By: Jacob Dimond
Though Republican Washington state Rep. Matt Marshall, R-Eatonville, and Democratic Congresswoman Marilyn Strickland, D-Tacoma, don’t typically align on the same side of the aisle politically, the two recently shared a strong message in support of the Second Amendment and how gun education and violence should be handled.
During Yelm’s town hall event on Thursday, March 20, at the Yelm Community Center, both Marshall and Strickland voiced support for the Second Amendment. The Second Amendment states “a well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
“I don’t think it comes as any surprise that I’m a strong supporter of the Second Amendment,” Marshall said. “I’m a strong supporter of the Constitution, and I think that should be the guiding light for anybody in government. It was written for a purpose, and to ensure there are protections that citizens retain that the government should not be able to take from them. In Washington, we have an even stronger Constitution when it comes to guns. Article one, Section 24 of the Washington state Constitution says that your right will not be impaired in the defense of yourself, others or property. It shall not be impaired. It seems stronger than the U.S. Constitution.”
Strickland said that she agrees with Marshall and, during her time as Mayor of Tacoma and now throughout her time in Congress, she’s had many conversations about addressing gun violence in the United States.
She said a lot of gun owners purchase and use firearms because they enjoy hunting or want personal safety.
“I’m down with that,” Strickland said. “When I think about gun violence, I think about a few things. Number one, how do we keep illegal guns out of the hands of kids? I’m gonna pivot over to young people, who should not have any business having guns. I think about this underground gun trade that exists. Guns that come into our country crossing borders, and also guns that are manufactured here that we don’t keep track of.”
Marshall believes gun education is crucially important, adding that most people who are “fearful of guns” in American society feel that way because they’re “not well educated” with firearms.
“I always offer, I have a legal range on my property, to anybody who hasn’t shot before who wants to come learn, is more than welcome to come, and I will teach them,” Marshall said.
Marshall stated nobody truly wants gun crime, and that crimes related to firearms can be addressed by enforcing the laws already on the books. He said this should start by enforcing laws for any and all criminal behavior to let criminals know Washington state will hold them accountable for doing something wrong.
“Unfortunately, due to various reasons, people are not being prosecuted and people are not spending time in jail — even for bad crimes and recommitting crimes. Washington state, I believe we ranked 49th, which is really bad for crime. Property crime, I believe we’re number one in the country for the most property crime,” Marshall said. “Right now, all of the things we’re seeing come out of the statehouse, a lot of the rules are only going to be abided by legal gun owners, people who are responsible and want to follow the law. By creating more burdens, all we’re doing is taking potential new gun owners, persons who in a dangerous society are wanting to provide some personal protection. We’re making it overly cumbersome to become a lawful gun owner.”
For Strickland, the real issue at hand isn’t the Second Amendment itself, but rather gun violence. She said if someone wants to own a firearm, if they’re responsible with it and “handle your business,” she supports the gun owner and however they want to use it. She wants to crack down on ways that guns are being illegally distributed throughout the United States, often into the arms of children.
“You could go online and buy a gun without a license. As we talk about gun violence with young people, I have to ask myself one question. We know that a lot of young people acquire guns because they steal them. They’re actually stolen property,” Strickland said. “The other thing I have to ask myself is when we have these horrible mass shootings and school shootings, what is going through the mind of a young man that he thinks it’s OK to go shoot up a school or hurt people he knows and terrorize his classmates?”
After her question, an audience member shouted “mental illness” in response. Strickland said these shootings could be due to mental health problems, or it could be due to something “as simple as the society in which these kids have to try and survive.”
“Social media is cruel and ugly to our children. Social media can erode your self esteem and make you feel rejected, lonely and terrible. If you look at the profiles of some of these young people who commit these horrific school shootings and gun crimes, it is often about them not feeling they have a place anywhere,” Strickland said. “What is going on with our young men in this country where they think it’s OK to shoot up a school and their classmates. This is about violence that happens with illegal guns, and guns in the hands of people who should not have them.
“Let’s respect our Second Amendment rights. Let’s do everything we can to protect people from illegal guns and make sure that people can feel safe in this country,” she added.
Marshall said laws being passed could create a potential class issue as people who live in dangerous neighborhoods and those who don’t have high-earning jobs are unable to achieve personal safety with gun ownership because “they don’t have the resources.”
He said extra training requirements and longer wait times for gun owners have been introduced, and that everything is well intended. Despite its intention, Marshall said he’s seeing nothing being done in the state of Washington to address criminal activity with firearms.
“It’s all been targeted at the lawful gun owner, and it’s not moving the pendulum at all,” Marshall said. “We’ve seen an increase in gun crime despite having increased legislation. I’d like to see us actually enforce the laws on the books and hold criminals accountable so we can decrease gun crime.”