The Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) is threatening legal action against the Washington State Patrol (WSP) if the Secure Automated Firearms E-Check (SAFE) system, which is used to conduct background checks for firearms purchases, is not restored promptly. It has been disabled for at least ten days.

SAF has been contacted by individuals as well as firearms retailers who have been advised by WSP the system has been down due to “some type of network infiltration” at the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), which includes their Enterprise Data Repository. WSP says background checks submitted from Nov. 1 forward have been “on hold.”

“This is simply unacceptable, and we will not tolerate it,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Washington State citizens have had their rights under the federal and state constitutions suspended, and we will take legal action if this isn’t solved immediately.

“Where is Attorney General, and soon-to-be Governor, Bob Ferguson on this,” Gottlieb wondered. “It is his job to protect the rights of all Evergreen State citizens, and that includes gun owners and people who may want to purchase a firearm, whose rights are protected by Article I, Section 24 of the State Constitution, and the Second Amendment.

“State law apparently does not allow WSP to work around this sort of problem,” he noted, “which means that needs to change immediately. As the saying goes, ‘A right delayed is a right denied,’ and the state has denied untold numbers of citizens their right to obtain firearms for almost two weeks. This amounts to a mass deprivation of civil rights under color of law.

“The clock is ticking,” Gottlieb said. “When the system is restored, we expect the WSP to work day and night to expedite background checks already on hold. In the meantime, we are consulting with our attorneys to determine the proper course of action.”

For more information, visit saf.org.

The Second Amendment Foundation (saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group dedicated to safeguarding and promoting the fundamental rights of individuals enshrined in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution. SAF engages in aggressive legal action to ensure the principles of armed self-defense, personal liberty, and the ownership of arms are defended, secured, and restored. Through public education initiatives, SAF teaches the importance of the Second Amendment to promote a society that values and exercises the right to keep and bear arms.