Letter to the editor: Initiative 1639 deprives women of right to protect themselves

To the editor:

Initiative 1639 is an affront to the dignity of women in our state.

For college-aged women living in dorms, navigating parking garages, starting an early shift at work or ending a late one, and especially for mothers under the age of 21 — the message is clear: your right to defend yourself at the hands of a violent predator, even an estranged romantic partner — doesn’t matter until you’re 21 years old.

For a young woman, what will stop an unknown intruder in the night? Restraining orders get violated, emergency responders can take too long, and cell phones can be out of reach or destroyed during a physical altercation.

No serious person can look a mother in the eye and tell her that she doesn’t deserve free and fair access to the one thing that might protect her and her children in the crucial seconds that stand between her and tragedy — a firearm.

It is the fundamental duty of government to provide for the security of its citizens, especially the most vulnerable among us, and the wording of our state constitution is clear: “The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired”.

Initiative 1639 threatens to create a class of young female victims by depriving them of their rights.

Please vote no!

Maggie Mae
Lynnwood

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