GOAL Post 2012-5

From Joe Waldron/GOAL [goalwa@cox.net]
GOAL Post 2012-5

Legislative Update from Olympia                          3 February 2012

     FIRST POLICY COMMITTEE CUT-OFF PASSES

     BILLS PASS OUT OF COMMITTEE, MANY WITH AMENDMENTS

     POLITICAL GAMES BEGIN

     GOAL POSITIONS SHIFT DUE TO AMENDMENTS

Friday, 3 February was the first policy committee cut-off day.  Bills that had not passed out of their original policy committee are theoretically at least considered dead for the remainder of the session.  Of the 17 bills GOAL is tracking, nine died at close of business Friday.  In most cases, those bills that passed out of their policy committee go to the House or Senate Rules Committee, where they must be voted out to the chamber floor for passage by the full House or Senate, respectively.  In some cases, where a bill has significant fiscal impact, it must pass out of one of the fiscal committees (usually Ways & Means) to determine how the bill will be funded.  At this time, two bills of interest sit in House Ways & Means.  Those bills must pass W&M no later than Tuesday, 7 February.

All bills must pass their original chamber (House Bills out of the House, Senate Bills out of the Senate) by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, February 14th.

HB 1508 (range protection) passed out of the House Judiciary Committee in an amended version, now titles SHB (Substitute House Bill) 1508.  The substitute language essentially strips the bill of all power, only giving ranges an "affirmative defense" once they end up in court as a defendant in a nuisance lawsuit.  This is the least effective form of range protection, and in coordination with NRA-ILA, we find it unacceptable.  HB 2347 (spring-blade knives) also was stripped of its principal benefit to citizens by removing language allowing CPL holders to possess/carry spring-blade knives.  Again, we find SHB 2347 to be unacceptable in its present form.  House Bills 2471 (firearm purchase) and 2589 (unlawful firearm possession) passed out of House Judiciary in their original form and are still supported.

In the Senate, Senate Bills 5697 (gun security devices) and 6179 (switchblade knives) passed out of Senate Judiciary in amended forms.  Rather than require the Attorney General to develop a state standard for gun safety devices, SHB 5697 merely adopts the standards adopted by the State of California (what a great precedent, adopting California standards for ANYTHING).  SHB 6179 has no effect on current law as it applies to private citizens.  SB 6123 (NRA license plate) passed out of Senate Transportation in an amended form as well.  The amendment merely recognizes the current moratorium on specialty license plates and allows application for such a new plate only after July 1, 2013. 

Now we see political reality as it is played in Olympia.  Both the House and Senate are controlled by Democrats.  While a fair number of mostly rural Democrat elected officials are pro-gun owners rights (see most of the sponsors of the pro-gun bills), leadership is still solidly anti-gun.  In an election year, they may allow one or two pro-gun bills to make it through to the governor's desk, but as we have seen with the amendments to HBs 1508 and 2347, the bills were watered down to have limited or no positive impact for gun owners.  This is Democrat leadership playing it both ways: toss the gun owners a bone, but make sure they really don't achieve any real benefit.  Meanwhile, Democrats claim they passed pro-gun bills.  We're not buying it.  Either they amend the bills on the House floor to their original form, or we oppose the bills as they currently exist.

Accordingly, our position on SHBs 1508 and 2347 is "OPPOSE UNLESS ORIGINAL LANGUAGE IS RESTORED."

{Click on post title to read more after the jump}

BILL STATUS:

The following are ALL of the gun-related bills filed during the current 2012 regular session.

Bill #            Subject                                      Sponsor                  Status
HB 1006       Knife ban                                   Appleton (D-23)      Died
SHB 1508     Range protection                         Takko (D-19)         H. Rules
HB 2067       Repeal of self defense restitution   Hunter (D-48)        H. W&M
HB 2098       Short barreled rifles                      Blake (D-19)         Died
HB 2099       Short-barreled rifles and shotguns  Blake (D-19)         Died
HB 2137       Guns in vehicles                           Blake (D-19)         Died
HB 2202       NRA license plate                         Takko (D-19)        Died
SHB 2347      Spring-blade knives                     Dammeier (R-25)  H. Rules
HB 2471       Firearm purchase                         Goodman (D-45)   H. Rules
HB 2481       CPL reciprocity                            Goodman (D-45)   Died
HB 2589       Unlawful firearm possession          Goodman (D-45)   H. W&M 

SSB 5697      State agency gun security devices    Hargrove (D-24)      S. Rules
SSB 6123      NRA license plate                          Hatfield (D-19)      S. Rules
SSB 6179      Anti-switchblade knives                 Kastama (D-25)       S. Rules
SB 6209       Restricts lead ammunition bans       Schoesler (R-9)      Dead
SB 6272       Right to self-defense                      Stevens (R-39)       Dead
SB 6274       10th Amendment/firearms              Stevens (R-39)       Dead

Key to abbreviations:  HB = House Bill, SB = Senate Bill, Jud. = Judiciary, Trans = Transportation, W&M = Ways & Means, Ener. = Energy, Natural Resources and Marine Waters, Rules = Rules Committee

GOAL POSITION ON BILLS  (see comments in narrative)

HB 1006    OPPOSE
SHB 1508    OPPOSE UNLESS ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RESTORED
HB 2067    OPPOSE
HB 2098    SUPPORT
HB 2099    SUPPORT
HB 2137    SUPPORT
HB 2202    SUPPORT IF AMENDED
SHB 2347    OPPOSE UNLESS ORIGINAL LANGUAGE RESTORED
HB 2471    SUPPORT
HB 2481    SUPPORT
HB2589    SUPPORT

SB 5697    NEUTRAL
SB 6123    SUPPORT IF AMENDED
SB 6179    NEUTRAL
SB 6209    SUPPORT
SB 6272    SUPPORT
SB 6274    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.

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Upcoming WAC gun show(s):

             Monroe             18-19 February
             Puyallup            25-26 February
 
"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 2012 Gun Owners Action League of WA