courtesy Seattle Times

The Seattle Times blatantly lied in a recent editorial in support of Initiative 1639, the hodgepodge of unconstitutional gun control measures that Washington Staters will find on their November ballot thanks to the state’s supreme court:

“The NRA has invested at least $150,000 to fight this initiative [1639], which the organization says will just make it much more difficult for 18-to-20-year-old Washingtonians to buy and use these weapons. Other than hunting or serving this country, young adults can wait until they mature some more before needing such a deadly firearm. Hunting rifles will not be subject to these new rules and neither will weapons used by soldiers or law enforcement, regardless of age.” Seattle Times editorial board, The Times Recommends Vote Yes On i1639 to Strengthen Gun Regulations

Following an enormous number of reader complaints, the newspaper was forced to edit the original text regarding hunting rifles. The editorial now says:

“Hunting rifles that are not semiautomatic are not subject to these new rules and neither will weapons used by soldiers or law enforcement, regardless of age.”

The fact that the vast majority of hunting rifles in Washington State are semi-automatic is a minor detail when it comes to the Seattle Times’ need to further their agenda of total civilian disarmament. But you already knew that.

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58 COMMENTS

  1. Deliberate lying, of course. Standard operating procedure for communist media. Tell the lie, huge numbers of people see / read / hear it, believe it. THEN … days later, issue a retraction. “oh, we’re so sorry, didn’t know better.”

    Bullshit. They are a communist propaganda tool.

    The Seattle Times is so anti-Trump, anti-gun, pro-big government, it’s astounding. I read it with the full understanding that this is communist propaganda.

    • good old seattle is so socialist/communist that it stinks .from the mayor down to the dog catcher they are either stone-cold communist , socialist/marxist or bernie brats. no brain all smoked up.the leftist mayors,the previous collection of warped losers holding the office have destroyed the infrastructure raised the taxes to a totally un-reasonable high. wrecked the transport system with bicycle paths in the center of traffic lanes that used to work fine now there is no parking for cars. free bike lanes paid for by auto taxes.the entire communication system, the radio the television channels, and the papers all are so far left they can not see the center. NO SUCH THING AS FREEDOM OF SPEECH FOR REPUBLICANS,CONCERVATE, OR MODERATES. ONLY MARXIST CAN SPEAK IN PUBLIC.WITHOUT BEING SHOUTED DOWN BY SOME WELFARE PUNK.

    • I don’t waste my time reading the enemy propaganda rag known as the Seattle Times. I have much better things to do with my time.

  2. “the vast majority of hunting rifles in Washington State are semi-automatic”

    Citation on this? If we’re guessing I’d have said bolt action is by far the most common.

    • I would generally agree with your statement, and I don’t have a citation either way, but one could argue that small caliber semiautomatics (like the Ruger 10/22) far out number bolt actions for the purpose of “hunting” small game or dispatching varmints. This is not to mention the use of semiautomatics for target practice and general marksmanship in preparation for hunting and sporting activities. Under WA I-1639, these semiautomatics will be illegal for 18-20 year olds.

      • Yeah I didn’t think of squirrel etc. hunting with 22s until after I posted that, you could well be right.

    • I use my AR-15 to hunt coyotes with. My state pays for dead coyotes and the AR is a better platform than a bolt in a large caliber.

    • I grew up in Washington and still go back to shoot and hunt. Based on experience and a wide pool of hunting friends not to mention the statistical popularity of semi-autos right now. Reality is people prefer semi-autos. Even hunters. It doesn’t mean we don’t own bolts just that semis come out on a regular basis.

  3. Military service members who are age 18-20 years old currently buy semiautomatics for sporting purposes, competition, hunting, target practice, self-defense, home-defense and to maintain individual marksmanship skills required for military service. Under WA I-1639, it will be ILLEGAL for ANYONE age 18-20 years old, INCLUDING military service members, to purchase ANY modern firearm, rifle, carbine, handgun that is a semiautomatic. This infringement goes far beyond what the anti-2A propagandists call “semiautomatic assault rifles,” because WA I-1639 turns ALL 18-20 year olds into criminals with regards to RKBA of any modern weapon. Military service members will NOT be able to purchase or receive upon transfer ANY modern firearm for personal use under WA I-1639. By any modern firearms or weapons, I am referring to ANY semiautomatic firearm traditionally made available to civilians since ~1904.

    • Basically 18 to 21 year olds would not be full citizens. Didn’t they work that issue out after the civil.war?
      Maybe they will limit voting and speech too. Just keep paying taxes and oh yeah you can go to prison at 18 too.

  4. So you would see AR-15s being sold without gas tubes? When you’re old enough you can get yourself a gas tube.

    • I don’t know how the WA law defines a semi automatic or what the state guidelines are reguarding enforcement of the law (should it pass). I can say in CA the DOJ guidelines address the absence of parts necessary for semiautomatic fire, and (here at least) you can get away with simply removing parts like the gas tube, or buffer, or recoil spring, or BCG, or if the upper and lower are separated but otherwise unmodified. You can also unscrew the pistol grip and simply make it a semiautomatic rifle. A dealer can sell these parts alongside the rifle so long as the rifle isn’t a completed “assault weapon”. It will be either a “firearm of undetermind status” or simply not an “assault weapon”.

      All laws require unambiguous language written in black and white with clearly defined parameters, so “AR15 style” and “AK patern” aren’t good enough for enforcement purposes. It’s also why I expect the AG Healy lady in MA to eat a turd sandwich when her enforcement guidance goes to SCOTUS.

      • The WA I-1639 law will make it illegal for 18-20 year olds to purchase any semiautomatic rifle, including a semiautomatic .22 LR with a fixed tubular magazine. Under this law, rifles like the Marlin Model 60 .22 LR semiautomatic rimfire rifle are classified as “semiautomatic assault rifles” and are illegal for purchase by 18-20 year olds.

        • No. I mean yes, the attack on 18-21 year olds is bad enough, but the real issue in that is that 1639 changes the very definition of rifles.

          It reclassifies all semis as “semiautomatic assault rifles”. All of them.

          This isn’t about 19 year olds, it’s about turning every rifle in to a “semiautomatic assault rifle” with this Iniative, and then banning “semiautomatic assault rifles.” with the next.

      • In I-1639, it reclassifies any semi auto long gun with a rifled barrel as a semiautomatic assault rifle.

        “”Semiautomatic assault rifle” means any rifle which utilizes a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and chamber the next round, and which requires a separate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge.”

        A rifle is already any long gun that had a rifled barrel. So all semi auto long guns with a rifled barrel would suddenly become “semiautomatic assult rifles”…

  5. Actually not a bad idea on 21 to purchase an assault type weapons, If That Is Where That Law Would Stop. Hopefully “Ban the Bump” Trump won’t let this on the Federal level become a means to ban semi-automatics. It appears this is the direction it’s headed as “They’ve” toyed with this one way or another in the past. AR’s and the like grandfathered in ( original owner, no transfers)will probably be regulated to safe queens or permit range fire. The debate on will it work, is to me, irrelevant as all a semi automatic ban will do is make felons of many othewise good people. Which might be the point?

    • “Actually not a bad idea on 21 to purchase an assault type weapons, If That Is Where That Law Would Stop.”

      What?

      Banning the purchase of “assault type weapons” for 18-20 year olds is a horrible idea, and totally neuters the 2A for it’s intended purpose. Of course it’s not going to stop there with the anti-2A crowd, it never has and it never will stop.

    • I was taught to use an m16 by the US Gov. At 17 YO. Are you telling me I need to wait until I was 21 to own my own?
      I guess as an employee I can wield the awesome power but not as a simple serf.

    • So you’re allowing them the argument that they’re somehow deadlier and that people who can be trusted with a pump action shotgun can’t be trusted with an AR. Great, let’s go with that and see how far that takes us /sarc

    • What?

      In your world what is an assault type weapon?

      Anything can be classified as an assault type weapon.

      In fact, that’s exactly what I-1639 does. It reclassifies every single semi auto long gun with a rifled barrel as a semiautomatic assault rifle…

  7. Today Washington state, tomorrow your state. They ignore federal drug and immigration laws, the 2A is an easy ignore.
    Until a proper smackdown from the court without loopholes is delivered and enforced the law abiding will be considered felons and the criminals will continue as before.

    • The media are much worse liars than the worst politicians.

      It’s time to start educating, testing and licensing professional journalists to ensure competence, fairness and truth. Just like doctors. lawyers, engineers, architects, plumbers, electricians, a/c techs, barbers, dentists, and darned near every profession already does.

      Non-licensed content should be restricted to the Opinion Page or individual non-profit media outlets. If a media outlet collects money for fees, subscriptions or advertising for it’s services, then every article should have a licensed responsible author of record.

      Won’t happen, but it should.

      • Freedom of Speech. Perhaps it’s good that we trust not the media, Propaganda has trust as it’s Allie

      • only one problem with licensing them and that is that the corporate giants in the media will make sure that even if at first the power to control who gets a license is an independent body, they will make sure they get influence and eventually full power over who gets one. Then ALL media will be controlled by them. No licensing is not the answer as it is not for anything else. Think for a minute how many dodgy “licensed” tradespeople there are…. quite a few. How many have a drivers license yet either cant drive for shit or dont give a damn what the road rules are or basic common courtesies when driving… again quite a few. Licensing is just another way for a govt to remove rights and then tax you for the privilege of getting it back. In the case of the media it is also a danger in a big way especially when said media is for the most part anti liberty

      • Better yet, just make sure that all of their content is marked as opinion pieces, or as the propaganda that most of the crap they publish really is.

  8. You should learn the difference between lying and mistakes. That was a mistake, hence the correction. You should also learn what libel is, which is what you are doing when you maliciously accuse someone of lying when they’ve merely made a mistake they then took the time to correct.

    • So odd that Southern papers had a similar issue with misrepresentations and mistakes when reporting on the dangers of blacks having weapons and neglecting to report the activities of southern white KKK democrats which led the efforts to prevent blacks from owning firearms. I guess a black man having the ability to defend himself against angry mobs of Democrat activists really put a damper on the overall fun of lynchings and burnings. The great benefit of knowing history is to prevent repeating it. And which side wants to rewrite and destroy history much like ISIS does in the Middle East? Or is that also an “innocent mistake”?

      Reminds me how modern Democrats are “against” violence done to women unless they have an opportunity to threaten or do violence to any woman who doesn’t think like they do… I guess this is just another “oopsie daisy”.

    • The Seattle times writers are professional reporters, so their “mistake” is actually negligence (difficult to prove that it was an actual lie, but not unlikely given their left-wing bias). These reporters don’t care that they are negligent or their editors allow bias on this issue, as it supports their personal and corporate agenda.

    • And where and when was the correction published? Days or weeks later buried in sporting results?

    • Roy, the Seattle Times didn’t make a mistake. The Times is deliberately publishing propaganda that is consistent with their political position. The “correction” is part of the smoke screen to continue their propaganda and dissuade attacks against their credibility. This is what progressive, socialist and facist propagandists do. Libel? It isn’t. Our political speech is protected, so is that of the Times. The difference is that the Times is profiting off their progressive reader base, who they intend to influence at the ballet in a way consistent with the Times’ political position. The Times is also profiting off their political customers by playing to the pols endorsement of anti-2A rhetoric. At best the Times is negligent or incompetent as Francis wrote, but I dought it. The Times should know exactly what their doing, furthering the facist and anti-2A agenda. That’s not a mistake and I think they would agree that the 1A is a weapon just as much or more so than the 2A. Both should be protected, but let’s not Giv the Times a pass by ignoring their likely intentional tactics.

        • Roy, when you use arguments like “you’re full of shit” you prove you’ve lost the debate. You’ve resorted to propaganda and lack of critical thinking, so you’re left with degrading your appoinent. You’re using the tactic of “attacking the person” and not the argument. The balls in your court to counter my arguments. You haven’t done that.

        • So, you’re not going to back up your accusations against this newspaper with real evidence, then? I can only conclude that you are full of shit. Thanks for playing, better luck next time.

        • The Seattle Times is deliberately publishing propaganda consistent with their political position. A search for articles written about gun control legislation shows that the editors encourage readers to vote yes on anti-2A legislation. They’re on record for doing so consistently for issues like 594 and 1639. Editorial boards set the culture and tone of a newspaper, and in this case to influence political decisions. The article is also written to appeal to a population that predominantly votes in favor of liberal candidates and issues. Almost 70% of Seattle voted in favor of the Democratic presidential candidate in the last election. The Seattle Times delivers a product demanded by the targeted consumer.

          I see that you continue to use the same manipulative and derogatory statement in this debate against me. This shows that you are challenged with forming any substantive argument or evidence to support your own position. As the comment by Big Bill implies below, you use the accusation of libel against those you disagree with as if you are making a threat. In my experience, only propagandists, and individuals who are unable to make a coherent argument use threats and verbal attacks against their opponent in a debate.

          Evidence:
          (1) Title of article, “The Times recommends: Vote yes on I-1639 to strengthen gun regulations,” and the editors again recommend that readers, “Vote yes for Initiative 1639,” later in the article.

          (2) Another Seattle Times article, “Editorial: In competing gun measures – Yes, On I594; No on I-591,” encourages readers to, “Support universal background checks for all gun sales,” and that, “Voters should approve Initiative 594…”

          Reference:
          https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/the-times-recommends-vote-yes-on-gun-initiative-1639/

          https://www.seattletimes.com/opinion/editorials/gun-control-and-head-tax-are-up-to-voters-not-special-interests/

          http://old.seattletimes.com/html/editorials/2023988185_guninitiativesedit06xml.html

          https://www.nytimes.com/elections/results/washington

    • Actually, libel is a published false statement that is damaging to a person’s reputation; a written defamation.
      Slander is the same, except it’s spoken, not written.
      It includes lies, but is not limited to it.
      I say that not because I’m some sort of “grammar Nazi,” but because, in this case, the reputation of the paper in question is already damaged in the minds of many, because of its own actions.
      Making an accusation of libel in such a case can then be called libel itself.
      On a slightly different tack, when a newspaper writes an editorial, it’s stating an opinion based on how it interprets the facts in evidence to it. The problem is this: willful ignorance of facts in plain sight can (and often does) result in opinion pieces that are plainly wrong on their very face. The Seattle Times did just this, and it is, indeed, a case of willful ignorance of facts that led to it. Ignoring facts that are easily attainable (and therefore available to a newspaper) comes so close to lying as to make little to no difference.
      As for you making your accusation of libel, are you being willfully ignorant of the above?

    • Don’t forget that Seattle provides nice, clean “Shooting Galleries” for drug users…staffed with Public Health Nurses armed with Narcan just in case a junkie gets a “Hot Shot” and goes cockroach on the floor. I find it humorous that the anti-gunners and media still use firearm-derived terms to describe druggies oopsies.

  10. The real tragedy isn’t that 18-20 year olds are going to be denied their rights under the Constitution.

    The real tragedy is that any 18-20 year olds would volunteer in the military to serve the oligarchs who despise them so much.

  11. What are two of the most common ‘starter rifles’ for young people on a budget?
    Marlin 60
    Ruger 10/22

    Name two inexpensive small game rifles that 1639 prevents young adults from purchasing:
    Marlin 60
    Ruger 10/22

  12. In hawaii where i’m from legal age to purchase a firearm has always been 21, sucks i know. Up until just this year on the big island we never had a designated shooting range either, target shooting had to be done in hunting areas. So that means following hunting rules, no caliber under .223 and most handguns. .22lr, 9mm, 45acp, 40cal…all illegal and have been confiscated on numerous occasions. Not to mention the fact you needed a hunting license, which is a bitch of a class to even get into since everyone who wants to shoot must have 1 and the class only holds 30 and comes to town twice a year. I’ve read so many articles of other states and i swear none seem to have it as bad as we do.

  14. “Germans who wish to use firearms should join the SS or the SA — ordinary citizens don’t need guns, as their having guns doesn’t serve the State.”
    -Heinrich Himmler

    “Other than hunting or serving this country, young adults can wait until they mature some more before needing such a deadly firearm.”
    -Seattle Times

    I wish I could believe the similarity was accidental.

    • It’s like the similarity between the ruins of ancient Americas and that of Egypt. The progressives believe they have invented utopia; they’ve done nothing less than reinvent the statist wheel of historical facist tyrrany.

  16. I’m beginning to wonder if any of the Republicans in Seattle ever go to the polls.
    The city council is turning Seattle into another San Francisco. 🙁

  17. Instead of commenting on TTAG comment sections, how about going to the original source where all these pearls of wisdom would fall on ears other than those of the choir.

  18. Sad to note, when it comes to firearms, media lacks even the most casual relationship with or attachment to facts and truth.

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