Washington state gun control initiative will appear on November ballot
Washington state's Supreme Court on Friday ruled that a gun control initiative can appear on the state's ballot during the November elections.
The decision from the court reversed a county judge's decision earlier this month that threw out more than 300,000 signatures and blocked the proposed initiative, according to The Associated Press.
The signatures had been collected as part of a proposal, known as Initiative 1639, to put a gun-regulations measure on the November ballot.
Thurston County Superior Court Judge James Dixon initially blocked the petition because it did not follow election law. The AP noted that Dixon had ordered Washington's secretary of State to halt the certification of the measure.
But the state's Supreme Court ruling on Friday stated that the secretary of State was not required to block the measure.
"There is no legislative mandate that the secretary must decline to certify and present to voters an initiative based on failure to comply with the requirement that a 'readable, full, true, and correct copy' of the initiative appear on the back of every petition," the justice said, according to AP.
The initiative that will now appear on the ballot would, if passed, raise the age for the purchase of semi-automatic rifles to 21. It would also broaden background checks for purchases of these weapons.
http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/403564-washington-gun-control-initiative-will-appear-on-ballot-during
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