(Photos courtesy of Washington State Archives)

Last month, we began highlighting some of the interesting, historic and oh-so-cool items and collections in our State Archives through a series of blog posts called Archives Treasures.

We’re kicking off February’s edition with photos of an incident at the Legislative Building that  recall recent rallies by gun rights supporters opposed to Initiative 594.

On Feb. 27, 1969, members of the state chapter of the Black Panther Party, led by Lt. Elmer Dixon, gathered on the Capitol steps to protest a bill that would make it a crime to exhibit firearms “in a manner manifesting an intent to intimidate others.”

A Seattle P-I story the next day noted that the House and Senate passed the legislation and a companion resolution through “both houses in close to record time.” With Gov. Dan Evans out of town that day, Lt. Gov. John Cherberg could have signed the dangerous weapons bill into law. But Cherberg didn’t.

“I don’t think the bill does anything really,” Cherberg was quoted in the P-I story, “and there are no emergencies or disturbances pending. There is no reason for me to sign it in the governor’s absence.”

We’ll showcase the other two Archives Treasures here later this week, so be watching!