Editor,

Vote “no” on Initiative 1639.

Did you know that I-1639 allows the government to collect the personal information of gun owners through mandatory reporting of sales and transfers of semi-automatic rifles, without limits on how this information may be used?

Besides putting personal data at risk, this opens the door to a government registry of guns and gun owners.

This initiative allows collecting of makes, models, serials and calibers of firearms. Also your name, address, occupation, race, gender, date of birth, place of birth, height, weight and driver’s license number.

If this initiative passes, your little .22 rifle made in the 1930s will suddenly become a “semiautomatic assault rifle.” I-1639 changes the law to group all self-loading rifles as “semiautomatic assault rifles” so this rifle and the AR-15 are legally the same thing.

If you believe I-1639 is a step too far, you are in good company — the Washington State Police and Sheriffs and Washington State Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors Association are opposing I-1639, (The Seattle Times, Oct 5).

I-1639 purports to be for safe schools, safe communities, but all it will do is further restrict the purchase of firearms, including restricting sales to those 21 or over and requiring training for purchasers that must be renewed every five years.

Our military, many of whom are under the age of 21, will be able to fight and die for our country but may not be able to purchase or own these guns. This initiative will infringe further on our Second Amendment rights without making our schools and communities any safer.

Remember, when owning guns becomes illegal, only the criminals will have guns.

I encourage you to vote against I-1639. For more information, look up I-1639 on the internet and read it all for yourself.

Jim Haddon

Oak Harbor