Washington state’s government appears to have a problem with the idea of responsible citizens defending themselves from violent criminals. State lawmakers have introduced a measure intended to further limit locations where people can carry firearms.

As is typical, this bill, if passed, would only empower criminals. Conservative commentator Jason Rantz detailed the proposal, which would prohibit the carrying of firearms at bus stops and other areas.

Current law already prohibits weapons in places like courtrooms, bars, and certain restricted areas. But SB 5444 takes it to an absurd level, adding public libraries, zoos, aquariums, parks, community centers, and other public buildings to the no-go list for self-defense.

The most alarming part? Transit stations and facilities are included in this ban. Washington Democrats’ soft-on-crime policies have already turned our buses and light-rail into hotspots for danger. By banning weapons for self-defense, they’re not just ignoring the problem; they’re exacerbating it.

Western Washington has seen a number of high-profile, violent crimes in 2023. Many took place at the very transit locations of SB 5444 targets.

Rantz also highlighted an example of an attack that occurred at a bus station last year.

A homeless man was charged in the hammer attack against two random victims in their 60s in September at a Sound Transit station. In another unprovoked July incident, a man stabbed a passenger 18 times at the light-rail train near Othello Station. A Sound Transit station in SODO in July also featured an attack when a man was bludgeoned in the head with a rock. And in a November stabbing at the Northgate station, a man was critically wounded. These, and many other attacks, prompted Sound Transit to hire more security.

Sound Transit's light rail is dangerous to ride. Here, a prolific offender is accused of randomly stabbing a stranger in Seattle. The transit riders come to the man's rescue, risking injury to death in doing so. They're heroes. pic.twitter.com/2fgVVXcBSF

— Jason Rantz on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) August 6, 2023

This bill is yet another example of legislation that is intended to give the appearance of cracking down on violent crime while not actually doing anything to solve it. If one is attacked at a bus stop, are they supposed to tell the assailant to wait a few minutes so they can call the police to protect them?

The idea that preventing responsible, law-abiding Americans from carrying firearms will somehow keep them safe is absurd on its face. Yet, people still fall for this easily debunked narrative. In reality, it only makes it easier for robbers and assailants to victimize the public.

What the anti-gunner lobby continually ignores is the reality that gun owners are far more likely to use their firearms to defend themselves than they are to commit violent crimes. The 2021 National Firearms Survey found that defensive gun uses occur far more often than the anti-gunners would want us to believe.

Consistent with other recent survey research, the survey finds an overall rate of adult firearm ownership of 31.9%, suggesting that in excess of 81.4 million Americans aged 18 and over own firearms. The survey further finds that approximately a third of gun owners (31.1%) have used a firearm to defend themselves or their property, often on more than one occasion, and it estimates that guns are used defensively by firearms owners in approximately 1.67 million incidents per year. Handguns are the most common firearm employed for self-defense (used in 65.9% of defensive incidents), and in most defensive incidents (81.9%) no shot was fired. Approximately a quarter (25.2%) of defensive incidents occurred within the gun owner’s home, and approximately half (53.9%) occurred outside their home, but on their property. About one out of ten (9.1%) defensive gun uses occurred in public, and about one out of twenty (4.8%) occurred at work.

This is only one of several studies producing similar findings. By limiting the right to keep and bear arms, anti-gunners are not protecting anyone except violent criminals.