Washington Initiative 978, Raise Minimum Age to Purchase Firearms Measure (2019)

Washington Initiative 978, Raise Minimum Age to Purchase Firearms Measure
Election date November 5, 2019
Topic Firearms
Status Not on the ballot
Type State statute	Origin Citizens
List of Washington measuresWashington Initiative 976Washington Washington Referendum 88Washington Senate Joint Resolution 8200Washington Advisory Vote 20Washington Advisory Vote 21Washington Advisory Vote 22Washington Advisory Vote 23Washington Advisory Vote 24Washington Advisory Vote 25Washington Advisory Vote 26Washington Advisory Vote 27Washington Advisory Vote 28Washington Advisory Vote 29Washington Advisory Vote 30Washington Advisory Vote 31Submit

Washington Initiative 978, the Raise Minimum Age to Purchase Firearms Measure was not on the ballot in Washington as an Initiative to the Legislature, a type of indirect initiated state statute, on November 5, 2019.

The measure would have raiseed the minimum age to purchase a firearm or ammunition to 21 rather than 18. The measure would have made an exception for firearm transfers between immediate family members who are 18 years old or older. Under the measure, selling a firearm or ammunition to anyone under the age of 21 would have resulted in a gross misdemeanor or a class C felony.

Text of measure

Ballot title

The ballot title for this initiative would have appeared as follows:

“

Initiative Measure No. 978 concerns firearms and ammunition. This measure would prohibit sale or transfer of firearms to persons under 21, with certain exceptions including transfers between family members older than 18; and prohibit firearm ammunition sales to anyone under 21. Should this measure be enacted into law? Yes [ ] No [ ]

”

Ballot summary

The ballot summary for this initiative is below:

“

This measure would prohibit the sale or transfer of firearms to a person under 21 years of age, with exceptions. The exceptions include transfers of firearms between immediate family members who are 18 years of age or older. It would prohibit the sale of all forms of ammunition for firearms to anyone under 21 years of age. Violations would be punishable as a gross misdemeanor or as a class C felony if a repeat offense.

”

Full text

The full text of the initiative is available here.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing the initiative process in Washington

The state process

In Washington, the number of signatures required to qualify an indirectly initiated state statute—called an Initiative to the Legislature in Washington—for the ballot is equal to 8 percent of the votes cast for the office of governor at the last regular gubernatorial election. Initial filings for indirect initiatives cannot be made more than 10 months before the regular session at which their proposal would be presented to lawmakers. Signatures must be submitted at least 10 days prior to the beginning of the legislative session in the year of the targeted election.

The requirements to get an Initiative to the Legislature certified for the 2019 ballot:

• Signatures: 259,622 valid signatures were required.
• Deadline: The deadline to submit signatures was January 4, 2019.

The secretary of state verifies the signatures using a random sample method. If the sample indicates that the measure has sufficient signatures, the measure is certified to appear before the legislature. If the legislature does not approve the measure, it is certified to appear on the ballot. However, if the sample indicates that the measure has insufficient signatures, every signature is checked. Under Washington law, a random sample result may not invalidate a petition.

Details about this initiative

• Jeremiah Buckles submitted this initiative on March 14, 2018.
• A ballot title and summary were issued for it on March 28, 2018.
• The Washington secretary of state's office confirmed to Ballotpedia on January 4, 2019, that sponsors of the measure did not submit signatures.

See also

2019 measures

• 2019 ballot measures
• Firearms on the ballot
• 2019 petition deadlines

Washington

• Washington ballot measures
• Washington initiative laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls
• Ballot measure signature costs

External links

• Initiative #978 Full Text