For the past fifteen years, Washington Ceasefire has been the only statewide organization dedicated to fighting for rational gun laws. The organization was formed in 1983 by a group of citizens who had been directly affected by gun violence. From a small group meeting in private homes, we have grown to an organization with more than 2,500 members across the State. Five years ago, we moved to a permanent, fully equipped office, hired an executive director, retained the respected government relations firm of Rick Jenson and Gordon Walgren as our lobbyists in Olympia, and created the Ceasefire Foundation of Washington, our educational foundation. This year we quadrupled the size of our office in order to house our staff, volunteers and interns. Washington Ceasefire has become one of the most established and respected gun safety organizations in the Nation.

Among other accomplishments, Washington Ceasefire successfully lobbied to pass state laws banning firearms in schools and public buildings, allowing local law enforcement agencies to destroy guns seized by police, raising the legal age of use or possession of a handgun from fourteen to eighteen years of age, and raising criminal penalties for felonies committed with a gun. In 1998 we led the successful effort to persuade Governor Locke to veto an NRA bill that would have gutted our concealed pistol law. In the 1999 session we managed to stop a similar bill in the State Senate after it had passed the House. We have also successfully defeated NRA-backed legislation that would have relaxed our State's case-and-carry law, allowed unlicensed citizens to sell ammunition, removed many current restrictions on gun-dealer licensing, and allowed thousands of convicted felons to purchase and possess firearms.

After the 1991 shooting death of Yoshi Hattori in Louisiana, Ceasefire established an annual remembrance day on which thousands of daffodils are planted in memory of victims of firearms violence. To date, more than 10,000 daffodils have been planted in Washington State, and this remembrance day has been replicated in at least two other states. With the proceeds of a wrongful death suit, the Hattori family has established the Yoshi's Gift Fund, which is administered by the Ceasefire Foundation. Each year the Ceasefire Foundation makes direct financial awards to educational groups across the nation seeking an end to gun violence.

In 1997, Washington Ceasefire led one of the broadest coalitions ever assembled in Washington State in the effort to pass a statewide initiative requiring that all handgun owners be licensed (after successfully completing a safety course or passing a written examination) and mandating that a trigger-lock accompany every handgun sold in the State, including private sales. That effort, though unsuccessful, dramatically increased the public's awareness of gun violence as a major problem in Washington.

In 1997, the organization established the Ceasefire Action Committee, the only state political action committee (PAC) in the nation that rates, endorses, and makes financial contributions to candidates based on their views of gun violence prevention legislation and policy. In 1998 the PAC engaged in its first electoral endorsement campaign. The Ceasefire Action Committee endorsed nineteen candidates for state and national office; fifteen of those candidates were elected to office. In the 2000 Election the Ceasefire Action Committee was the first state gun safety organization in the Nation to match the NRA dollar for dollar in state campaign races. 48 out of the 59 candidates endorsed by the Ceasefire won their elections.

The board of directors of Washington Ceasefire includes educators, healthcare professionals, business people, lawyers, technology experts, public relations specialists, a child psychologist, an accountant, and individuals such as Anne Voorhees and Ancil Payne, long dedicated to meaningful gun control in Washington State. The board also includes the state League of Women Voters lead on gun control, and a member of the board of Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Please visit the Washington Ceasfire Web site at: http://www.washingtonceasefire.org

Washington Ceasefire
P.O. Box 20246
Seattle, WA. 98102
phone (206) 322-7564
fax (206) 324-7885