Washington Bill Proposes ‘Intervention’ For Juveniles Caught with Guns

Once upon a time, Washington state was pretty good on guns. Then, a bunch of people from Silicon Valley abandoned California for the Northwest and then started voting for the same kinds of things that made remaining in California untenable.

Funny how that works out.

In recent years, they’ve rolled hard toward the anti-gun side, pushing numerous gun control laws into existence.

Yet it seems that there’s a weird quirk at work. While adults are getting hammered, kids can get away with a lot of things before prosecutors can do much of anything.

Now, a bill seeks to change that.

A bill introduced three weeks ago that would overhaul how the legal system handles juveniles caught with firearms appears to have stalled.

House Bill 1536 is supposed to be heard by the House Early Learning & Human Services Committee. It’s an unusual move by the Democrat-led House of Representatives leadership, as most bills involving juvenile crime and sentencing typically go before the House Community Safety Committee.

The bill seeks to increase early intervention for minors who unlawfully possess guns. It has gained the backing of King County Prosecutor Leesa Manion, who argues that existing laws are dangerously lenient.

The Problem: Five Strikes Before Serious Intervention

Under the current law, a juvenile in Washington must be convicted five times for unlawfully carrying a firearm before being sent to a rehabilitation center. Manion believes this policy puts both the minors and the broader community at risk.

“Right now, it isn’t until the fifth conviction that a young person is offered meaningful service at juvenile rehabilitation. I think that is too long,” Manion said Thursday during an interview on KIRO’s John Curley Show.

Manion, who has spent years prosecuting gun-related crimes, argues that the existing system gives young offenders far too many chances before meaningful intervention occurs.

“We all agree that carrying a firearm is dangerous, especially for juveniles. They are impulsive, they are highly susceptible to peer pressure, and they lack the best executive functioning. The first time a young person is caught carrying a gun, we should be stepping in,” she emphasized.

First, we don’t all agree that carrying a firearm is dangerous. Not as a general thing. Misusing one is dangerous. Not knowing what you’re doing is dangerous. Carrying one? That’s just common sense so long as you aren’t being an idiot.

But for juveniles? That’s different, in part because being an idiot is part of being a kid. The laws in pretty much every state preclude kids running around with guns. We might disagree at what age that changes, but under 18 and not out hunting or fishing? That’s usually a big problem.

The fact that Washington state has a mandatory storage law on the books because they don’t want kids getting guns, but then they do nothing until a kid is caught with a gun five freaking times is bonkers.

Manion also takes issue with the claim that the kids are just carrying for adults. She argues that they’re carrying for their own personal reasons, and I tend to agree, at least in most cases.

And if they’re carrying for an adult, it’s because everyone knows nothing will happen to them anyway. If you change that, the behavior might change. It might not since they’re still looking at juvenile charges instead of actual grown-up jail time and everyone knows their record will be sealed when they turn 18, but still…

With all of that said, I’m still skeptical of any gun control law coming out of Washington state. However, if they’re going to try and pretend guns are the problem, then the fact that they turn a blind eye to armed children for so long is more than a little bizarre.