Free Republic

The first political ad challenging supporters of Initiative 594, which aims to increase background checks for gun purchases and transfers, has been released by the National Rifle Association. Featuring Seattle gun instructor, blogger and competitive shooter Annette Wachter, the video disputes claims increased checks will lower gun violence. Her meeting with KING 5 at a Bellevue gun range is notable for her pony tail, her designer jeans and leopard print sprinkled on her favorite firearm.

<p>Going to school these days isn’t what it used to be. Kids are marched through metal detectors on the way to a disappointing lunch of arugula with a side of alfalfa sprouts. Now they’re ruining recess. Swings in Seattle are now forbidden.</p>

The Washington ballot measure that would expand background checks to almost all gun sales in the state continues to hold a strong lead after wealthy proponents have far out-spent opponents.

The Seattle City Council has voted unanimously to celebrate “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” on the same day as Columbus Day, the federally recognized holiday, reports the Associated Press (AP). According to the AP report, the resolution that passed on Monday declares “Indigenous Peoples’ Day” the second Monday of October and intends to honor the contributions and culture of Native Americans and the indigenous community in Seattle. Supporters of the action said it will recognize the rich history of people who have inhabited the area for hundreds of years. "This action will allow us to bring into current present day our valuable...

Fusion energy almost sounds too good to be true – zero greenhouse gas emissions, no long-lived radioactive waste, a nearly unlimited fuel supply. Perhaps the biggest roadblock to adopting fusion energy is that the economics haven't penciled out. Fusion power designs aren't cheap enough to outperform systems that use fossil fuels such as coal and natural gas. University of Washington engineers hope to change that. They have designed a concept for a fusion reactor that, when scaled up to the size of a large electrical power plant, would rival costs for a new coal-fired plant with similar electrical output. The...

A group of horseback riders drew stares, honks and a few handshakes and high-fives along Redwood Road Thursday, hooves clattering on pavement in a protest ride of federal land management policies. The Utah trek of the Grass March Cowboy Express hit Salt Lake City and continued east up Parleys Canyon, with Tooele County Commission Chairman Bruce Clegg and Utah Rep. Ken Ivory, R-West Jordan, riding in tandem. With them they carried a mail pouch sporting a letter demanding the resignation of a BLM field office manager who ordered grazing reductions in Battle Mountain, Nevada, and petitions from rural Utah counties...

On Tuesday, five weeks before voters in Washington State will decide whether to require “universal” background checks on firearm transfers, gun control advocate Mark Kelly lied on national television about how many such transactions occur without a background check. Asked by CNN, Kelly said (at 3:30 in the video), “right now 60 percent of all gun sales go–occur–with a background check. Why do we allow the 40 percent, the other 40 percent, to happen?”

For the second time in as many months, Michael Bloomberg-funded Everytown for Gun Safety has given $1 million to the campaign for Initiative 594 in Washington state. On August 29, Breitbart News reported that Everytown gave its first million to the one-percenters' campaign for gun control. Breitbart News also reported that I-594 would treat all gun sales like retail sales--requiring a background check for both, thus ending private sales. It would, therefore, require the creation of a database of handgun owners (i.e., registration).

LACEY, Wash. -- A family is outraged that their $30 bounced check for school lunches has exploded into an $800 charge. A giant lunch bill has left a bad taste with Dr. Christina Johnson-Conley. Her two children attend North Thurston High School in Lacey and eat lunch there every day. But last year the family bounced a $30 lunch payment check. They just found out that their wages were garnished nearly $800. "I support our school district, but not in this way," said Johnson-Conley. The North thurston school district said it had no choice but to do everything to collect...

Gun ranges are frequently targeted by left-wing activists in the government, and sadly, one is finally about to be wrongly shut down. This is alarming, because it marks the beginning of a slippery slope leading to forcing other gun ranges out of business. This will ultimately lead to a lack of reputable places for people to learn how to defend themselves with firearms, and a major step backwards for the Second Amendment after years of withstanding progressive attacks.The Kitsap Rifle and Revolver Club in Washington state has been targeted for nearly 20 years now by left-wing activists in government. I...

Just a few months ago, I was at work as an attorney and the proud father to Christopher Ross Michaels-Martinez, my only son. But after Chris was killed in the mass shooting in Santa Barbara on May 23, 2014, my work suddenly seemed unimportant. I resolved to honor Chris’s life and the lives of so many others who have been killed by preventable gun violence by taking action to address the heartbreaking cycle of gun violence in our communities—and to urge others to join me in the fight. Washington State is on the brink of taking that kind of meaningful...

PORTLAND — Matt Price sells 100 different kinds of edibles, tinctures, buds and other marijuana offerings to the patients who frequent Cannabliss, the medical dispensary he opened up in a historic brick building that once served as a fire station. Unlike in Washington, Price’s medical-marijuana business is licensed by the state, and all the pot he sells is subject to mandatory testing and labeling. The 28-year-old entrepreneur says he’s now ready for his next step — an expansion into recreational marijuana if Oregon voters pass a measure this fall that would legalize pot sales to anyone 21 years of age...

BELLEVUE, Wash. -- A postal service worker has been arrested for trying to run over someone who was documenting the worker's offensive behavior toward another person, Bellevue police said. It all began just after 11 a.m. out front of Phantom Lake Elementary School. The victim was waiting in his car to pick up his child when he overheard a loud argument on the street between a postal worker and another driver over a parking issue, said Seth Tyler with Bellevue Police. "The victim overheard the postal worker allegedly yelling obscenities very loudly at the citizen and thought that was...

FINLEY, WA - Some medical marijuana growers in our area are not getting much sleep lately. Especially after another marijuana burglary early Thursday morning. The latest marijuana burglary happened just before 6 a.m. Thursday morning in the area of highway 397 and East Finley Road. Benton County Sheriff's Deputies said a medical marijuana grower shot at a suspect as he ran from the property. NBC Right Now found out this may happen more often this time of year because it is prime marijuana harvest season and medical growers are worried. "If you don't have sophisticated cameras, alarm systems, (are)friends with...

A Burbank man protested Monday evening outside a West Richland mosque, holding a sign that read "death to Islam" on one side and "Islam is evil" on the other. Michael Harmon, 28, of Burbank, also had a sign reading "Terrorists" on the side of his car, with a blue arrow pointing toward the Islamic Center of Tri-Cities on Bombing Range Road. Harmon said he served as a specialist in the Army and was in Afghanistan.

The American health-care system is befuddling in so many ways, but the variation in hospital prices is among the most confounding. The price for back surgery at Yakima Regional Medical and Cardiac Center can cost $46,000 — three times as much as it costs at Seattle’s Virginia Mason Medical Center. If you’re looking for knee or hip replacement, at $92,000 you could wind up paying four-times more at Multicare Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup than the $23,000 price tag at Wenatchee Valley Hospital. Across the state and for services ranging from urinary tract infections to strokes, the prices for care...

A few days ago, news broke about the US Forest Service demanding that one needed a $1500 permit to take photos on US Forest Service managed land. That was in response to a news organization who was filming a story on the forests and was denied access to the National Forest with out a permit. The "reason" given was that the USFS did not want their (note "their") forests commercially exploited at the risk of harm to the environment with increased human contact the photographs may encourage. This news went viral quickly, especially among the media, claiming a violation of...

A top Boeing official criticized Congress on Tuesday for failing to pass a long-term reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. He also argued that an extension of the Bank’s charter until next summer leaves supporters in a worse position than they were in before. “Mostly far-right political consultants, think tanks and congressmen banded together in a fit of ideological road rage to kill the bank,” Boeing senior vice president Timothy Keating said in prepared remarks at an aerospace conference in Everett, Wash. “The temporary extension recently enacted in many respects leaves us worse off than before,” Keating continued. “The extension is...

Boeing on Monday said it would move most of its defense services and support work out of Washington state to other U.S. cities, affecting the jobs of about 2,000 of its 5,200 defense employees in the Puget Sound region. The changes are part of ongoing efforts by Boeing to streamline its defense business, and will not affect its P-8A spy plane or KC-46 aerial refueling tanker programs. Both of those programs are based on commercial jetliners made in the area. The transition could take three years to complete. Boeing would shift as many affected workers as possible to the company's...

There is SO much emphasis on I-594, but there is NO discussion on I-591. WHY? 594 is an obvious attempt to violate the 2nd amendment by infringing on our rights to obtain or even transfer firearms. The bill is totally ludicrous. But I-591 is a Trojan horse. IT does prevent the confiscation of guns without due process, but the second part opens us to onslaught by Mike Bloomberg & Co. The second part of 591 no background checks can be required of recipients “UNLESS A UNIFORM NATIONAL STANDARD IS REQUIRED.” It does not specify which entity would be the responsible...