Trouble in the 98-Double-Ought-3

 My friendly neighborhood gun store, Federal Way Discount Guns, is in the news for defying  Washingtons ban on standard capacity magazines. 

Federal Way Discount Guns faces lawsuit for illegally selling high-capacity gun magazines

On the store’s Instagram account, the company wrote on Dec. 7: “We are in the crosshairs of the WA AG. We will fight this until the end and are going to need your support in doing so. Business will continue as usual. We are committed to serving the people of this state and nation, NOT the state.”

King County judge orders Federal Way Discount Guns to stop high-capacity magazine sales

I love this bit:

The Federal Way gun store also houses an indoor shooting range, which is used by the Federal Way Police Department for training. Department officials told the Mirror in Dec. 2022 that the department will continue to train at the site.

“The fact that the indoor range is within the city limits enhances our operational readiness by keeping officers in the city and available for calls for service, while greatly reducing the travel expenses incurred for firearms training outside the city,” said Cmdr. Kurt Schwan of Federal Way Police. “We utilize the facilities throughout the year for department-wide training, one on one training with an instructor, and individual firearms practice.”

If you watched Top Shot you saw Commandeer Schwan on, IIRC, Season 3. 

Another local store, WGS in Tacoma, got similar charges, but blamed  a new employee and settled. So I wont be visiting them any time soon...

When Joe Waldron, who used to do the GOAL Posts that I used to transcribe here, was asked about legal challenges to some gun control laws, he used to ask in reply "Are you volunteering to be the test case?" The point being that sometimes you need someone with standing to make the legal challenge. 

Now, a legal challenge has already been filed, and put on hold pending the results of similar cases on the least coast. (Trial date set for Washington’s ban on high-capacity gun magazine sales.)

And now we have a name and a face to attach to the case.

At the amateur radio club's meeting last month I asked a fellow member, whom I know frequents the weekly matches there, if there was a Mo Defense Fund yet. 

There is now:

Federal Way Discount Guns was previously featured in the following posts:

• One Step Back, Two Steps Forward?
• Another Step Forward
• "Urban Defensive Tactics" class, 12/14/14

Let it be known...

 Let it be known that on this day I triggered a leftist.

(IM conversation at work re: mask mandate being ruled illegal)

Her: Trump-appointed judge in Florida. Meh.

Me: U.S. Constitution. Separation of Powers. Meh yourself.

It's amazing how many people that trumpeted (heh) judges overruling President Trump  are now losing their shit. 

Not surprising, just... amazing.

FCC Reminder

 

Amateur & Personal Radio Users Reminded Not to Use Radios in Crimes

• Full Title: Warning: Amateur and Personal Radio Services Licensees and Operators May Not Use Radio Equipment to Commit or Facilitate Criminal Acts
• Document Type(s): Public Notice
• Bureau(s): Enforcement

Description:
The FCC Enforcement Bureau issued today an advisory to remind licensees and operators in the Amateur and Personal Radio Services that they may not use radio equipment to commit or facilitate crimes.

• DA/FCC #: DA-21-73

The ARRL has posted the full text here. 

To clarify: The Personal Radio Service includes the cheap blister-pack FRS radios you can buy on the end cap at Wally World, the slightly more expensive and maybe slightly higher quality GMRS radios you have to actually look for. FRS radios require no license, GMRS radios do, but its a blanket; you, as owner, buy a license and it covers all the units you own, and whoever you allow to use one.

The Amateur Radio Service is, well, amateur radio operators. You have to take a test to get the license. As such, any licensed ham KNOWS you can't use any of these devices in the commission of a crime. 

So why now? Well, one might suggest that this is too little to late.

For about 10 years now you have been able to buy extremely cheap, Chicom made, handheld radios on Amazon. And when I say "extremely cheap", I mean that they cost a little more than that blister-pack pair of FRS radios. 

Also, while they transmit on the frequency you program in, they signal is very "dirty", with what are technically referred to as "spurious transmissions" or "spatter." In fact, bench testing indicates that most of these Chicom units, sometimes called "Kaodungs"as a mocking form of the names of many of these. (They're Chinese. They come from the same factories, made by the same slave labor, sold with different brand names. Or aliases, take your pick)

They are also problematic because they come off the boat able to transmit on many bands which it is illegal to transmit on in the USA without the appropriate licensing. And I am not talking about amateur bands, either. No, I'm talking about bands that are reserved for commercial or government or public safety use. Bands that you can get severe fines or jail time for transmitting on. 

Now, for decades it has been generally accepted that amateur radio operators will acquire radios that operate on any mode or frequency range and modify them to operate where they have operating privileges. And it is not illegal to own a radio you don't have the license to transmit on, as long as... you don't transmit.

And it is legal to use any communications means at hand if life safety is at risk. (Although there's a story about a ham who called for help on a public safety frequency, and got the help and arrested for "interfering with public safety" or some-such, so use with caution.)

ARRL has tested these "Kaodung" units, and like I said above, they have very messy, very bad signals. In fact, they probably do not meet Federal standards for use. Uncle Sam has been trying to stop the influx, to no avail. 

Sometime in the last few months I heard that antifa was using these things to coordinate their mostly peaceful protests. 

I almost titled this post "Too little, too late."

(See also my post "Hammy Stuff" from October 2018.)

"Hygienic Fascism"

Hygienic fascism: Turning the world into a 'safe space' — but at what cost? | TheHill

Author Aldous Huxley once said, “A thoroughly scientific dictatorship will never be overthrown.”

Even as we try to battle the COVID-19 pestilence, we may be contracting a more dangerous virus — hygienic fascism. This involves a process when our political leaders defer to a handful of “experts,” amid what Dr. Joseph Ladopo, an associate professor at the UCLA School of Medicine, describes as an atmosphere of “COVID-19-induced terror.”

Ideologically, hygienic fascism is neither right nor left, nor is it simply a matter of taking necessary precautions. It is about imposing, over a long period of time, highly draconian regulations based on certain assumptions about public health. In large part, it regards science not so much as a search for knowledge but as revealed “truth” with definitive “answers.” Anyone opposed to the conventional stratagem, including recognized professionals, are largely banished as mindless Trumpistas, ignoramuses, or worse.

I must confess, I was surprised, most of the articles I've seen at The Hill.com tend to be more on the Big Government/Social Justice Snowflakery end of the spectrum than in Rugged Individualism's neighborhood, although it is very true that I don't go there enough to be able to say that my impression of their material is conclusive.

But there they are running this article, too: Facial recognition: The other reason we may need a face mask | TheHill

Don’t get out of the hard-learned habit of covering your face, even if you live in a place that will soon no longer require it. Long after the pandemic recedes, we may still need our N-95 respirators, surgical masks and DIY bandana coverings. Marking the triumph over COVID-19, when it finally happens, should not include a bonfire of masks. This symbol of the coronavirus fight may prove just as crucial against a different foe altogether.

Also spreading fast, but largely outside of global health debates and meaningful scrutiny, is facial recognition. We’ve had Apple’s handy Face ID since 2017, of course, with its 30,000 invisible facial dots that coalesce into a phone-unlocking faceprint, but potentially more perturbing applications are already here or around the corner. Face-Six wants to reduce medical errors and fraud by promising to help hospitals “identify patients whenever necessary, conscious or unconscious.” ISM Connect has scanned crowds at Taylor Swift’s concerts to weed out stalkers and generate tour promotion metrics. Clearview AI has been used by over 600 law enforcement agencies to solve cases from shoplifting to murder. So private it listed a fake Manhattan address as its business location, Clearview AI sold a product that allows users to take a picture of someone they are curious about and obtain links to public photos and sites pertaining to this person.

The power that such apps must bestow is suggested in another purveyor’s name, iOmniscient. Its site boasts of clients in 60 countries and over 30 industries, including retail, where it measures customers’ footpaths, visit frequency and dwell time. iOmniscient “excels in uncontrolled environments with non-cooperative individuals,” which would explain its suspected use during Hong Kong’s 2019 pro-democracy protests. In response to the potential surveillance, demonstrators toppled smart lampposts believed to house the technology, destroyed CCTV cameras, hid themselves under umbrellas -- and donned face masks.

These pieces are from the Opinion pages of TheHill.com,  not "news", but still, I'm surprised.

Maybe there's hope after all.

Because you knew they would...

Second Amendment Foundation: SAF, NRA FILE FEDERAL LAWSUIT CHALLENGING INITIATIVE 1639

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation and National Rifle Association have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging gun control Initiative 1639 in Washington State, on several grounds.


The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. In addition to SAF and NRA, plaintiffs include gun dealers and young adults in the affected age group.

The lawsuit challenges the measure on the grounds that it violates the commerce clause by banning sales of rifles to non-residents, and that it unconstitutionally impairs the rights guaranteed by the First, Second and Fourteenth Amendments, and Article I Section 24 of the Washington State constitution by preventing the sale to otherwise qualified adults under age 21 of certain rifles.

“We are also considering additional legal challenges,” SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb confirmed. “We are disappointed that too many Evergreen State voters were fooled into supporting this 30-page gun control scheme, despite overwhelming law enforcement opposition. This initiative is an affront to the constitutional rights enshrined in the Second Amendment and the Washington state constitution, especially for young adults.

“We’re determined to fight this egregious measure because constitutionally-protected rights should never be subject to a popularity vote,” he stated. “The wealthy elitists behind I-1639 want to turn a right into a regulated privilege. This measure was only designed to have a chilling effect on the exercise of a constitutional right by honest citizens while having no impact at all on criminals, and we cannot let it go unchallenged.”

“The NRA is committed to restoring the Second Amendment rights of every law-abiding Washingtonian,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director of NRA’s Institute for Legislative Action. “I-1639 violates the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens and puts people at risk. This lawsuit is the first step in the fight to ensure that Washingtonians are free to exercise their fundamental right to self-defense.

“The NRA will fight to overturn this unconstitutional initiative. We will not sit idly by while elitist anti-gun activists attempt to deny everyday Americans their fundamental right to self-defense,” concluded Cox.

“While a handful of billionaires spending millions of dollars were able to buy votes, it is our hope they can’t buy the judges,” Gottlieb said.

 

WA: I1639 Update from SAF

Second Amendment Foundation:SAF, CCRKBA CONTEND I-1639 INVALID; ‘DOESN’T MEET LEGAL GUIDELINES’

BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation and Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today raised serious new concerns about the validity of Initiative 1639, the gun control measure now gathering signatures, because petitions do not appear to meet state-mandated guidelines for having a “full, true, and correct copy of the proposed measure” printed on the back.
Having already raised the issue of readability as required by state law, the two organizations now believe that in its printed form on the back of each petition, I-1639 does not meet the “full, true and correct” requirement. SAF and CCRKBA examined the printed text on an official petition and discovered that language designated to be changed or removed is not “lined out,” nor are proposed new statutory additions underlined as they appear in the version submitted to the state and published on the Secretary of State’s website.

“We warned earlier this week that the tiny print on I-1639 petitions makes the document unreadable according to several people who have contacted us,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “If you look closely, which requires a magnifying glass, this new problem becomes obvious.

“We immediately advised our attorney about this,” he added. “He already reached out to the initiative sponsors about the readability issue, but they didn’t respond. If they are so careless about knowing what is, or is not, shown on their own petitions, how is anyone else supposed to know?

“They’re asking people to sign an initiative that is difficult, if not impossible to read,” Gottlieb observed. “And now we’ve discovered that even if people can read the fine print, it does not appear to be a ‘true and correct copy’ of the proposed measure as submitted to the state.

“What are voters supposed to think about this,” he wondered. “How are they supposed to know what they’re being asked to change? How can they tell the difference between what would become law, and what would be replaced? Are they simply expected to sign a document they can’t read and vote on a measure they don’t understand? That’s not democracy, that’s Trojan Horse politics.

“If these petitions, which are not compliant with state law, are turned in,” Gottlieb vowed, “our organizations will seek to have them invalidated by the court.”

SOS also weighed in: More legality issues with I-1639 gun control petitions
 

GOAL Alert 2018-2

Action needed!

or

BOHICA!

***

FROM: GOAL WA (goalwa@cox.net)(Joe Waldron)

TO: undisclosed recipients

SENT: Sun 2/25/2018 6:27 AM

SUBJECT: GOAL Alert 2018-2

GOAL Alert 2018-2

Legislative alert from Olympia25 February 2018

HOUSE COUNTERPART TO SB 6620

ACTION NEEDED, NOW!

I’d say I’m sorry for the rush of messages, but I’m not.The rush is caused by end-of-session manipulation by Democrat “leadership” in Olympia, and calls for a strong response.

As I have posted frequently, it ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings.And she’s not scheduled to sing until midnight on 8 March (a week from this coming Thursday). While the legislature sets cut-off dates and other procedural processes to keep bills moving and cull out other bills, the bottom line is that these are not written in the state Constitution, they are internal rules adopted by the legislature and may be changed by the legislature at will.

The House has filed a “counterpart bill”, HB 3004, to SB 6620.A counterpart bill is a verbatim duplicate of the bill filed in the other chamber. If both pass unamended, it/they go straight to the governor for his signature.

SB 6620/HB 3004 is a 14 section, 28 page bill in their words, “Improving security in schools and the safety of our students.” What it is is a Trojan horse, gun control hidden under the guise of the standard Democrat mantra “It’s for the children.”

Part I of the bill is a single section less than one page in length and talks about unspecified funding for “school emergency response systems.” Part II, “Students protecting students,” is three more sections spread over 10 pages and discusses nominally establishes a program whereby students may – anonymously if so desired – report potential threats to school safety and sets out procedures, including court action, to be followed, as well as identity protection for all involved in the process up to and including law enforcement and court personnel.

Part III is the zinger, “Semiautomatic rifles or shotguns with tactical

features.” 18 pages, 24 sections describing the offending firearms as semi-auto rifles or shotguns with detachable magazines (mostly the features such as pistol grip, thumbhole stock, flash hider, grenade launcher – the standard litany of evil features from the federal 1994 Clinton/Feinstein “assault weapon ban”). There are some omissions here but I’m not going to identify them. Please note that these definitions do not include tube-fed firearms or manually operated firearms.

The principal focus in Part III is shifting “semiautomatic rifles and shotguns” to the same category as that applied to handguns: they can only be sold to individuals age 21 and over, and are subject to the additional requirements for handguns: additional state paperwork and waiting periods (with the existing CPL exemption).

Keep in mind, under I-594 ALL firearm transfers must be processed by a licensed dealer, meaning that de facto registration already exists via the FFL’s required record-keeping, but this would effectively add offending semi-auto firearms to the state pistol registry, creating an on-line data base of such firearms.

It also increases the state firearm dealers license fee from $125 to $150.

Text of SB6620: http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2017-18/Pdf/Bills/Senate%20Bills/6620.pdf

Text of HB 3004 has not been posted yet, but the bill’s home page is at: http://app.leg.wa.gov/billsummary?BillNumber=3004&Chamber=House&Year=2017:

It is the intention of legislative “leadership” to ram this bill through before the end of the session.How much time will be given to public testimony remains to be seen – at this point nu public hearings are scheduled.

It is imperative that you contact your legislators as soon as possible to ask that they remove Part III from the bill.Parts I and II are likely legitimate, but Part III is strictly a ploy to use school and children’s safety as a cover for more gun control.

You can find your legislators by visiting: http://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder

Once you find your district, simply scroll down to see your Senator and Representatives listed.Click on their name and it will take you to their information, including a link to e-mail them.

Or you can call the Legislative Hotline toll-free at (800) 562-6000.

We need to flood the legislature with you going on record opposing Part III of SB 6620/HB 3004.

This is just step one on their agenda.There is already discussion of raising the age limit for the purchase of ALL firearms to age 21. The Constitution does not impose an age limit on the exercise of fundamental, enumerated (listed) constitutional rights.Not to mention the fact that you can enlist in the military, or be drafted, and fight for your country at age 18.

If anyone receiving this is attending the WAC gun show in Puyallup today, please make copies of this and take them to the show.Thank you.

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Posted by: GOAL WA goalwa@cox.net

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Short read of the day: The Gresham’s Law of Law

Recently started receiving the daily digest from Law & Liberty, maintained by the Liberty Fund, same folks who do the Online Library of Liberty.

Here's an example of why:

 The Gresham's Law of Law - Law & Liberty

by Mike Rappaport

In economics, Gresham’s Law is the law that say “bad money drives out good money.” In law, there is a similar law – deviant or problematic lawmaking drives out orthodox or legitimate lawmaking. This occurs in both constitutional law and administrative law.

Let’s start with constitutional law. The law of the Constitution is supposed to be established through the constitutional enactment process and the constitutional amendment process. Yet, it is well known that the Supreme Court does not always follow this legitimate method of constitutional law making, and instead changes or updates the Constitution through judicial lawmaking.

It is sometimes thought that these two types of lawmaking can coexist, but it has become increasingly clear that this is not the case. Since the New Deal, and especially as the Court has engaged in more judicial updating, the constitutional amendment process has atrophied. The main reason is that a constitutional amendment can only pass if it is supported by a consensus of the country. And developing a consensus may take a long time and may require compromise.

And then there's administrative law. Just as Constitutional Amendments don't happen due to Supreme Court rulings, Congress leaves most rule-making up to unaccountable bureaucrats.

Go read the whole thing, like I said, it's short.

GOAL Post 2017-14

FROM: GOAL WA goalwa@cox.net  (Joe Waldron)

TO: undisclosed recipients

SENT: Fri 4/7/2017 3:38 PM

SUBJECT: GOAL Post 2017-14

Legislative Update from Olympia 7 April 2017

• HB 1100 PASSES SENATE
• SB 5552 PASSES HOUSE
• SB 5268 PASSES TO HOUSE RULES
• HBs 1501 AND 1612 PASS TO SENATE RULES
• TWO DOWN, THREE TO GO
• GENERAL CUT-OFF 12 APRIL
• SPECIAL SESSION?

Two bills passed out of their respective chamber this week.HB 1100 passed out of the Senate. We’re waiting to see if the counterpart bill (duplicate) passes out of the House. One way or another, unless the governor vetoes either bill, you can expect a postcard or e-mail renewal notice 90 days before your CPL expires.

SB 5552 passed out of the House but must go back to the Senate to have them concur (or non-concur) in the House amendment. The bill slightly relaxes a few of the I-594 background check requirements. We tried to amend the bill to authorize direct transfers between CPL holders, both of whom have passed a more stringent background check than that required by I-594.The amendment was blocked in the Democrat House.

HBs 1501 (NICS denial reporting) and 1612 (suicide prevention) and SB5268 sit in their respective Rules Committees awaiting a floor vote. They must pass by next Wednesday, 12 April.

After next Wednesday, the focus shift to bills that approve and implement the budget. The only non-budget bills that may be voted on are those that were amended in the second chamber and need to be sent to a conference committee (both House and Senate members) to reconcile and then get an up-or-down vote.

The long session years (odd-numbered years) are general budget adoption years. If a budget has not been adopted by the constitutional end of the session (midnight, 23 April this cycle), a special session of up to 30 days must be called. While the principal focus of the special session may be the budget, ALL bills not passed during the regular session may be reconsidered. So special sessions can be sneaky and dangerous.

And, as we have seen in the last two budget years (2013, 2015), with split control of the legislature, it may take more than one special session to agree on a budget. Two special sessions may be necessary, possibly three. The whole idea with the Inslee administration is to squeeze as much tax money blood out of the productive population base rock as they can to fund their pet projects (like sanctuary state support of illegal aliens).

BILL NUMBER	SUBJECT	SPONSOR	STATUS	GOAL POSITION:
SHB 1100	CPL renewal notice	Blake (D-19)	Passed	SUPPORT
HB 1501	Illegal purchase of firearms	Hansen (D-23)	S. Rules	SUPPORT
2SHB 1612	Suicide prevention	Orwall (D-33)	S. Rules	SUPPORT
SB 5268	CPL renewal notice	Takko (D-19)	H. Rules	SUPPORT
SB 5552	Certain exemptions to I-594	Pedersen (D-43)	Passed	SUPPORT

L&J = Law & Justice, Jud = Judiciary, HumSer = Human Services, Aprop = Appropriations, Fin = Finance, W&M = Ways & Means“S” before a bill number indicates Substitute (amended).

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!!!

1-800-562-6000TDD 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). Each bill’s web page contains a link to any public hearing at the bottom of the page.

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 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):

• Puyallup 29-30 April
• Monroe 6-7 May

"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 2017 Gun Owners Action League of WA

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Posted by: GOAL WA

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