GOAL Post 2015-6

Joe has sent out the weekly GOAL Post. 

My own comment, based on stuff I have heard others say: I, too, would prefer for I594 to be repealed in it's entirety. Note that there are two bills listed which would do that, plus the lawsuit that has been filed. But the first bill to repeal requires a two thirds majority in the legislature, and the other calls for an additional referendum; while the Second Amendment has been doing well in the courts, there is no guarantee. So the  strategy of also seeking to whittle away at I594 bit by bit is not, in itself, evil or wrong-headed.

Unless you're the sort who thinks that one can nullify a law by disobeying it en masse, in which case, please explain to me why speed limits are still in effect?

 ***

FROM: GOAL WA <goalwa@cox.net>

TO: undisclosed-recipients:

DATE: Fri 2/13/2015 7:59 PM

SUBJECT: GOAL Post 2015-6

Legislative Update from Olympia 13 February 2015

• 7 FEB "WE WILL NOT COMPLY" GATHERING
• NEW BILLS FILED
• 10 FEB MOMS DEMAND ATTENTION DAY
• HEARINGS HELD
• HEARINGS SCHEDULED
• FIRST POLICY COMMITTEE CUT-OFF NEXT FRIDAY
• PREEMPTION IN THEIR SIGHTS -- SEATTLE TIMES
• INTERSTATE HANDGUN SALE BAN STRUCK DOWN

 On Saturday, 7 February, about 50 individuals associated with the “I will not comply” group of I-594 opponents once again met in Olympia to protest the initiative.  Again, the legislature was off for the weekend, and only a few legislators were present.

Three new firearm-related bills were introduced this weekend.  All three were referred to the House Judiciary Committee for action.  HB 2031, by Rep. Mark Harmsworth (R-44), expands the current sales tax exemption for gun safes to other firearm safety devices.  HB 2088, by Rep. Matt Shea (R-4), lowers the age for issue of a concealed pistol license from 21 to 18.  HB 2089, also by Rep. Shea, would amend the current CPL reciprocity law to recognize all licenses issued to any state.  The only restriction is that the nearer must be 18 years of age or over.  

On Tuesday, 10 February, the “Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America” another gun control group supported by former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, held a rally in Olympia.  More appropriately titled “Moms Demand Attention,” the small gathering spent most of their time preaching to their own choir or like-minded legislators.  

A funny thing happened at the public hearing on HB 1857 (extreme protection orders) this week.  Richard Bartholomew, legislative coordinator of the Family Law Executive Committee of the State Bar Association testified AGAINST the bill.  Bartholomew said current state law contains sufficient provisions to disarm those considered to be dangerous.  Judiciary Committee Chairwoman and bill sponsor Laurie Jinkins was none too happy to hear that.  Whether this will influence her intent to pass the bill out of committee, or influence any of the Judiciary Committee members remains to be seen.

Hearings were held on several other bills as well.  No further action was taken on some, while others passed out of committee.  SBs 5500 (retired LEO carry on school campus), 5579 (security guard exemption to I-594), 5615 (military/LEO exemption to I-594), and 5658 (reporting of mental health information) all passed out.  Executive session (committee vote) is scheduled on several bills next week (just before the policy committee cut-off).

At this point no additional public hearings are scheduled on gun bills.  

The first major legislative session cut-off hurdle comes next Friday (20 February), when bills must pass their first policy committee or be considered dead for the session.  This is the first, and typically the biggest, cull of the session.  Many well intended bills, and some less than well intended, will die.  Technically, at least, because this hurdle, like the others in the session cut-off calendar can be waived if leadership wants to see a bill move.  New versions of bills that have died may also be introduced.

An article published earlier this week in the Seattle Times indicates many cities have placed state preemption in their sights.  The move is being led by MoveOn.org, the liberal Democrat activist group.  State preemption is the law, first passed in 1983, that prohibits cities and counties from passing their own gun control ordinances.  By passing preemption, the legislature has said it wants to see uniform firearm laws statewide, thereby NOT placing at risk a gun owners who travels into or through several jurisdictions with stricter gun laws.  Preemption is by no means unique or unusual – more than 40 states have some form of preemption law in force.  This is not the first time cities have attacked preemption.  Hopefully they will meet the same fate this time that they have in the past – failure.

Also earlier this week a federal judge in the Northern District of Texas struck down the prohibition contained in the Gun Control Act of 1968 (GCA 1968) that blocks purchase of a handgun across a state line.  GCA 1968 allowed long gun (rifle and shotgun) purchases from an out of state federal dealer (FFL), but blocked handgun sales.  Citing the 1998 creation of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), which is a nationwide data base of individuals prohibited from possessing ANY firearm, the court said there is no reason why handgun sales through FFLs should be blocked.  Expect the Justice Department to appeal this.

BILL STATUS:

Bill #	Subject	Prime sponsor	Status	GOAL Position
HB 1119	Hunter education issues	Blake (D-17)	H. Ag/NatRes	OPPOSE
SHB 1131	Prohibits sale/transfer of ivory	Pettigrew (D-37)	H. GenGov	OPPOSE
*SHB 1191	CPL renewal notices	Taylor (R-15)	H. Aprop.	SUPPORT
HB 1193	Prohibiting gun owner data base	Taylor (R-15)	H. Jud.	SUPPORT
HB 1245	Repeals I-594	Shea (R-4)	H. Jud.	SUPPORT
HB 1324	Codifies castle doctrine and stand your ground	Shea (R-4)	H, Jud	SUPPORT
HB 1433	Modifies Gun Free School Zone law	Scott (R-38)	H. Jud.	SUPPORT
HB 1442	Exp. economic development via firearms/ammo	G. Hunt (R-2)		SUPPORT
HB 1474	Defense against animal attack	Taylor (R-15)	H. Jud.	SUPPORT
HB 1506	Exempts security guard transfers from I-594	Kirby (D-29)	H. Jud.	SUPPORT
HB 1521	Returns NICS “delay” to three days (I-594)	Taylor (R-15)	H. Jud.	SUPPORT
HB 1533	Exempts guns loaned to museums from I-594	Van Werven (R-42)	H. Jud.	SUPPORT
HB 1535	Exempts active LEOs from waiting period	Klippert (R-8)	H. Jud.	SUPPORT
HB 1594	Imitation firearms	Wylie (D-49)	H. Jud.	OPPOSE
HB 1692	Imitation firearms	Wylie (D-49)	H. Jud.	OPPOSE
HB 1713	Mental health/guns	Cody (D-34)	H. Jud.	OPPOSE
HB 1722	Short barreled rifles	Hayes (R-10)	H. Jud.	SUPPORT
HB 1731	Return of firearms held by law enforcement	Ormsby (D-3)	H. Jud.	OPPOSE
HB 1747	Safe storage of firearms	Kagi (D-32)	H. Jud.	OPPOSE
HB 1857	Extreme protective orders	Jinkins (D-27)	H. Jud?	OPPOSE
HB 1886	Repeals I-594 by popular vote	Hunt (R-2)	H. Jud.	SUPPORT
HB 2031	Tax exemption for firearm safety devices	Harmsworth (R-44)	H. Jud.	SUPPORT
HB 2088	Lowers age for CPL from 21 to 18	Shea (R-4)	H. Jud.	SUPPORT
HB 2089	Expands CPL reciprocity; lowers age to 18	Shea (R-4)	H. Jud.	SUPPORT
SSB 5036	Penalizes criminal misuse of body armor	O'Ban (R-28)	S. Rules	NEUTRAL
SB 5241	Prohibits sale/transfer of ivory	Litzow (R-41)	S. NatRes/Parks	OPPOSE
SB 5381	Return of firearms held by law enforcement	Billig (D-3)	S. L&J	OPPOSE
SB 5476	Exempts active LEOs from waiting period	Dammeier (R-25)	S. L&J	SUPPORT
*SB 5500	Allows retired LEOs to carry on school grounds	Roach (R-31)	S. L&J	SUPPORT
SB 5539	Exempts LEO’s from three day waiting period	Roach (R-31)	S. L&J	SUPPORT
*SSB 5579	Exempts licensed scty guards from b/g checks	Dammeier (R-25)		SUPPORT
SB 5615	Exempts military members from b/g checks	Benton (R-17)	S L&J	SUPPORT
SB 5643	Mental health/guns	O'Ban (R-28)	S. HumSer	OPPOSE
SB 5658	Reporting of mental health commitment	Dansel (R-7)	S. L&J	NEUTRAL
SB 5727	Extreme protective orders	Frockt (D-46)	S. L&J	OPPOSE
SB 5789	Safe storage of firearms	Kohl-Welles (D-36)	S. L&J	OPPOSE
SB 5831	Restoration of firearm rights	Honeyford (R-15)	S. L&J	SUPPORT

* indicates change in status this week

SHB/SSB = Substitute Bill (bill amended in committee), HB = House Bill, SB = Senate Bill, H. Aprop = House Appropriations, H. Jud. = House Judiciary, S. L&J = Senate Law & Justice, H. Ag/NatRes = House Agriculture & Natural Resources, S. NatRes/Parks = Senate Natural Resources & Parks, S. Hum Ser = Senate Human Services, Mental Health & Housing, H. GenGov = House General Government & Info Technology

HEARINGS SCHEDULED:   No hearings scheduled at this time.

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              14-15 February

Puyallup            21-22 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

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