This November, we have an opportunity to close the loophole that allows dangerous criminals to buy guns online or at a gun show without a background check by voting “yes” on Initiative 594.

Currently in Washington, gun sales at one of the state’s more than 1,100 federally licensed dealers — like Cabela’s, Walmart and local gun stores — go through background checks to ensure felons, domestic abusers and the seriously mentally ill can’t obtain a gun. But these same individuals can buy a gun at a gun show or from a stranger they met online without a background check. Initiative 594 would close this loophole.

In a Sept. 12 Reporter letter to the editor, Dan Michael of Woodinville claimed that “criminals will be criminals” no matter what laws we pass. His opinion is that, since Initiative 594 won’t stop all criminals from getting guns, we shouldn’t pass it. That’s like saying that we should abolish traffic laws because some people still speed. It is simplistic to suggest that criminals will always break laws and that changing the laws won’t change anyone’s behavior.

Furthermore, background checks are effective at reducing crime. In states with background checks on all handgun sales, there are 39 percent fewer law enforcement deaths by handguns and 38 percent fewer women are murdered by their intimate partners with handguns. Additionally, the background checks we already have in Washington have been effective at blocking more than 40,000 gun sales to prohibited purchasers since 1998. More than 6,000 of these were potential sales to domestic abusers, and more than 24,000 were potential sales to felons. Why not ensure these same individuals can’t evade a background check and obtain a gun at a gun show or online?

Michael goes on to argue that the gun show loophole doesn’t exist, citing the fact that Washington Arms Collectors (WAC) requires a membership to buy guns at their shows. That membership does require an initial background check, but WAC is far from the only gun show promoter in Washington, and the rest have no such membership requirement. What Michael doesn’t point out is that an individual could pass a WAC background check and later have a restraining order taken out against them. They could still purchase a firearm at WAC gun shows across Washington because background checks aren’t required at the point of sale. By requiring a background check at the point of sale, we can help prevent dangerous people from buying guns at a gun show.

I’m not suggesting that Initiative 594 will magically fix the problem of gun violence. But it’s a thoughtful step and it’s a law worth passing. We have an opportunity in November to make our communities safer. I urge you to vote “yes” on Initiative 594.

Brian Anderson

Redmond