There will be a variety of ballot initiatives, depending on where you live in the U.S., and many of them will involve gun politics this election. This will be especially prominent is states like California, Maine, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
California voters will vote on Proposition 63. If passed, this will require background checks prior to all ammunition sales. California, Democrat Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom has dubbed this initiative, “Safety for All” and has raised some $5.2 million to get the measure on the ballot, which is expected to pass even with strong opposition from the National Rifle Association and other pro gun groups.
In Maine, it will be up to voters to decide to expand background checks to include most gun transfers on Question 3. Gun control groups contributed more than $3 million in donations, mostly those financed by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Currently, support for this initiative is around 52 percent with a 3.6 margin of error. Republican Gov. Paul LePage has called it the next step before weapon registration.
Again, largely funded by Bloomberg, Nevada’s Question 1 has received almost $20 million. This is almost an exact replica of Maine’s Q3. Gun rights groups have contributed some $6.6 million towards blocking the measure, a staggering amount and the priciest single-issue gun control fight in the country. Currently, polls show 54 percent in support of Question 1.
The Humane Society of the U.S. has contributed a million dollars to push Measure 100 in Oregon. This would ban the sale and possession of certain animal parts. Measure 100 is based on neighboring Washington’s Initiative No. 1401. Pro-hunting groups oppose the measure and argue that it won’t do much to protect endangered species. A local poll in September found some 85 percent support for the measure.
Washington’s Initiative 1491 has raised $4 million from Bloomberg and former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords’ Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC. Initiative 1491 is a complex and wordy 21-page proposal that will establish protection orders in the state to allow families and law enforcement to ask the courts to issue a temporary restriction on an individual’s gun rights. Polls show strong support of I-1491.
In Indiana and Kansas, voters will decide on Question 1 and Amendment 1. These will enable lawmakers in those states to add a right to hunt and fish to those state constitutions. This has been favored in all polls in other states as it allows the addition to the constitutional right to hunt, fish, and trap subject to conservation laws while establishing public harvest by sportsmen as the preferred method of wildlife management.
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