A selection of AR-15-style rifles hangs on a wall at R-Guns store on Jan. 11, 2023, in Carpentersville, Illinois, a day after the state banned them. - Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS
SEATTLE — Washington became the 10th state to prohibit sales of AR-15s and dozens of other semiautomatic rifles Tuesday, as Gov. Jay Inslee signed the ban into law, effective immediately. The state Capitol was closed to the public Tuesday morning for the signing ceremony out of security concerns, though only a handful of protesters gathered outside. “These weapons of war, assault weapons, have no reason other than mass murder,” Inslee said at the ceremony in the ornate State Reception Room, flanked by lawmakers and people who’d lost loved ones to gun violence. “Their only purpose is to kill hu...
