PORT ANGELES – Clallam County’s sheriff says he’ll enforce the gun-regulating Initiative 1639 to the best of his ability.
But sheriff Bill Benedict says among other parts of the new law, he’s concerned about the paperwork requirements for his department coming.
Benedict says there’s a budgetary and bureaucratic impact coming for his agency by this summer. That’s when the state will require background checks on all firearms sales and eventually a re-check of those licenses annually.
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Benedict says the background-check requirements will swamp his department’s current setup.
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Benedict says he has never supported the initiative calling it “a solution looking for a problem.” He also says he has concerns about the gun-transfer provisions in the law and the checks that gun owners are correctly storing firearms. He says those provisions may be unenforceable.
The initiative faces court challenges on its constitutionality. Many sheriff’s in the state have gone on record stating they won’t enforce it. The state’s Attorney General sent a memo last week stating law enforcement is required to enforce the initiative since it is now state law.