GOAL Post 2011-8

From: Joe Waldron [jwaldron@halcyon.com]
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2011 7:20 PM
Subject: GOAL Post 2011-8

GOAL Post 2011-8

Legislative Update from Olympia 25 February 2011

POLICY COMMITTEE CUT-OFF PASSES -- BILLS DIE

HB 1455 PASSES HOUSE 94-0

NO PUBLIC HEARINGS SCHEDULED

NOTE ABOUT THE FIREARMS FREEDOM ACT

Wednesday, 23 February, was the policy committee cut-off date. Bills that had not passed out of their original policy committee are generally considered dead for the session. As I reported last week, only five gun bills remain under consideration.

This has been fairly quite week in Olympia -- from a firearms-related perspective, with most legislators' attention focused on budget-related bills (in addition to the current budget shortfall crisis, the odd-year session is the one where the biennium -- two year -- budget is passed). Two Senate bills (SBs 2112* and 5634) remain in Senate Rules awaiting a floor vote, while only one House bill (SHB 1923) awaits a House floor vote. The next critical cut-off date isn't until March 10, when bills must pass their chamber (House or Senate) of origin, so we still have almost two weeks for these bills to move.

On Monday, 22 February, HB 1455 passed the House on a 94-0 vote (4 absent) and has been assigned to the senate Judiciary Committee. No action is expected on this bill until after the 10 March chamber cut-off.

There are no public hearings scheduled for gun-related bills. The next series of public hearings will come after the 10 March chamber cut-off.

I should have added last week in reference to HB 1990, the Washington Firearms Freedom Act: the BATFE has sent letters to FFLs in those states that have passed similar legislation warning them that the federal government does not consider the state legislation to be valid. If a dealer (FFL) elects to sell a firearm to a resident without following the required federal laws and regulations, he or she will find himself prosecuted by the local U.S. Attorney.

The purpose of the FFA is not to allow Bubba to build firearms in his basement to sell to his neighbors, it is to open the door to an attack on Congress' inappropriate use of the Commerce Clause to justify more than 90% of the laws it passes. The Supreme Court rarely declares laws unconstitutional on Commerce Clause grounds, although it probably should do so. In 1995, they declared the original federal Gun Free School Zone Act unconstitutional. Congress merely reenacted it a year later, with a new preamble that discussed the decline in quality of education based on schoolyard violence and claimed that affected interstate commerce. Right! The new (1996) federal GFSZ law has yet to be challenged.

BILL STATUS:
The following bills have been filed so far for the 2011-12 biennium:
Bill # Subject Sponsor Status
HB 1006 Knife blade length Appleton (D-23) Died
HB 1016 Suppressor use Blake (D-19) S. Jud.
HB 1066 Black powder storage and transport Bailey (R-10) Died
HB 1238 CPL age requirement lowered Orcutt (R-18) Died
HB 1400 Firearms on snowmobiles Ross (R-14) Died
HB 1455 Restoration of rights McCune (R-2) S. Jud.
HB 1508 Range protection Takko (D-19) Died
HB 1628 CPL background checks Kirby (D-29) Died
HB 1638 Harmonize state/federal law for CPLs Goodman (D-45) Died
HB 1729 State agency gun security devices Hurst (D-31) Died
SHB 1923 CPL qualification Goodman (D-45) H. Rules
HB 1990 WA Firearms Freedom Act Shea (R-4) Died.

SB 5112 Suppressor use Hatfield (D-19) S. Rules
SB 5313 Juvenile weapon possession Kline (D-37) Died.
SB 5418 No duty to retreat Becker (R-2) Died
SB 5592 College weapon prohibition Shin (D-21) Died
SSB 5634 CPL background checks Hargrove (D-24) S. Rules
SB 5697 State agency gun security devices Hargrove (D-24) Died

Key to abbreviations: S. = Senate, H. = House, HumSer = Human Services and Corrections, Jud = Judiciary, PubSaf = Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness, W&M = Ways and Means

GOAL POSITION ON BILLS
HB 1016 SUPPORT
HB 1455 SUPPORT
HB 1923 SUPPORT

SB 5112 SUPPORT
SB 5634 SUPPORT

HEARING(S) SCHEDULED: None

LEGISLATIVE HOT LINE: You may reach your Representatives and Senator by calling the Legislative Hotline at 1-800-562-6000. Toll free!!! The hearing impaired may obtain TDD access at 1-800-635-9993. Also toll free!!!
1-800-562-6000 TDD 1-800-635-9993

OTHER DATA: Copies of pending legislation (bills), legislative schedules and other information are available on the legislature's web site at "www.leg.wa.gov". Bills are available in Acrobat (.pdf) format. You may download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader from Adobe's web site (http://www.adobe.com). You may also obtain hard copy bills, initiatives, etc, in the mail from the Legislative Bill Room FREE OF CHARGE by calling 1-360-786-7573. Copies of bills may also be ordered toll free by calling the Legislative Hotline at (800) 562-6000. You may also hear floor and committee hearing action live at http://www.tvw.org/ (you need "RealAudio" to do this, available free at the TVW web site).

By reading the House and Senate "bill reports" (hbr, sbr) for each bill, you can see how individual committee members voted. By reading the "roll call" for each bill, you can see how the entire House or Senate voted on any bill. The beauty of the web site is that ALL this information is available, on line, to any citizen.

GET THE WORD OUT: If you want to subscribe to the GOAL Post by e-mail, send a message to "jwaldron@halcyon.com". Please pass GOAL Post on to anyone you believe may have an interest in protecting our rights. Better yet, make a couple of copies of this message, post it on your gun club’s bulletin board, and leave copies with your local gun shop(s). PERMISSION IS HEREBY GRANTED TO DUPLICATE OR REDISTRIBUTE GOAL POST PROVIDED IT IS REPRODUCED IN ITS ENTIRETY WITHOUT TEXTUAL MODIFICATION AND CREDIT IS GIVEN TO GOAL. I can be reached at "jwaldron@halcyon.com" or by telephone at (425) 985-4867. Unfortunately, I am unable to mail hard copy GOAL Post to individuals. Limited numbers of hard copies MAY be available at the Second Amendment Foundation book table at WAC gun shows.

If you believe you have received this e-mail in error, please e-mail me at "jwaldron@halcyon.com" with the words "Unsubscribe GOAL Post" in the subject line. I will remove your name immediately. Keep in mind GOAL Post is also published on several gun lists. If you received GP via a list, you must contact that list's admin to unsubscribe.

Upcoming WAC gun show(s):
Puyallup 26-27 February
Monroe 12-13 March

"The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men."

Article 1, Section 24

Constitution of the State of Washington

Copyright 2011 Gun Owners Action League of WA

*In a seperate message, Joe corrected this to read SB5112.