GOAL Post 2010-7

 (I was not going to post these, but things have been, um, interesting lately here in WA...)

GOAL Post 2010-7

Legislative Update from Olympia 19 February 2010

     COURT OVERTURNS SEATTLE GUN BAN

     CITY MAY ATTEMPT TO REPEAL PREEMPTION

     PUBLIC HEARING ON SHB 2499

     CHAMBER CUT-OFF PASSES

     SHB 2226 SCHEDULED FOR A PUBLIC HEARING

     SECOND CHAMBER POLICY CUT-OFF 26 FEBRUARY

     BILL STATUS REPORT ABBREVIATED

On Friday, 12 February, King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer granted a summary motion to overturn the gun ban imposed by former Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels.  In a rider to the court order, Judge Shaffer noted:  

1. Plaintiffs have a clear legal or equitable right to carry firearms under federal and state constitutions.
2. Plaintiffs have established a well-grounded fear of invasion of that right. 
3. Plaintiffs have established that they have suffered a substantial injury.

 In an article in the on-line Seattle Post-Intelligencer, new Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn referred to the state's firearms preemption law, saying, "It's time for the state Legislature to repeal that law."  This won't be the first time Seattle has tried to repeal or amend preemption.  Their last attempt was 7-8 years ago, when they proposed an amendment to allow cities with populations over 400,000 to create their own gun laws (who do you think that would have applied to?).  The amendment failed.

The question is, will Seattle ask the legislature to repeal or amend preemption in this session, or will they wait until next year?  The make-up of the legislature may be significantly different next year.  Then again, given public anger over the legislature's tax shenanigans this year, does Speaker Chopp want to jump into another controversy?  We'll see over the next three weeks.

The Senate Labor, Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee conducted a public hearing on SHB 2499, by Bailey (R-10), the bill that would increase allowable limits on the storage and transportation of black powder.  Some of the supporters of the bill appeared (and testified) in period uniforms.

 Tuesday, 16 February was the chamber cut-off date ("flop" date).  Bills that have not passed out of their original chamber (House bills from the House, Senate bills from the Senate) are considered dead for the season.  Keep in mind that these are self-imposed dates, and are subject to change by a vote of the legislature.  Keep in mind, also, that in some cases language from one bill may be inserted as an amendment into another bill.  Limitations on "scope and object" preclude this in most cases (if the language of a bill or an amendment don't fit the original title of the bill, it's not allowed).
 
SHB 2226, by Orcutt (R-18), a bill that would standardize procedures for issue of an H.R. 218 certification card for retired police officers, will be heard in a public hearing by the Senate Judiciary Committee at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 24th. 
 
Friday, February 26th is the policy committee cut-off for bills that crossed over to the other chamber.  Bills that do not pass their policy committee by the end of that day are considered dead for the session. 
 
Bills that died in committee or after the chamber cut-off date will no longer be listed in the "Bill Status/GOAL Position on Bills" section.  The end-of-session recap will include all gun bills filed or acted on during the session.
 
BILL STATUS / GOAL POSITION ON BILLS:

Bill #            Subject                                               Sponsor                    Status

SHB 2226   Retired peace officer qualification        Orcutt (R-18)            S. Jud
SHB 2499   Black powder storage/transport          Bailey (R-10)             S. L&C

Key to abbreviations:  SHB = Substitute House Bill, L&C = Labor, Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, Jud = Judiciary Committee

GOAL POSITION ON BILLS:

SHB 2226                   SUPPORT
SHB 2499                   SUPPORT

PUBLIC HEARINGS SCHEDULED:

24 Feb             SHB 2226                   Senate Judiciary Committee
3:30 p.m.                                             Senate Hearing Room 1, J.A>C. Bldg

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."  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.

NOTICE:  If you believe you have received the GOAL Post in error, first check the “From” line in the address to determine if you received it directly or as part of a list.  GP has both individual subscribers and list subscribers.  If you do not wish to receive direct distribution of GOAL Posts, please send an e-mail to jwaldron@halcyon.com with “Remove GOAL Post” in the subject line.  Please include in the body the address that sent you GP.  If you received it as a list member (e.g. WA-CCW, WA-GUNS, etc), you must ask the list owner to be removed.  I will respond directly to individual subscribers.

Upcoming WAC gun show(s):

           Puyallup                 20-21 February
           Monroe                    13-14 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 2010 Gun Owners Action League of WA