Yacolt stands against gun-control law

YACOLT — Town councilors voted unanimously Monday night to pass a resolution declaring Yacolt a sanctuary from Initiative 1639, the gun-control measure passed by Washington voters last November.

The effort to declare the town a sanctuary was led by the North County Sons and Daughters of Liberty, a group Shauna Walters of Battle Ground started in April in response to I-1639. She and her group had teamed with another political protest group, Patriot Prayer, to hold weekly rallies in Battle Ground in March in support of sanctuary status, but city councilors there decided against taking action.

After the Yacolt council passed the resolution Monday night, Walters was teary-eyed outside of town hall while celebrating with some supporters.

“This is the first one I tried to do myself with my team,” she said. “We worked really hard to knock on doors and talk to people, and to get signatures. We wanted something more organic to north county.”