With the waves of Virginia Tech lapping against the American conscience like a red tide, you might assume that this event translates into powerful, somber political capital for gun control advocates.

But you might be wrong. If recent polls are to be trusted, gun control is officially a losing battle, and while Republican presidential candidates like Rudy Giuliani and John McCain have just reasserted their opposition to gun control, no major Democrat candidates have touched the issue.

Here in Washington State tragedies such as the recent murder of Rebecca Griego, the shooting at the Jewish Federation, and the massacre on Capitol Hill are powerful reminders of what guns can do in the wrong hands. But there is still longstanding resistance to new gun control measures in the state legislature.

The so-called “Gun Show Loophole” bill died its seventh death in the state legislature last week, a seventh victory for the state’s pro-gun lobby. Originally introduced in 1999, the bill seeks to require background checks and waiting periods for buyers and sellers at state gun shows, the same basic requirements applied to gun dealers who sell out of shops. “It effectively levels the playing field,” says Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles, a cosponsor of the bill.

If enacted, the law would have penalized the organizer of a gun show for every illicit transaction that went on in the vicinity of the show. This third-party clause would target parking lot exchanges and if transactions were uncovered, it would mean $5,000 or more in fines for every sale, a cost Joe Waldron says he could not bear.

Waldron is president of the Washington Arms Collectors, the premiere gun show organizer in the state, and of the Gun Owners Action League, an NRA-affiliated lobbying group. His grassroots organizing has created the state’s most powerful gun lobby, and he has managed to stifle various efforts to further regulate his favorite industry.

“They should really call it the ‘Gun Show Killer’ bill, because that’s what it would do,” Waldron says.

“I think that’s just baloney,” responds Bob Ricker, executive director of the American Hunters and Shooters Association, a D.C. lobbying group that offered testimony in favor of the bill. “It doesn’t mean that he has to ensure that every sale throughout the gun show is proper. He won’t be held accountable,” Ricker adds.

But Bob Scales, a senior policy analyst for bill proponent Mayor Greg Nickels, disagrees with his fellow lobbyist, as does staff working for Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles. They say that, if illegitimate transactions occurred on and around the gun show venue, “[the organizers] would be guilty of a gross misdemeanor.” Scales sympathizes with Waldron, saying, “I think it’s a valid issue, that could be easily fixed.”

Although Scales supports the bill, he sees better legislation out there.

“Closing the gun show loophole is not going to stop all the issues,” he says. “My personal preference would be, let’s forget about the gun shows and go for the California legislation.”

California law requires that all gun purchases, at a gun show or not, be subject to background checks and a waiting period. There is no need for closing any loopholes there, since gun shows fall under the state law. But could that pass in Washington? Why is it so difficult for gun legislation here?

Senator Kohl-Welles points to “a real difference in culture” between urban and rural voters when it comes to guns. Some grow up with guns and gun shows, and some do not.

Joe Waldron says he offered legislators a couple alternatives to the bill that would have made it difficult for criminals to acquire guns. One included having a state police officer present, performing record checks on purchasers. His suggestions were turned down.

“Politics is the art of compromise,” Waldron says. He suggests the state’s gun control advocates heed that aphorism if they want to make progress.

Bill sponsors directed inquiries to CeaseFire, the state’s foremost gun control organization, but there was no response to multiple requests for interviews as of press time.

editor@realchangenews.org