Seattle-Based Group Plans Another Gun Control Initiative That Would Include Universal Backround Checks

Several controversial gun control measures were crushed in Olympia this spring, but an anti-gun advocacy group is going to try again.

The Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility (WAGR) is trying to raise millions to support a new initiative they hope on the November 2014 ballot.

They claim 40 percent of gun exchanges are between private parties and they want background checks on that. They hope to gather the necessary 300,000 signatures to put it on the ballot.

Who is WAGR? Founded by venture capitalist Nick Hanauer, it had been quietly working with anti-gun legislators in Olympia since last fall. One of the co-founders is Seattle City Council Member Sally Bagshaw.

Part of their platform is universal back-round checks for EVERYONE who buys a gun in Washington state. Many have questioned how the state could possibly oversee a private sale between two citizens.

It is predicted they will target religious organizations and parent-teacher groups with an anti-gun agenda, according to published reports in Seattle media.

Here's more from the Seattle Times on Hanauer and WAGR:

In mid-December, the Seattle City Council amended its annual legislative agenda to include several gun-control measures, including the background-check requirement.

Hanauer, who in 2007 sold a technology firm to Microsoft for $6 billion, gives the group financial muscle. Currently a partner at the Second Avenue Partners venture-capital firm, the Seattle resident co-founded the League of Education Voters and is active in liberal causes. With his wife, he recently donated $25,000 to a Seattle’s gun-buyback program