On April 8, Judge Gary B. Bashor of the Washington Superior Court for Cowlitz County issued an order of summary judgment finding that Washington’s ban on magazines containing more than ten rounds violates the Bill of Rights of Washington (“The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in the defense of himself or the State shall not be impaired”) and the federal Second Amendment, and enforced their enforcement. The 55-page ruling Washington State vs. Gator’s Custom Guns it is one of the most thorough analyzes yet by a court of why such a ban violates the right to keep and bear arms.
AS Gator Attorney Austin F. Hatcher informed me that Judge Bashor’s order was emailed to the attorney at 3:04 p.m. At 4:15 p.m., the deputy attorney general emailed a motion to stay the injunction to the attorney and said it was simultaneously being filed in the Washington Supreme Court. The 32-page motion was obviously prepared in advance in anticipation of an unfavorable ruling.
Without giving Gator Given an opportunity to respond, Court Commissioner Michael E. Johnston emailed an order to counsel at 5:04 p.m. staying the injunction. This occurred just 49 minutes after receiving the motion to remain.
Either the Commissioner is a world record reader or (more likely) he didn’t bother to read the opinion or motion, as he issued the suspension at lightning speed. Maybe he just needed time to read which side the State was on.
In his suspension ruling, Commissioner Johnston cited “public safety concerns surrounding the proliferation of high-capacity magazines compatible with assault weapons….” He did not mention the public interest in enforcing constitutional rights. These factors, combined with the speed with which the suspension was issued, give the impression of an automatic bias in favor of the magazine ban.
According to the Washington Constitution, Supreme Court justices are elected. The Commissioner’s office was simply the creation of a Supreme Court rule. The Commissioner reviews a large number of petitions for review and makes recommendations to the Court on what to accept or reject.
For a state where Supreme Court justices must be elected, that’s an incredible amount of power and discretion to delegate to one appointee. This case seems to illustrate how this power can be applied.
In the meantime, further briefs are being filed and the actual hearing will take place on April 17th before the Commissioner.
Based on the information received, Washington Gun Law Chairman William Kirk determined that the injunction was in effect for 88 minutes. According to one news report, for the 88 minutes the injunction was supposed to be in effect, the Gator’s store was overwhelmed with gun owners flocking to buy magazines holding more than ten rounds. There were lines of up to 10 people and the parking lot was full. Among the customers there were also two city councilors; no gangsters here.
To the extent that Washington has a crime problem, it is partly the fault of the state itself. Remember CHOP, the police-free neighborhood in Seattle where murder and mayhem ran free? And the fun continues, as 2023 marks Seattle’s bloodiest year in recent memory.
As everyone knows, criminals will not comply with a magazine ban any more than they will comply with more serious crimes such as rape, robbery and murder. Let’s hope the Washington Supreme Court gives Judge Bashor’s decision the attention it deserves.