Friday, March 19, 2010

WA Gun News: GOAL Post 2010-11 & more!

First off, Joe Waldron reports that Washington and Florida have agreed to recognize each other's Concealed Pistol Licenses.
When in Rome, you must follow Rome's rules regarding carry. The good news is that both states' concealed handgun laws are very similar.

Perhaps the most important thing is that in both states licensed carry is legal in establishments that serve alcohol, BUT PROHIBITED IN THE BAR PORTION. If an establishment derives more than 50% of its income from the sale of food, licensed carry is legal. But again, no carry is allowed in the bar portion of such restaurants, in both states.

Washington DOES allow carry in the non-secure areas of airports.
Washington DOES NOT allow unlicensed carry of a loaded handgun in a motor vehicle. You MUST have a license recognized by the state of Washington to carry loaded in a vehicle (loaded referring to the handgun, NOT the driver!).

Also in Washington, a "concealed pistol license" is JUST THAT -- it only covers handguns, NOT long guns or other weapons.

And Florida recognizes ONLY those licenses carried by a resident of the state that issues the license.

Washington reciprocity web site:
http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/news/concealed_carry.html

Florida reciprocity web site:
http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/news/concealed_carry.html

Washington firearms code:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9.41g

Florida firearms web site:
http://licgweb.doacs.state.fl.us/weapons/index.html
That "Banned in the bar"thing is sometimes a pain--how often do you go out to dinner and there are no seats in the restaurants, but there is in the bar?--but I have learned to live with it.

Next, "Myth busting" regarding the current "special session" of the state Legislature in Olympia, and other info:
GOAL Post 2010-11
Legislative Update from Olympia 19 March 2010

SPECIAL SESSION CONVENED 15 MARCH

GUN BILL RUMOR UNTRUE

THE OTHER SEATTLE GUN BAN LAWSUI

The legislature reconvened at noon on Monday to conduct a special session to resolve budget difference between the House and Senate. At this time, the legislature is still in session, and the budget impasse has NOT been resolved.

At the end of every legislative session, bills that did not pass are retained in their status at the end of the session. When a special session is called, bills are technically reintroduced, in their last status. A rumor has started that the proposed "assault weapon" bill, SB 6396, was reintroduced and is running for the special session. Not true. ALL bills that died at the end of the regular session were technically "reintroduced," but no action is anticipated on any gun bill, good or bad.

Shortly after the Second Amendment Foundation, the NRA and several local residents filed a challenge to the City of Seattle handgun ban, based on grounds it violated the state's preemption law (RCW 9.41.290, the state reserves to itself the right to regulate firearms), Kent resident Robert Warden filed a similar challenge in federal court, claiming the Seattle gun ban violated his Second Amendment rights.

On Friday, 12 March, federal district Judge Marsha Pechman found the Seattle ban did NOT violate the Second Amendment. Not surprising. Judicial precedent in the 9th Circuit holds that the Second Amendment does NOT affirm an individual right to arms, and as a general rule, judges are bound by court precedent. Thus Judge Pechman was simply applying standing 9th Circuit decisions. That will likely change in June when the Supreme Court incorporates the Second Amendment to the states.

In the meantime, Judge Pechman's ruling is irrelevant, because King County Superior Court Judge Catherine Shaffer HAS ruled the ban to be a violation of state preemption. Seattle's gun ban signs remain as an example of elected official arrogance and fiscal folly. The folly, of course, comes at taxpayer expense, despite the fact that the state's Attorney General, Rob McKenna, warned Mayor Nickels that the ban was in violation of state law. But some elected officials, like Nickels and his replacement, Mike McGinn, consider themselves above the law.

BILL STATUS / GOAL POSITION ON BILLS:

Bill # Subject Sponsor Status
SHB 2226 Retired peace officer qualification Orcutt (R-18) To Governor
Key to abbreviations: SHB = Substitute House Bill

GOAL POSITION ON BILLS: Not applicable
PUBLIC HEARINGS 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."  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:27-28 March
Monroe: 10-11 April

"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

1 comment:

LibertyNews said...

That's great news! Florida is one of the places I'd really like to visit.