Ballmer bucks swell gun initiative war chest to $3.4M [anti-gun Steve Balmer]

The Seattle PI ^ | August 11, 2014 | Joel Connelly

[steve86]

A fresh cash infusion of $250,00 from ex-Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and wife Connie has swelled the pro-Initiative 594 Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility warchest to $3.4 million.

The Ballmers gave $125,000 apiece, swelling their total contributions to $600,000.

The pro-594 campaign reports more than $1.1 million in cash on hand, according to its filings with the state Public Disclosure Commission.

The alliance was formed, largely by faith leaders, after the December 2012, massacre of 20 first graders in Newtown, Connecticut.

After the Washington Legislature failed to act, supporters collected signatures to put on the ballot a statewide initiative that would close the “gun show loophole.”

I-594 would require criminal background checks for those purchasing firearms at gun shows and online. A rival, gun lobby-backed measure, I-591, would block background checks. It would forbid Washington from enacting any regulation not a part of federal law. The pro-594 forces collected well over $1 million in pledges during a luncheon at the Westin last June. The money has very gradually found its way into Public Disclosure Commission reports, as if the campaign is holding back to see what the gun lobby does.

Not much, so far. The Protect Our Gun Rights group has raised $1.1 million, and has about $300,000 in cash on hand. Its latest chunk of cash was an Aug. 7 donation of $250,000 from Washington Arms Collectors.

The National Rifle Association has registered a group with the wordy name of National Rifle Association of America Washingtonians Opposed to Initiative 594. It is a shell campaign so far, having raised just $25,000 and spent $17,000.

Especially after a recent gaffe by its state lobbyist — he likened the criminal background check measure to life in Germany under the Nazis — the NRA has to make a decision on whether to come into the Washington campaign in a big way.

It spent in the seven figures 17 years ago to defeat a measure to require trigger locks on weapons stored at home together with a mandatory firearms safety course by new firearms purchasers.

This year, it faces a professionally run campaign with deep pockets, with big name backers in law enforcement — the prosecutors of King and Snohomish Counties — plus a substantial lead in the polls.

[Spok]

“I-594 would require criminal background checks for those purchasing firearms at gun shows and online. A rival, gun lobby-backed measure, I-591, would block background checks.”

Here’s the kicker-in a recent poll in Seattle, they both passed.

[right way right]

They both passed in seattle is a positive sign.

[Boomer One]

If it’s backed by a billionaire residing in an exclusive and protected neighborhood, I doubt that it’s good for the common man. Liberals fail to recognize that background checks are a tool for confiscation. For example, I used to collect Colt double action revolvers, legal in most states. Three years after I purchased an item in 2007 from a dealer, I received a call from the ATF advising me that I had purchased a stolen gun from a 1996 robbery. ATF drove over 100 miles to my house and confiscated the revolver. Now consider this: If the IRS uses tax returns to penalize opponents to the current administration, how great a tool is background checks? Because of what happened to me, I sold most of my prized items, realizing a very small profit compared to current values. By requiring background checks on all sales, the government will restrain trade among mostly legal buyers. Once the rule is implemented, those buying guns illegally will continue to get guns via illegal sales or theft. My fear is that private sales will then be made subject to taxation, further impeding the legal sale of firearms.