Monday, January 11, 2016

GOAL Post 2016-1

The first GOAL Post of the New Year. Joe sent this out on Friday, but I was still (literally) At Sea, and am just now getting to it.
As usual, a few minor changes made to formatting for the sake of the blog. The list of old bills still "in play" is quite long, alas. With so many Washington State specific items, this GOAL Post does not address Federal/Obama issues.)
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FROM: GOAL WA <goalwa@cox.net>
TO: undisclosed-recipients:
SENT: Fri 1/8/2016 1:54 PM
SUBJECT: GOAL Post 2016-1

Legislative Update from Olympia8 January 2016

·         LEGISLATURE CONVENES MONDAY, 13 JANUARY
·         LEGISLATIVE TUTORIAL
·         POTENTIAL IMPACT OF ELECTION YEAR
·         34 BILLS HELD OVER FROM 2015 SESSION
·         NEW PRE-FILED BILLS
·         NO PUBLIC HEARINGS SCHEDULED YET
·         LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR
·         LEGISLATOR DIRECT TELEPHONE NUMBERS

(Note: There’s a lot going on with regard to the President’s “gun violence initiative. “Few details are available at this time. But GOAL Post has an Olympia focus and will not cover the other Washington.)

The second regular session of the 64th (biennial) Washington state legislature convenes Monday, January 11th for its short (60 day) session. Control of the legislature remains split, with Democrats controlling the House of Representatives with 50 seats, while the minority Republicans have 48. From a gun owner’s perspective, this view is skewed by the fact that a small handful of Democrats side solidly with gun owners on those issues. While we would have the votes necessary to pass good or block bad bills, House Democrats still control leadership positions in that chamber, and thus control which bills get votes. The Senate remains controlled by a Majority Coalition of 25 Republicans and one Democrat. From a standpoint of stopping bad bills, we should be all right, but it will be difficult to move pro-gun legislation forward.

Legislation 101.For those of you not familiar with how the legislative process works, this page has links to several quick tutorials, including how a bill becomes a law, how to read a bill, where to access bill language and how to testify in public hearings: http://leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/ComingToTheLegislature.aspx

2016 is a major election year. To a limited degree, that might influence how elected officials vote on controversial issues. They’ll certainly be paying more attention to public opinion than in non-election years. Your calls, e-mails and letters DO MATTER. It’s called “grassroots lobbying.”

As this is the second year of the biennium, bills that were filed last year and not passed by the legislature remain available for Consideration. 34 firearm-related bills, good and bad, from 2015 are still in the hopper (see list below).In addition, four additional gun-related bills were pre-filed before the session started (at the end of the list below)

At this point, three days before the start of the session, no public hearings have been scheduled on any firearm-related bills.

One of the first items of business in each session is the adoption of the session calendar, identifying dates by which bills must clear various hurdles. A bill that fails to clear the policy committee or chamber floor by the designated date is generally considered dead for the year, although they may be “resurrected” by parliamentary procedure. I’ll post the cut-off dates for the 2014 session in the next issue of GOAL Post.

The Democrat caucus has extended its reach from urban and suburban areas to rural areas. In these districts, the enthusiasm for gun control is diluted. If the Democrats expect to hold these rural districts in the next election, they will have to tread carefully on the gun issue. If you live in a rural or even suburban district with Democrat Representatives or a Democrat Senator, it is important that you call their office and express concern about your gun rights. Ask them to keep you informed of any gun-related legislation. This lets them know that you are watching them on this issue.

The Legislature has not yet published new telephone and office directories because legislators are not sworn in until Monday, 11 January. The following links can be used at that time to identify direct contact information:



BILL STATUS:
HOLDOVER BILLS FROM 2015
Bill #
Subject
Prime sponsor
Status
GOAL Position
HB 1119
Hunter education issues
Blake (D-17)
H Ag
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)
H Jud
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 Rules
OPPOSE
HB 1722
Short barreled rifles
Hayes (R-10)
H Jud
SUPPORT
HB 1747
Safe storage of firearms
Kagi (D-32)
H Jud
OPPOSE
HB 1857
Extreme protective orders
Jinkins (D-27)
H Aprop
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
HB 2164
Exceptions to I-594 background checks
Shea (R-4)
H Jud
SUPPORT
SSB 5036
Penalizes criminal misuse of body armor
O'Ban (R-28)
S. Rules
NEUTRAL
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 Rules
SUPPORT
SB 5539
Exempts LEO’s from three day waiting period
Roach (R-31)
S Rules
SUPPORT
SSB 5579
Exempts licensed scty guards from b/g checks
Dammeier (R-25)
S Rules
SUPPORT
SB 5615
Exempts military members from b/g checks
Benton (R-17)
S Rules
SUPPORT
SB 5643
Mental health/guns
O'Ban (R-28)
S Ment Hlth
OPPOSE
SB 5658
Reporting of mental health commitment
Dansel (R-7)
S Rules
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 Rules
SUPPORT
SB 6015
NRA license plate
Roach (R-31)
S Rules
SUPPORT

NEW BILLS
Bill #
Subject
Prime sponsor
Status
GOAL Position
HB 2325
Hunter ed training in schools
Muri (R-28)
Pending
SUPPORT
HB 2354
Bans “assault weapons” and certain magazines
Moeller (D-49)
Pending
OPPOSE
SB 6158
Firearm transfers at non-profit events
Dammeier (R-25)
Pending
SUPPORT
SB 6165
Allows possession of short barreled rifles
Takko (D-19)
Pending
SUPPORT

Key to abbreviations:S. = Senate, H. = House, Jud = Judiciary, K-12 = Education, L&J = Law & Justice, Trans = Transportation, W&M = Ways and Means

HEARING(S) SCHEDULED:

At this point there are no hearings scheduled on firearm-related bills.

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!!!

1-800-562-6000TDD 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" or to "goalwa@cox.net.".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 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.

Upcoming WAC gun show(s):
·         Puyallup: 9-10 January
·         Monroe: 23-24 January

"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 2016 Gun Owners Action League of WA

Posted by: GOAL WA <goalwa@cox.net>

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