Days after the reported arrest of a former felon in Washington state, who had received clemency from former Democrat Gov. Jay Inslee, for alleged drug and gun law violations is raising questions in the Evergreen State about whose side Democrats are on.
The arrest, which made local and national headlines, comes as the state House Committee on Civil Rights & Judiciary is scheduled to hold a public hearing on Senate Bill 5098, in Olympia. SB 5098 is a gun-free zone expansion bill, according to a National Rifle Association alert. The hearing is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Tuesday and grassroots activists are urging gun owners to flood the toll-free Legislative Hotline (800-562-6000) with calls opposing the bill.
Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, released a statement Monday in which he observed, “The irony of this arrest is almost beyond comprehension.”
According to the Lynnwood Times, the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force arrested a man identified as Percy Levy, 54, following a 16-month investigation. After obtaining a search warrant, authorities reportedly found more than 2,200 grams of powder cocaine, 14.7 grams of rock cocaine and 556 grams of fentanyl, and a stolen firearm.
The newspaper quoted the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, which says “One kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people.”
“During this year’s legislative session,” Gottlieb said, “Democrats at the Capitol in Olympia have been pushing a variety of restrictive gun control laws. The recovery of an apparently stolen gun from the suspect underscores the fact that their already restrictive laws have failed to keep guns out of the wrong hands.
“What is worse, and yet so illustrative of the Democrats’ misguided efforts,” he continued, “is the fact that they appear poised to pass two more gun control bills, one to add more restrictions on the lawful carry of firearms outside of the home, and the other requiring honest citizens to actually get a permit from the State Patrol to purchase firearms. What other constitutionally-protected right requires police permission before it can be exercised? These measures, Senate Bill 5098 and House Bill 1163, amount to frontal assaults on both the Second Amendment and Article 1, Section 24 of the Washington State Constitution.”
In recent days, other cases have popped up suggesting Democrats are targeting the wrong people. For example, Seattle’s KIRO Eyewitness News is reporting the arrest of a 10-time convicted felon who was armed when he jumped from the second floor of an apparent unoccupied apartment in Tukwila, a Seattle suburb. At the time, the suspect had a felony warrant for unlawful gun possession.
“Before the majority Democrats vote to adopt any more restrictive gun control laws in Washington,” Gottlieb challenged, “they better first figure out whose side they are on, the good guys or the bad guys.”
Meanwhile, grassroots activists are calling on Evergreen State gun owners to flood the Capitol with calls and messages opposing both SB 5098 and HB 1163.
