A gun-rights organization has written to promoters of the new Initiative 1639 in Washington state warning the paper petitions they are asking voters to sign don't comply with state law because of the "maze of fine print."
I-1639 is being proposed to raise the state's legal age to purchase a rifle, mandate an "enhanced background check," demand gun owners take a firearms safety course and order people to keep their weapons only in "secure storage."
The signature-gathering drive is under way, and Second Amendment Foundation lawyer Shawn Timothy Newman has written to the initiative-supporting Alliance for Gun Responsibility to point out that state law requires the language of the initiative to be available to petition signers.
"It has come to our attention that the I-1639 campaign is utilizing unreadable petitions in violation of RCW 29A.72.100," he wrote.
The law requires the petition to "Have a readable, full, true, and correct copy of the proposed measure printed on the reverse side."
However, the petitions for I-1639 have the proposed measure printed on the back of the sheets "in such fine print as to be unreadable," said Newman.
"This is contrary to the print size used by the legislature and the courts. Use of fine print is unconscionable," he wrote.
"Clearly, if it is impossible for voters and those considering whether they should sign the petition for I-1639 to be able to physically read any part of the petition itself because it is printed in an illegible or microscopic maze of fine print, then how would they know what they are signing?" the letter asked.
Newman offered a "ready solution" for the petition gatherers to contact anyone who has signed: "provide them a legal copy of the petition sheet for them to sign and return to you."
Newman said his group could do that as well and engage petitioner signatories in discussions.
"This is consistent with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision."
Otherwise, he warned, his group "will be forced to litigate this matter."
"In the short time that I-1639 petitions have been in circulation," said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb, "SAF and CCRKBA have been contacted by several people who could not read the initiative language. I've always been warned to read the small print before signing anything. I-1639, as it appears on the back of each petition, is all small print. That should tell voters something about its content."