Phil Watson is the director of special projects at the Second Amendment Foundation, a reporter and editor for TheGunMag, and executive director for the International Association for the Protection of Civilian Arms Rights.
Recently Phil helped unite 29 gun rights groups from 21 different countries to oppose and lobby against the UN Arms Trade Treaty. His project "Meet the Mayors" gained national recognition in highlighting the hypocrisy of Michael Bloomberg's Mayor's Against Illegal Guns. His public records requests on the Seattle gun buyback were recognized and given the Key Award by the Washington Coalition for Open Government. The records request helped uncover the much written about Gun Control Playbook and resulted in a $38,000 settlement and apology from the city of Seattle for not disclosing public records.
Phil also appears frequently in media interviews and public gatherings in support of Second Amendment Civil Rights. His online debate against state Senator Adam Kline was the second most viewed debate in the history of the Seattle Times chat sessions.
594 speaker:
Rory Graves is a domestic violence advocate and mother. Her own mother, a Tri-Cities resident, was shot and wounded by her husband in a domestic violence incident. In addition to supporting Initiative 594, Rory advocated for House Bill 1840 (2014), which helps protect women from domestic abusers.
The Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility is a coalition of concerned citizens and organizations working together to forge commonsense solutions to reduce gun violence. We support the Second Amendment right of citizens to own guns. We also believe with that right comes basic responsibilities. As a society we are responsible for keeping guns out of the hands of criminals and promoting solutions that reduce gun violence.That is why we are pursuing an initiative to ensure universal background checks for gun sales in Washington State.
Universal Background Checks:
We all agree that violent criminals and other threats to society should not possess firearms. That’s why licensed dealers are required to conduct background checks on all their sales. However, there is a hole in our laws that allow criminals and other dangerous people to go to “private sellers” at gun shows, on the Internet, and elsewhere to buy guns with no background check and no questions asked. Law enforcement agencies and public safety officials agree that this loophole promotes illegal gun trafficking and enables individuals with criminal intent to purchase firearms. This initiative will simply ensure that a background check is conducted for every gun purchase.
Structure:
The Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization formed in January of 2013. We have a leadership committee of over 100 organizations and civic leaders from throughout the state.