Will a Typo Tank the Biggest Gun Control Initiative in Years?

Will some careless campaign work and a few missing strikethroughs stop Washingtonians from voting on one of the most comprehensive gun reform measures in the country? It’s up to the Washington State Supreme Court to decide after a Thurston County judge threw out Initiative 1639 on Friday over a technicality. The case is now going to Washington’s highest court, which will hopefully rule on the case before ballots have to be printed early next month. 

It’s up to the Washington State Supreme Court to decide after a Thurston County judge threw out Initiative 1639 on Friday over a technicality. The case is now going to Washington’s highest court, which will hopefully rule on the case before ballots have to be printed early next month.

Nearly 380,000 people signed I-1639, over 100,000 more than required, and the Secretary of State certified the initiative, so why did Thurston County Superior Court Judge James Dixon throw out the far-reaching gun control measure? Dixon threw out the measure because of a paltry technicality: the initiative's fine print was missing a few  strikethroughs and the text was, according to him, too small.