BELLEVUE, WA – A hard-edged radio advertisement blasting Initiative 1639—the 30-page gun control measure now facing Washington State voters—has hit the airwaves, telling listeners that in some Seattle neighborhoods, “if you call 911…it takes 18 minutes for police to arrive.”

The advertisement is sponsored by Washingtonians and the National Rifle Association for Freedom, a political action committee to which the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has significantly contributed. It began airing as ballots began arriving in mailboxes throughout Puget Sound, to remind voters what is at stake. Listen to the advertisement here.

“I-1639,” noted CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “is opposed by four major statewide law enforcement organizations representing a majority of rank-and-file police officers and sheriff’s deputies: The Washington State Patrol Troopers Association, Washington State Sheriffs Association, Washington Council of Police & Sheriffs and Washington State Law Enforcement Firearms Instructors Association. In addition, the Cowlitz County Deputies and Sergeants Guild is also on record against the measure.

“When boots-on-the-ground lawmen and women oppose a measure that is being promoted as a crime-prevention tool, it is safe to conclude that there is something really wrong with it,” he added, “and I think this radio ad raises some of those issues.”

The radio message challenges voters to set their clocks for 18 minutes and then close their eyes and “imagine you’re waiting for police, and then vote for your safety.”

“We know that police and sheriffs’ departments do as good a job as they possibly can,” Gottlieb noted, “and we thank the men and women who patrol our streets and county roads. The concern is not with law enforcement, but with the initiative mandate of so-called ‘secure storage’ that renders self-defense firearms useless.”

I-1639 is the only gun control issue on the ballot anywhere in the United States this year.

“You can support the effort to keep this advertisement on the air by visiting the ‘Vote No’ website,” Gottlieb noted.