Question to CeaseFire president: Who is the real extremist?

In a letter to the Seattle Times on Wednesday, Washington CeaseFire President Ralph Fascitelli pushed the gun prohibition agenda as a response to two recent shooting incidents in south King County, while taking the time to call the Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation an “extremist group” and imply that it is a lobbying organization.

He is wrong.

Fascitelli wants to close the mythical “gun show loophole” and he dislikes open carry “without a permit,” particularly in government offices. That much was evident back in early 2010 when Fascitelli was shocked that Washington State Troopers on duty in Olympia refused to disarm citizens who were attending a public hearing on a CeaseFire-backed proposal to ban so-called “assault weapons.” This column reported the incident.

Ralph has a problem with open carry that the State Court of Appeals obviously doesn’t share, as detailed in State v. Casad:

We note that, in connection with this case, several individuals have commented that they would find it strange, maybe shocking, to see a man carrying a gun down the street in broad daylight. Casad’s appellate counsel conceded that she would personally react with shock, but she emphasized that an individual’s lack of comfort with firearms does not equate to reasonable alarm. We agree. It is not unlawful for a person to responsibly walk down the street with a visible firearm, even if this action would shock some people.

Fascitelli – who hails from New York – has been in the Northwest for several years and recently landed a new gig as president and CEO of Barokas Public Relations in Seattle. He has certainly been here long enough to have read, and understood, Article 1, Section 24 of the State Constitution:

The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.

A permit is not required to carry a firearm openly in this state, only concealed. It is a “right” to bear arms, not a “privilege.” That much is certainly evident to the members of the Defensive Carry forum.

The recent shootings Fascitelli condemned – days after law-abiding gun owners beat him to it – had nothing to do with gun shows or open carry, and he knows it. One shooting occurred at a strip mall where a low rider car show was being held, and the other occurred at a tribal casino. There is no evidence that the guns involved in either shooting came from a gun show, but as has happened in the past, whenever there is a high-profile incident, CeaseFire doesn’t look at ways to address the circumstances of the specific case, it trots out the same warmed-over political agenda, blaming gun shows and gun rights for crimes committed by outlaws. Maybe he should take a pointer from yesterday's editorial in the Livingston, MI newspaper:

Not everyone likes guns. Those folks have the right not to own one. Nor should their safety be jeopardized by others. But the evidence is so far clear that whatever risk there is from guns, it's not coming from the law-abiding people who have obtained concealed-weapons permits.—Livingston Daily

Fascitelli should take some advice from a law-enforcement professional, this one a sheriff in Michigan, who was quoted by the Detroit Free Press over the weekend about how that state's ten years with concealed carry reform had not resulted in the carnage that hysterics like those at CeaseFire repeatedly predict when legislatures act to make it easier for citizens to arm themselves for personal protection. Fascitelli is quick to rely on the word of law enforcement when it agrees with his philosophy, which is why he appeared in Olympia occasionally with former anti-gun Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske. This column detailed the newspaper's coverage, and here's what the sheriff had to say:

"My position was, and still is, that the people we have a problem with guns aren't the people who are willing to follow the law and go through the hoops and training.”—Oakland County, MI Sheriff Mike Bouchard

As Joe Waldron, legislative director of SAF’s sister organization, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms reminded this column via e-mail this morning:

“There is no "gun show loophole" to close -- it's a cover for getting all firearm transfers registered (via the 4473s), despite the fact that gun registration has never been proven an effective crime fighting tool. In fact it has the opposite effect, diverting scarce law enforcement resources into meaningless paper drills. And in 2000, Washington Ceasefire REJECTED an offer to conduct background checks at guns shows -- with no paperwork retained. At a public hearing in Olympia in 2007 on SB 5197, the so-called "gun show loophole" bill, then-Seattle police chief Gil Kerlikowske publicly stated the reason he supported the bill was to ensure there was a paper trail on all firearm transfers. Earlier testimony was WASPC officials (the Centralia and Mill Creek chiefs of police, circa 2003, Scott Smith was one of them) acknowledged they wanted to see a California-style law that required ALL firearm transfers to be processed by a licensed dealer, who would be required to maintain a paper audit trail. It's all about registration.”

Fascitelli should also know that the Second Amendment Foundation is not a lobbying organization but a legal and educational organization. As a 501 C (3), it cannot lobby, so there is no reason for state legislators to either fear or “stand up to” SAF.

As for being an “extremist organization,” it should be noted for the record that it was SAF, not CeaseFire, which has been on the legally correct side in both recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on the Second Amendment. SAF actually brought one of those cases, McDonald v. City of Chicago that incorporated the Second Amendment to the states. While Fascitelli and CeaseFire have consistently advocated the erosion of a fundamental civil right, SAF has been out there on the front lines, waging a legal and educational battle to protect that right.

Do some math: CeaseFire claims to have “more than 7,000 members” in Washington State. A check this morning with the Department of Licensing shows there are now 341,446 active concealed pistol licenses, more than this column reported in May, when a new record was set. Those figures would suggest that it is gun owners who are in the mainstream in this state, not the gun prohibitionists at CeaseFire. There are about 6.75 million Washington State residents, so his group represents a fraction of 1% of the population, while more than 5% of the population are CPL holders. And he wants to dictate a lifestyle to us?

Fascitelli lamented that:

The nationwide Brady Campaign recently gave Washington a dismal grade for its lack of reasonable firearms legislation. We are the only West Coast state that has not closed the gun-show loophole, and incredibly its possible to open-carry loaded weapons here without a permit, even in government offices.

However, Waldron, who has been working firearms issues in the Evergreen State longer than Fascitelli, offered this counter-point in his e-mail:

We already have reasonable gun control laws. And Washington is near the top of the list. Just like Ceasefire's ‘surveys’ showed people wanted handgun owner licensing in 1997 -- but when the only legitimate ‘survey’ was conducted on election day that year, 71% of Washington voters REJECTED Washington Ceasefire's ‘reasonable’ gun control proposal, as did 90% of Washington police officers.

Fascitelli would have the world – or at least the Pacific Northwest corner – believe that just one more gun law, and a lot fewer guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens, would be a panacea to the kinds of irrational violence witnessed recently at the Kent car show and a casino near Auburn.

He would gladly sacrifice our civil right to advance his political agenda and raise his personal comfort level. That may be okay in New York, but he’s on the wrong side of the Mississippi River to be pushing involuntary public disarmament.

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