Erich Pratt is Director of Communications for Gun Owners of America. He is the author of, “Bearing Arms: Our Rights, Our Duties & Our Freedoms”, and of the civil government textbook, “The Constitutional Recipe for Freedom: Twelve Principles of Liberty Today’s Politicians Don’t Want You to Know”. On November 4, residents of Washington State passed Initiative 594, a measure that requires criminal background checks on all firearms sales and transfers in the state, including at gun shows and on the Internet. In fact, even handing a gun to a hunting partner without first getting a background check could be seen as a violation of this law. It is an example of how those opposing gun rights failed in legislative or legal efforts, so they take it to the people who often do not understand the full implications of the proposals they are voting on.