Media “Under-Report” Attendance at Anti-594 Rally in Olympia Saturday

If you read most media stories from Saturday's  pro-gun rally at the steps of the Washington state capitol in Olympia, you would have thought there weren't that many attending.

Various sources,  most linking off information from the Associated Press, listed the attendance at about 1,000.     However,   the crowd was actually significantly larger than that.

The I-594 I Will Not Comply rally came about  the week after controversial Initiative 594 passed.    The measure, which attempts to add back round checks to private gun sales among other policies,  was deemed unconstitutional by critics and some legislators, because it violates 2nd. Amendment Constitutional rights.

Gavin Seim, who was a primary candidate for the 4th. District Congressional seat earlier this year,  created the idea for the protest, and the Facebook page attracted tens of thousands of visitors.

The idea was to show up, openly exchange weapons and firearms, in defiance of I-594.  Despite what the measure's supporters claim, the measure appears to make it a crime to literally hand a gun to someone else without a back round check.  It also attempts to achieve the impossible -  perform back round checks on private gun sales.

According to KIRO-TV,  The Seattle Times, and the Associated Press, between several hundred and 1,000 people were in attendance.

  However,  according to the Washington State Patrol, who provided a presence at the event to observe,  there were at least 1,800.    Observers also said due to the comings and goings of numerous people, the numbers fluctuated, but most agreed several times during the event there were close to 3,000.  Besides the gun exchanges, there were speakers, and many attendees signed a pledge to defend 2nd. Amendment rights.  There were even a handful of legislators and politicians who attended.

Prior to the event,  nearly 6,300 people on the Facebook page had indicated they would be attending.

Now, a similar event is planned for Spokane, this coming Saturday December 20th.   Based upon response to the Olympia event,   similar rallies of civil disobedience are starting to pop up all over the state.