New Jersey Voters, Redux
Fortunately, Washington State, even the rather liberal Seattle area, is not so bad that I feel the need to move away. I really hope it never gets to that point because I love it here, not least because I love working for this company. As far as gun rights go, Washington is pretty high on the list. I would say only Vermont and Alaska are higher (at least as far as I know), since they don't require a license to carry a concealed pistol. Washington does, but you only need to fulfill certain objective criteria and they have to give you one. There is no training requirement as many states have. (Please note that I do not advocate carrying a concealed pistol without having at least some training in the use of a firearm. However, requiring training, or even a license for that matter, to exercise a right means it's no longer a right, but a privilege. Driving on public roads is a privilege, hence you need a license. Owning and bearing arms is a right.)
However, the government of this state is controlled by the Democrat party, and both of our senators are Democrats. This is reflected in high sales taxes and (in my opinion) high property taxes. We have no state income tax but the idea is brought up every so often and there's always the chance it will come into being. Our licensing fees for cars were once among the highest, until the voters made it abundantly clear that that should no longer be the case. To their credit, the governor and legislature followed the will of the people even though the initiative which mandated lower fees was ruled unconstitutional and void after it passed. Attempts at broader gun restrictions crop up from time to time but haven't gone anywhere, probably due to the more conservative rural population.
But it's not as bad as, say California. And I hope it never gets that bad because I don't want to feel that I have to leave because of political reality. I hope I'm never pushed to the point that GeekWithA.45 was eventually pushed to.
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