May 15, and 16, 2010  a NO Background Check gun show came to Yakima. As  the Yakima Valley Peace Advocates Network, nine of our members protested that show, by wearing mock bullet-hole shirts, splattered with catsup and red spray-paint. In order to form a protest, our group lay out on the ground outside the Modern Living Building, posing as dead and wounded, where the gun show was utilizing property on the Central Washington State Fairgrounds.

As we expected the security people at the gun show told us to leave, which we declined to do.

Three police cars arrived, and while we remained they made numerous phone calls, trying to establish if we were doing anything wrong. At length, the police informed us we were on private property, which we questioned, but since some of the members of our party were not willing to experience arrest we elected to leave. 

The group bringing in the gun show, is making an end run around state and federal laws requiring background checks for gun purchases by claiming they are "collectors-private sellers."  In this way they sell guns not as merchants, but as individuals. 

Our reason for protest, is the mounting gun violence that is becoming ubiquitous in Yakima, and the ease with which firearms and ammunition can be purchased.  We suggest that it is just insensible to allow a wide-open gun show, where no questions are asked, and the only requirement to purchase a gun and ammunition is money and proof of age. 

Perhaps of interest to your viewers, these sales are a violation of the Lautenberg Law, officially called Public Law 104-208, which says that felons, domestic-violence offenders and unstable individuals cannot lawfully own, buy, sell or possess guns and ammunition. Without background checks, how can gun shows determine the backgrounds of individuals?

We have no beef with gun owners, sportsmen and other gun enthusiasts. There are at least nine licensed and legal gun dealers in Yakima, allowing gun purchases along with background checks.

We planned our protest too late on Friday night (the gun show began on Saturday) to really give the media a fair notice of our intent. We feel it would have made a very graphic story and would have brought home the illegal traffic in guns that is happening in Yakima and other cities around the country. 

Our members are open for interview at your convenience as a follow up on this story. The Yakima city council, in their meeting, June 1, favored a Gang-Free-Initiative Committee to deal with gangs, guns and the most recent assassination of an 18-year-old. 

 

Yakima Herald May 16, 2010

Gun show demonstrators not allowed on fairgrounds

BY MARK MOREY 

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Demonstrators at a Yakima gun show were asked to leave Saturday after police determined they were on private property.

The demonstrators, affiliated with the Yakima Valley Peace Action Network, were protesting the so-called "gun show loophole" at a gun show organized by a Montana company at State Fair Park.

Larry Breer, a leader of
the peace group, said mem-bers organized the event because of deaths related to gun violence in the Yak-
ima Valley. The group regu-
larly holds anti-war demon-strations around Yakima.

Breer said a security representative for the gun show called police shortly after the eight or nine demonstrators arrived about 1 p.m. and positioned themselves on the grass across from the building where the show was held.

The demonstrators wore shirts with fake bullet holes, and a child wore a shirt daubed with simulated blood, Breer said.

Police determined that the fairgrounds should be treated as private property, so they asked the demonstrators to leave, Sgt. Brenda George said.

George said she expected to ask city legal staff to review the matter.

Even though the fair-grounds is owned by Yakima County, it is managed by a private association, fair officials said Saturday. Only people attending scheduled events are authorized to be on the property, said Greg Lybeck, assistant general manager for the fair.

Breer said he is not opposed to gun ownership, but he believes that sales at public events should be more tightly regulated.

Regular dealers must have a license to make public sales, which require background checks, but private gun owners do not have to run the checks. Opponents of private sales
at gun shows say that creates a loophole for guns to get in the hands of felons, domestic violence convicts and the mentally unstable.

"I agree a lot of them are sports people and are not killers, but the doors are open to anyone," Breer said.

Representatives for the show's promoter, Sports Connection Inc. of Montana, and the security contractor, Crowd Management Services, declined to comment.

Gun show supporters point out that legal sales may be made by private gun owners outside of a show and that intentionally selling to an unqualified buyer or intermediary is already illegal.

Photo: Taking a stand for peace