QOTD, 03/30/2015

Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes. Walt Whitman

GOAL Post 2015-12

Almost out of the woods. Alas, a couple of pitfalls remain... 

***

FROM: GOAL <goalwa@cox.net>

TO: undisclosed-recipients:

SENT: Fri 3/27/2015 7:18 PM

SUBJECT: GOAL Post 2015-12

Legislative Update from Olympia 27 March 2015

·         BILLS MOVE OUT OF HOUSE JUDICIARY

·         SECOND POLICY COMMITTEE  CUT-OFF NEXT WEDNESDAY

·         30 DAYS REMAIN IN SESSION

Both SBs 5381 and 5658 passed out of the House Judiciary Committee with amendments.  SB 5381 was further amended to ensure firearms rights are not violated nor delayed.  There was a public hearing on HB 1713 in Senate Human Services earlier this week, and at this point, no further action has been taken on that bill.  That's the worst of the three still under consideration, by far.

Wednesday, April 1st (April Fool's Day) is the second chamber policy committee cut-off, the day by which all House bills must pass their Senate policy committee and vice versa.  

We're not there yet, but we're getting closer.  30 days left in the session!

BILL STATUS:

Bill #	Subject	Prime sponsor	Status	GOAL Position
ESHB 1713	Mental health/guns	Cody (D-34)	S. HumSer	OPPOSE
*SSB 5381	Return of firearms held by law enforcement	Billig (D-3)	H. Rules	NEUTRAL
*SB 5658	Reporting of mental health commitment	Dansel (R-7)	H. Rules	NEUTRAL

* indicates change in status this week

ESHB = Engrossed Substitute House Bill, 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, S. HumSer = Senate Human Services, Mental Health & Housing

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 (snail) 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):

Monroe              4 April (Saturday only)

Puyallup            25-26 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 2015 Gun Owners Action League of WA

Happy Anniversary!

Brigid posted You Were the One for Me - a Meme yesterday. And asked

So - for those of you married or in a long term relationship, what was that moment when you knew this person was for you?

So,  for our 23rd Anniversary, I shall share with you a rare personal moment, the moment when I Knew:

We were going to a movie -- I think it was a classic Chick Flick, like Terminator II -- and we were (IIRC) to late for one showing, and too early for the next showing, so we wandered around the mall a bit.

Wandered into a clothing store...

Not-yet-Mrs. Drang picked up a belt, a rather stylish number of tan leather with brass studs on it...

Examined the quality of construction...

And wrapped it around her fist.

Happy Anniversary, Sweetheart!

What's the Gaelic for "Bah, humbug!"...?

{Once again, saved a draft of a post and forgot it. s*i*g*h. Tweeted this on Tuesday, 3/17...}

If someone wishes you Happy St. Patrick's Day, wish 'em Happy Ugly Cultural Stereotype Day right back!
— Drang (@DWDrang) March 17, 2015

GOAL Post 2015-11 (Updated)

FROM: GOAL <goalwa@cox.net>

TO: undisclosed-recipients:

SENT: Fri 3/20/2015 5:24 PM

SUNJECT: GOAL Post 2015-11

Legislative Update from Olympia 20 March 2015

·         ESHB 1713 SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING

·         HOUSE JUDICIARY TO VOTE ON SSB/SB 5381 AND 5658

·         ATF "BACKDOWN"

·         ATF DIRECTOR B. TODD JONES RESIGNS

·         FORMER DIRNSA/CIA ON THE VULNERABILITY TO TERRORIST ATTACK

A public hearing on Engrossed Substitute House Bill 1713 has been scheduled in Senate Human Services and Mental Health at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 24 March.   Essentially, the bill adds "chemical dependency" (including alcohol) to the existing mental health commitment program.  This increases the opportunity, beyond existing law, for the state to take away an individual's fundamental right to own a firearm.  The bill treats substance "use" essentially the same as "abuse," with insufficient safeguards for protecting rights.

Public hearings were held on SSB 5381 and SB 5658 this week.  Both bills are scheduled for executive session (committee vote) in House Judiciary on Thursday, 26 March.  An amendment will be offered for SSB 5381 that should resolve any remaining issues with the bill.

A few readers challenged my assertion last week that ATF's backdown on 5.56 M855 ammo was only temporary, and that -- like The Terminator -- "they would be back." In effect, I was raining on the gun lobby's victory parade.

This was ATF appearing to back down on Tuesday, 10 March:

http://www.atf.gov/press/releases/2015-03-021015-advisory-notice-those-commenting-armor-piercing-ammunition-exemption-framework.html

And this is ATF Director B. Todd Jones to the Senate Appropriations Committee on Thursday, 12 March:

http://bearingarms.com/atf-chief-suggests-5-56-ammo-threat-law-enforcement/

And note that he wants to work with Congress to "fix" the 1986 law.  He clearly stated he thought ALL 5.56mm ammunition posed a threat to police officers.  If you think Jones' "fix" is going to make it better for gun owners, promises for transparency and taking into account public input notwithstanding, well... you decide.

While I still question the motives of some in the ATF bureaucracy, you won't have to worry about ATF Director B. Todd Jones much longer.  In a surprise announcement this morning (his departure had been rumored for a week or longer), Jones announced he's resigning from the ATF directorship effective 31 March.  The official line is he is resigning "to pursue other opportunities in the private sector."  Rumor has it he will become a senior counsel -- possible general counsel -- for the NFL.  Stand by for political manipulation within the NFL?  I guess the jump from FFLs to NFL isn't that big a leap.  

At this time Deputy Director Thomas Brandon will take the helm.  Brandon was the ATF's choice to be clean-up (cover-up?) man heading the Phoenix Field Division following the Fast & Furious debacle.  We -- and Congress -- are still awaiting the final report on that one.

On a separate topic, retired USAF General Michael Hayden, former director of the National Security Agency and the CIA, in comments made after the Tunisia museum attack earlier this week, warned that this kind of low level attack could happen at any soft target in the U.S.  This comes on the heels of FBI Director James Comey warning there are active ISIS or ISIS-sympathizer cells active in all 50 states -- and the White House claiming we are at our safest since 9/11/01.  

This is the one kind of attack where the armed citizen can make a critical difference -- the immediate responder that is already on the scene, not minutes away as are police.  Are YOU carrying today?  Every day?

BILL STATUS:

QOTD, 3/16/15

Seen on Michael Z. Williamson's Facebook page:

Time travel is a 4-Edged Sword
Bill Dunbar

Relativity

No, not that kind. Although it is Albert Einstein's Birthday as well as "Pi Day", but if I was talking about those I'd have set the post to post at 9:26:53 TODAY, 3/14/15...

No, I've been thinking about the "relative" gun laws across the nation.

For example, Washington State has been "Shall Issue" for over 50 years; you go to the local Police Station or County Sheriff's office, get fingerprinted, pay your fees, and after a Federal background check, you get your permit. Sometimes you need to meet a particular schedule, as the fingerprinting is often done by volunteers. There have been some slight tweaks in the system over the years, but they have pretty much been to ensure consistency across the state, and to make the process easier.

People who live in a so-called "Constitutional Carry State", where all one needs to carry a gun is to be a law-abiding citizen who is legally allowed to have a gun, think this is an outrageous infringement on our rights.

OTOH, people who live in states with a "proof of training" requirement envy us.

And those who live in states with a specific training requirement envy them.

They, in turn, are envied by those who live in states that not only have a specific training requirement, but add an actual "qualify with your carry pistol, which is all you're allowed to carry" requirement.

And that seems downright generous when you loom at "may issue" states, where your ability to exercise your Right To Keep And Bear Arms is dependent on some bureaucrat deigning to allow you to do so. (In some cases, "May Issue" is de facto "Shall Issue", but in others it may be "Shall Issue With A $1000 Donation To My Re-Election Campaign", while in others it's "I Don't Care Who You Are, No Way!")

At the time of this writing, every state is either "Shall Issue" or "May Issue"... officially. The State of Hawaii has issued all of one concealed carry license, and has said "never more."

Then we have the entire issue (pun not intended) of reciprocity.Do other states recognize the permit you issue, and  what, if any, state' permits does your state recognize? (Concealed Carry Permit Reciprocity Maps - USA Carry Not guaranteed to be up-to-date.) I'm going to ignore the entire question of whether the Federal Government mandating reciprocity supports the Constitutional Right to Keep and Bear Arms, or violates States' Rights for now...

But...

What about other items? For years it was legal to own a suppressor ("silencer") in Washington State, but illegal to use one. Absurd. Made the entire process of filing for the $200 tax stamp to be allowed to ask my local Chief Law Enforcement Officer (Sheriff, Chief of Police) for permission to buy one pointless.

Now I can not only shoot  gun with a suppressor on it, but I can also attach it to a rifle with a barrel less than 16" long, sixteen inches being the magic number that the BATFEIEIO pulled out of it's fourth point of contact Lo! these many decades ago.

Except that, now that Short Barreled Rifles are legal to own in WA, I still have to pay Uncle Sam $200 for a tax stamp to be allowed to ask my CLEO for permission to buy...

And forget a Short Barreled Shotgun¹. Those are still evil and banned here.

(Yes, as an alternative to asking permission from The Man to be able to buy a health and safety device for my guns, or a rifle that is short enough to be more practical for home defense, I can establish a trust, and have the trust own them. The trust doesn't need to ask permission, it "merely" informs the CLEO that it has added to it's inventory. Except that there are indications that the bureaucrats are going after the "Trust Loophole".)²

Full-auto firearms are also Right Out here in the Evergreen State. Which may just as well, because when the Hughes Amendment got snuck into law³, and Uncle Sam banned new-manufacture of full-auto firearms from civilian ownership, the prices of the grandfathered firearms with a "happy switch" sky rocketed.

Anyway, I do envy those who live in areas where the purchase of a suppressor or SBR or SBS or FA is a matter of the CLEO rubber-stamping the paperwork. 

Admittedly, I also envy them the budget for purchasing these things. Sure would like a Kriss Vector SBR with a can...

(This was going to be longer, but I decided I didn't want to Go There today...)

***

1. For some reason, the magic length for a shotgun barrel is 18 inches. I have never really heard any explanation for why rifles can be 16, but shotguns have to be 18. Or why there should be a limit on how short a "long gun" barrel can be at all.
2. The definition of "loophole" being "Something that is legal but we don't like it." 
3. And into the NRA Conspiracy Theory Hall Of Fame.

GOAL Post 2015-10

Posted over here.

Mowed the lawns at both Alte und Neue Schloss Drang, and am feeling it, so am content to sit here in the recliner with Minnie applying kitty therapy.

Time for another couple ibuprofen, and maybe a beer, too...

Wotcher, Sir Terry

Damnit.

GOAL Post 2015-9

New GOAL Post.
List of bills that are still more-or-less alive is much shorter this week, and I've linked to each of the bills remaining in the table of bills.

***

FROM: GOAL goalwa@cox.net
TO: undisclosed-recipients:
SENT: Fri 3/6/2015 4:17 PM
SUBJECT: GOAL Post 2015-9
Legislative Update from Olympia 6 March 2015

• FREEDOM AGENDA
• BILLS LIVE, DIE
• FIVE DAYS UNTIL CHAMBER CUT-OFF
• PROCESS STARTS OVER NEXT THURSDAY

 I normally don't cover non-firearm-related bills, but I'll mention these two just once.  Two bills, part of the "Freedom Agenda" push by conservative legislators, have passed out of the House.  HB 1440, by Rep. David Taylor (R-15) prohibits the use of various cellphone collection technologies without authorization by a warrant, or consent by the cellphone user.  Among these is the so-called "Stingray" device, a cellphone signal interceptor.  HB 1639, also by Rep. Taylor, essentially does the same for unattended aerial vehicles (drones).  No warrant, no lookee -- or at least no entry as evidence into court.   1639 also creates a "cause of action" whereby a citizen may sue if he/she feels his/her rights have been violated.  Both reaffirm the need for a warrant before this emerging technology is used in collecting information/evidence from citizens.  

The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that the protections of the Bill of Rights extend to new technologies (as Justice Scalia did in his majority opinion in the Heller (2008) case, noting that the Second Amendment protects new firearm technologies such as "assault weapons.), but it's nice to see the state legislature reaffirm this principle.  On the down side, they allow exceptions for "emergencies."  The extent to which this will be abused remains to be seen.  I'm NOT adding either bill to the BILL STATUS column. 

All the action is still on the House and Senate floors, with bills being voted up or down.  An asterisk in front of the bill number indicates action taken this week, and the "Status" at the end of that line indicates where the bill currently sits.  Opposite chamber assignments are as noted.  HB 1731 has been moved to the House "X"-file, typically the holding pattern until next session -- an unusual move in mid-session.  The watered down Senate companion bill, SB 5381 passed the Senate and now sits in House Judiciary for the second half of the session. 

There are five days left until the chamber cut-off   -- Wednesday, 11 March at 5 p.m., the day all bills must pass their original chamber and move to the other side.  Despite marathon floor sessions, some bills simply won't make the deadline.  To paraphrase Matthew 22:14, many bills are filed but few are passed.  (Even those few are probably too many.)

Next Thursday, 12 March, the whole process starts over again, with House bills being heard in the Senate and Senate bills in the House.  They have to pass a policy committee, possibly a fiscal committee, then move on for a floor vote in the entire House or Senate.  Bills that pass without amendment go direct to Governor Inslee for his action -- sign, veto, partial veto, or allow to become law without his signature.  Bills that are amended on the opposite side must be returned to the originating chamber for approval or a conference committee.

BILL STATUS:

QOTD, 03/05/15

I just started reading Inventing Freedom, by Daniel Hannan, Member of European Parliament for South East England.

...to the Eurocrat, "unregulated” is more or less synonymous with "illegal."

For "Eurocrat", one can easily substitute, say, "Bureaucrat." Or "Statist." Or "Leftist."

The full quote runs thus:

British Euro-skepticism owes a great deal to a resentment of what is seen as unnecessary meddling, but, to the Eurocrat, "unregulated” is more or less synonymous with "illegal." I see the difference almost every day. Why, I often find myself asking in the European Parliament, do we need a new EU directive on, let's say, herbal medicine? Because, comes the answer there isn't one . In England, herbalists have been self regulating since the reign of Henry VIII. In most of Europe, such a state of affairs could never have come about.

The same "reasoning" leads to seeing "loopholes" anywhere the statist sees free men and women doing as they please.