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In March of 2022, Everett Police Officer Dan Rocha was shot and killed by a convicted felon who was in possession of firearms illegally. In response, former police officer and Lake Stevens Mayor Brett Gailey sought to classify Unlawful Possession of a Firearm as a violent crime with stricter sentencing guidelines.
“Dan was a friend of mine, he was a colleague of mine. So that’s what this stemmed from,” Gailey said.
According to Gailey, while 40 arrests for unlawful possession of a firearm were made in Lake Stevens between 2016 and 2023, only one case was prosecuted. After taking the time to talk with prosecutors and mayors, Gailey drafted the piece of legislation that is House Bill 1139 and asked state Rep. Sam Low to propose the bill during this legislative session.
“It reclassifies the crime as a violent offense,” Low said. “Currently, it’s just treated like a property crime, there’s not really much teeth to possessing a firearm when you already had your rights taken away.”
Currently in the House Committee on Community Safety, House Bill 1139 would make unlawful firearm possession a violent offense, making jail booking mandatory, if the individual has previously been convicted of a serious offense. Under the bill, sentencing for UPF would go from less than 20 months of jail time to between 21 and 27.
“It makes it a mandatory arrest. It takes discretion out of law enforcement,” Gailey said. “So that brings some equity into that charging effort.”
By upgrading the sentencing guidelines, increasing the level of seriousness, Gailey and Low hope that it will mean more safety for citizens, as well as law enforcement officers.
“I think it’s important that the public understands that we need to put pressure on our legislators to make sure that we’re holding those bad actors accountable,” Low said. “It’s time to swing the pendulum back in the favor of victims instead of criminals.”
