Hello again everyone. Welcome to Washington Gun Law and tv. I'm Washington Gun Law President William Kirk. Thanks for joining us. This is going to be a video for the hometown crowd. That's right, my home state of Washington. Hey, listen, Washington, I'm just going to ask you a question. Simple little question right now. Do you feel safer today than you did four years ago? Feel safer today than you did eight years ago, 12 years ago. Has the quality of your life improved in the last four or eight years? Has the safety of your community improved over the last four to eight years? Has the quality of your public education system improved over the last four to eight years? I think I know the answer to all of that, but I think that really the proof sometimes is just in the numbers. And the numbers say that Washington residents are beginning to arm themselves at rates that we've never ever seen before. Why is that? And what does it say about the upcoming election? So today, let's spend a few minutes and let's talk about why are Washingtonians arming themselves?
Okay? Before we get going too far down the road, we're going down, I said at the start of this video that this video is for the hometown crowd. Well, this message is for the hometown crowd inside the hometown crowd. What am I talking about? I'm talking about all my Coug brothers and sisters. Listen, the state of college athletics is in complete disarray right now. Don't believe me. While our conference just got decimated and our supposed brother institution, yeah, they tried to sue us for a quarter billion dollars and take a parting gift on their way to the Big 10. You want to compete in the 21st century in college athletics. The only way you can do it is through name, image, and likeness. That's right, NIL. I know a lot of you don't like it, but I'm, trust me when I say this, it is here to stay and that's why I'm calling on all my Coug brothers and sisters to join the Cougar Collective today.
There are various monthly giving levels, but it's just as easy as signing up for the 1890 Club. When you do that, your monthly contribution will be going directly to support student athletes at Washington State University across all athletic programs. Maybe you want to do a little bit more. Maybe you're a little thirsty. Hey, listen, I get it. US Cougs may have lost a few football games here and there, but we've never lost a party. So check out Old Crimson Lager. That's right. This fine American Pilsner. If you buy, some of the proceeds will go directly to the Cougar Collective. So Cougs, listen, you know this. We are all we got, but we are all we need. So join the Cougar Collective today. It's as easy as visiting my good friends right there@cougarcollective.org. Or easier yet, go ahead and scan that QR code. In the meantime, go Cougs.
Okay, Washington. This is what we're going to be talking about. We're going to be talking about some new concealed pistol license numbers. Now, at the outset of this, I want to mention that the story that drew my attention to this was published on amal land.com. If you're not following amal land.com, you should get over there right now and subscribe. The author, however, is a gentleman named Dave Workman. Dave Workman works very closely with Alan Gottlieb and the Second Amendment Foundation. I've had the opportunity of working with Mr. Workman directly. I've had an opportunity of speaking with Mr. Workman. There is no bigger champion of your Second Amendment inalienable rights here in the state of Washington than Dave Workman. So I'm going to put all of his information down below so all of you can be following him. Okay. According to this article, Washington State, just past 700,000 concealed pistol license holders.
That's right. We now have over 700,000 licensed concealed pistol holders in the state of Washington. And those numbers have increased rapidly over the last few years. Why is that? Because I thought that we were passing all of this new legislation at the bequest of the Governor, at the bequest of your Attorney General who wants to be your governor that was going to make these communities safer. And then of course, I circle back to my question that I asked at the start of this thing, do you feel safer? You feel safer now than you did four years ago or eight years ago? No. You see, the reality of the situation is this, is that no matter how much politicians like Bob Ferguson and Jay Insley tell you that you don't need guns when the collective crap hits the fan, when you no longer feel safe for yourself and your family, you're all big boys and big girls, and you seem to be able to make up your own mind.
And yeah, the proper decision to make in many instances is to go out and arm yourself and then to train yourself so that you are proficient in the use of that firearm. Now, I think that this should serve notice for a very fascinating election that we have coming up in November because as we know, the person who is really in many ways, most responsible for the absolute deterioration of our community safety, for the policing of our community, for the disarmament of lawful and responsible Washington residents now believes that he should be your governor. And he's running on a campaign that literally sounds like he wants to undo all of the stuff he's done. It seems to be a common trend right now amongst those running with Ds next to their name, it would be akin to me setting fire to this office complex right here and then saying to everyone, Hey, elect me, and I think I can put the fire out.
I understand why Attorney General Ferguson is running from his record. I would run from it like it was the plague if I were him. Take for example, in 2022, some of the most recent FBI crime data, violent crime around the country was down 1.7%. Now, you can debate whether or not every agency was reporting or not, but violent crime Washington State over that same period of time, yeah, it was up 16.6% crimes against property nationwide were down. But in Washington, no, no, no, no. Up 8.9% now ranking Washington as the worst state in the country for property crimes. Let us also remember that there's two other surveys depending on what you're looking at, that either ranks Washington as the third most dangerous state in America, or the eighth most dangerous state of America. I don't really care which one it is, because neither one of 'em is acceptable, especially when you consider the cost of living that you are forced to pay to live in this state.
Lemme point out also that the Attorney General likes the campaign on the fact that we are the most de police state in the nation, but he neglects to point out that he and his crony Governor Jay Insley fired 200 plus troopers on one day for not making an independent health decision and supported the defund, the police movements in various other jurisdictions, many of which lie right here in King County. Now interestingly on these increase in concealed pistol license numbers, the two largest increases were in Pierce County. Not that you have a crime problem down there at all, and Spokane County, which never used to have a crime problem, but having spent a bunch of time there lately, it's not looking particularly promising. One of the counties, in fact, the only county to go down in concealed pistol license holders was King County. And what I believe is, is a lot of concealed pistol license holders is saying to hell with it and moving out of King County.
So the bottom line is, is that while this Attorney General may want to run on a campaign promise and pull the wool over the voter's eyes, that he suddenly now knows what all the solutions are. The truth of the matter is, and the numbers prove it, he is in fact the problem. And there's only one reason why Washingtonians would be arming themselves at rates never seen before. And the truth is, is that you don't feel safe, you feel less safe than you ever have, and you realize that there's no one there to help you and that you're going to be your own first responder. This is the state that Bob Ferguson and Jay Insley created for us, and that's a good segue to talk about a new series that we're going to be starting here at Washington Gun Law along with independent journalist Michael Easton.
Yeah, it's called Fridays with Fergusons. For those of you who know Michael Easton, you know that he is the king of the Public disclosure request and he's got the receipts on everything. And so each week we're going to just be picking one little thing apart, but we're going to come with all the receipts so you can understand all the irregularities that's gone over at the Attorney General's office for the last few years. And whether you want to see those continue in the Governor's mansion, listen, we're going to go ahead and link up the story on ammo land down below so that you can geek out on it. We're going to link up all of Dave workman's information down there so that you guys can follow him. Like I say, fantastic warrior fight nationwide and especially hard in this state for your Second Amendment rights. Maybe you guys got questions about this or something else related to what's left of our Second Amendment rights.
If you guys do, you should know how to get ahold of watching a gun law by now, but if you don't, that's okay if that information's down there in the description box, maybe you got an idea for a video you want to be doing around here. If you do, go ahead and click on that link right there, because candidly, most of the good ideas we come up with aren't our ideas at all. Maybe you just want to subscribe to our newsletter. The information on how to do that is in the description box. And then finally, and most importantly, let's everyone remember that part of being lawful and responsible gun owner like we talk about all the time here. So know what the law is in every situation, how it applies to you in any instance that you may find yourself. Until next time, thanks for watching and stay safe.
YouTube Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u597gTMoY1E
Credit: William Kirk, Washington Gun Law