States divided on gun controls, even as mass shootings rise
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee was quick to react to this week’s carnage at a Texas elementary school, sending a tweet listing the gun control measures the Democratic-controlled state has taken. He finished with: “Your turn Congress.”
But gun control measures are likely going nowhere in Congress, and they also have become increasingly scarce in most states. Aside from several Democratic-controlled states, the majority have taken no action on gun control in recent years or have moved aggressively to expand gun rights.
That’s because they are either controlled politically by Republicans who oppose gun restrictions or are politically divided, leading to stalemate.
“Here I am in a position where I can do something, I can introduce legislation, and yet to know that it almost certainly is not going to go anywhere is a feeling of helplessness,” said state Sen. Greg Leding, a Democrat in the GOP-controlled Arkansas Legislature. He has pushed unsuccessfully for red flag laws that would allow authorities to remove firearms from those determined to be a danger to themselves or others.
https://apnews.com/article/uvalde-school-shooting-jay-inslee-washington-texas-congress-448a508380a3810a013347b10286b7cb
= new reply since forum marked as read
my good gov Inslee.
I should research, though...I once encountered someone open carrying in Bellingham. Is this legal here????
On edit: apparently so! 
https://mrsc.org/Home/Stay-Informed/MRSC-Insight/July-2020/Regulations-of-Firearms-in-Washington.aspx#:~:text=Washington%20is%20an%20open%2Dcarry,mean%20that%20anything%20goes%2C%20however.
Washington is an open-carry state, which means that an individual can openly carry a firearm in many public areas, although private property owners may prohibit firearm possession on their property. This right to openly carry firearms doesn’t mean that anything goes, however. The state, and to a lesser degree, cities and counties, do place some prohibitions on the display, carrying, and use of firearms.
