Washington State Passes Ballot Measure to Further Regulate Guns

A state gun-regulations ballot measure seeking to make Washington's firearms laws among the strictest in the country passed Tuesday with 60% of the vote in election-night returns. Votes will continue to be counted in the coming days.

The sweeping 30-page measure will raise the legal age to buy semi-automatic rifles to 21. To obtain such weapons, people will need to pass an enhanced background check, take a training course and wait 10 business days after a purchase, reports the Seattle Times .

I-1639 also will enact a storage law. Gun owners who don't secure their firearms with devices such as a trigger lock or safe could be charged with gross misdemeanor or felony "community endangerment" crimes for allowing prohibited people (such as children) to access and display or use the weapons.

Proponents of the measure said I-1639 would address the root causes of many mass shootings and generally help to reduce gun violence.

I-1639 was the only state gun-regulations measure on the Nov. 6 ballot anywhere in the country.