Rep. Sherry Appleton, D-Poulsbo, said House Bill 1012, filed last month, was spurred by the Trayvon Martin shooting last February, in which a neighborhood watch volunteer in Florida shot dead the unarmed Martin, 17, after confronting him on the street.... Appleton's bill would have required a person to retreat from a dangerous confrontation that person “knows or should know” that doing so would afford “complete safety.”
.... Washington is one of at least 29 states with no explicit duty to retreat.
Appleton said her bill was written in September and she lamented that it was caught up in the reignited national debate over guns in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting massacre in Newtown, Conn., in which 26 people, including 20 children, were killed.
“It's unfortunate, because Newtown happened, and that riled up so many people,” Appleton said.
.... The threats against Appleton, which were among the more than 100 emails and telephone calls she received about the bill after reports of it circulated on gun advocacy websites, were non-specific but “very scary,” said her assistant, Donna Bezon.
We are in desperate need for a open and candid discussion of guns in this nation. I wrote to my legislators:
Dear Linda, Tracey and Roger:
I was extremely shocked to learn that your colleague, Sherry Appleton of Poulsbo, was, in the last legislative term, forced by terrorist threats to withdraw HB 1012 which sought to limit self-defense rights. Ms. Appleton received threats by telephone and email that caused her to fear for her life.
I believe -- and I hope that you as my elected representative also believe -- that everything, even guns and the right to own and use guns and the meaning of the Second Amendment are open subjects for discussion and debate without fearing for our lives and well being.
A misinterpretation of the Second Amendment appears to have trumped the First Amendment. Now we, as a nation, are not allowed to discuss gun violence. The NRA has traitorously silenced the first and primary freedoms of a free State delineated in the First Amendment.
We must have a long and serious and detailed and in-depth discussion of the horrific amount of recurring gun violence in this nation.
And the discussion must begin today.
A misinterpretation of the Second Amendment has trumped the First Amendment.
The opening provision of the Second Amendment reads::
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State ... “
The security of a free state is encoded in the First Amendment. It must be remembered that the First Amendment, first and foremost of the amendments, is meant to be protected by the provisions of the Second Amendment.
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
In other words, “Congress shall make no law ... abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press...”
But, persons who have maliciously chosen to misinterpret the Second Amendment to say that it speaks only of individual ownership of guns have also traitorously silenced the first and primary freedoms of a free State delineated in the First Amendment – and we, the citizens of that supposed Free State, are not allowed to discuss gun violence in this nation.
As a result, gun violence in every possible nook and cranny of this supposed Free State erupts over and over and over again.
We must restore the First Amendment. We must be free to act as citizens of a Free State and we must have a long and serious and detailed discussion of the horrific amount of recurring gun violence in this nation.
Please advise me as to where you stand on my First Amendment rights.
Thank you.