Following Advocacy from Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action Volunteers, Washington House Advances Legislation to Ban Assault Weapons

OLYMPIA, Wash. —Washington Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, both part of Everytown for Gun Safety’s grassroots network, released the following statement after House lawmakers voted to advance common-sense gun safety legislation. HB 1240 would prohibit the sale and manufacture of a list of assault-style rifles including any semi automatic rifles with detachable magazines. This comes just a day after the House advanced HB 1143, another piece of important legislation that requires people to take safety training and undergo a 10-day waiting period before purchasing any firearm. Both bills will now be considered in the Senate.

“Weapons designed to be used on a military field shouldn’t have a place on the streets of Washington.” said Jane Weiss, a volunteer with the Washington chapter of Moms Demand Action. “These guns are often used in mass shootings and recovered at crime scenes and research shows a prohibition on assault weapons can prevent public mass shootings and save lives. We are proud to stand with our gun sense champions in the House and look forward to working with the Senate to get this bill to the governor’s desk.” 

Our Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action volunteers are ready to keep working to make Washington the national leader in the fight against gun violence. Since the introduction of the Governor and Attorney General’s gun violence prevention package volunteers have been in the forefront of advocacy – testifying in support, sending messages and engaging with lawmakers to get this and other gun safety bills into law. 

Statistics about gun violence in Washington are available here, and Everytown’s Gun Law Rankings – which shows how Washington’s gun laws compare to those of other states – is available here. If you are interested in speaking with a Washington Moms Demand Action or Students Demand Action volunteer, please reach out to [email protected].