephen Willeford was raised in a family of five on a dairy farm near the First Baptist Church. He is the fourth generation to live on a few hundred acres of land in Wilson County. Stephen has always relied on his faith to guide his life, and his deep roots in Sutherland Springs are a product of his family’s commitment to their community. An avid sportsman, Stephen began shooting at a young age and honed his shooting skills by participating in shooting competitions as he grew older. In addition, he made sure his three children were trained in gun safety, passing along his expertise.
After helping stop the deadliest mass shooting in the history of Texas in November 2017, Stephen has become known across the country as the “good guy with a gun.” Stephen credits his unwavering faith and penchant for preparedness as to why he could step in during this critical incident, believing that each day of his life prepared him for what happened on that Sunday morning. Stephen has begun speaking publicly about his life and experiences, even delivering a lauded speech at the National Rifle Association Convention in May 2018. Because of his selfless service to his community, Stephen was also an honored guest of members of the Texas delegation at the 2018 State of the Union address in Washington, D.C.
An experienced professional plumber, Stephen earned his license from the Plumbers and Pipefitters Apprenticeship School in San Antonio and has nearly 35 years of experience in his field. In 2018, Governor Greg Abbott appointed Stephen to serve on the Texas Private Security Board. He is a member of the National Rifle Association (NRA), was an NRA-certified instructor, and a former assistant scoutmaster with the Boy Scouts of America. Stephen has been married to Pam Farmer Willeford for 30 years and has three children and three grandchildren.
ABOUT DAVE WORKMAN (In Pacific Time):
Dave Workman is an award-winning career journalist and senior editor of TheGunMag.com. He also writes for Liberty Park Press, Conservative Firing Line, and several firearms periodicals. He is also the communications director for the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms. He has authored Op-Ed pieces in several major newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune, Seattle Times, and Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He has also co-authored seven books with Alan Gottlieb, founder of the Second Amendment Foundation. Workman’s beat is firearms, from politics to the outdoors. He is widely considered an authority on firearms, concealed carry, and gun politics.
ABOUT ALAN GOTTLIEB (In Pacific Time/ TV interviews only):
Alan is a strong advocate of defense. He’s a nuclear engineering graduate of the University of Tennessee, publisher of Gun Week, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and Founder of the Second Amendment Foundation. He also serves on the Board of Directors of the American Conservative Union.
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing, and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to own and possess firearms privately. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 700,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed better to inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
CONTACT: Celinda Hawkins of Special Guests at cemison@gmail.com (432) 349-2736, or jerry.specialguests@gmail.com
400 guests/topics for interviews: https://SpecialGuests.com/guests-topics/
