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2007 Gun Owners Action League Email Alerts and Posts P. O. Box 50143, Bellevue, WA 98015-0143 If you wish to recieve GOAL email alerts directly please contact GOAL president Joe Waldron by email and ask to be added to that list. GOAL Alert 3-2007 20 February 2007EIGHT DAYS LEFT FOR 5197 TO PASS COMMITTEEYOU MUST CALL YOUR LEGISLATORS TODAY JUST SAY NO TO SB 5197 SB 5197 will come up for a vote in the Senate Labor, Commerce, Research & Development Committee in the next eight days. If it passes out of committee, it goes to Senate Rules awaiting a Senate floor vote, which could come in the next three weeks. There are a number of reasons why SB 5197 is a bad bill and does not deserve to become law. Several of these reasons are listed below. It is imperative that you contact your Senator and politely but firmly ask them to vote no on SB 5197. Why SB 5197 should not pass: 1. There is NO SUCH THING as a gun show loophole. All laws that apply outside of gun shows apply at gun shows as well. 2. Gun shows are NOT a source of criminals’ guns. Absolutely NO hard evidence was offered in the public hearing that guns are being sold to felons or other criminals at gun shows, just a lot of "I believe" and "I feel" In addition to the Justice Department study showing gun shows are the least likely source of criminals’ guns, a new study from FBI showed no guns used in police assaults came from gun shows. 3. The DEFINITION of "gun show" in the bill is TOO BROAD. It would include charitable events such as Ducks Unlimited, Safari Club and Rocky Mountain Elk banquets and many competitive shooting events (matches & skeet/trapshoots) where participants frequently trade firearms. It even includes acres of parking lots surrounding gun shows and other events, totally beyond the control of event organizers. 4. It holds the gun show (or banquet/match event) promoter CRIMINALLY RESPONSIBLE for the actions of third parties. If two individuals in the back of the room or in the parking lot choose to ignore the law and trade guns, the event promoter can be charged with a gross misdemeanor, subject to a year in jail or a $5,000 fine. No other kind of event promoter in the state is held CRIMINALLY LIABLE for third party behavior. 5. Supporters claim SB 5197 will LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD between licensed dealers and private sellers. THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE. It will upset the field in favor of the dealers. In order to take the time to process a private transfer, as the bill requires, dealers charge typically $20 to $35 as a paperwork fee. This gives licensed dealers, who do NOT charge for papering their own guns, a decided advantage. And it hurts the consumer, who pays the bill. 6. SB 5197 is primarily TARGETED AGAINST THE WASHINGTON ARMS COLLECTORS (WAC), the only gun show in the state that limits gun transfers to members, AND REQUIRES BACKGROUND CHECKS for membership. The WAC puts on the greatest number of gun shows conducted in Washington, and puts on the ONLY gun shows conducted in the greater Seattle area. It is no coincidence that ALL of SB 5197’s sponsors come from King and Pierce counties, and all but two of SB 5197’s House counterpart bill (HB 1026) sponsors, come from Snohomish, King and Pierce counties. 7. Several years ago the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that gun shows are a PROTECTED FORM OF EXPRESSION under the 1st Amendment. SB 5197 tramples BOTH FIRST AND SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS. 8. The bill fails to address a FAR MORE LIKELY SOURCE of criminals’ guns: classified ads in local newspapers. The same newspapers that are editorializing in favor of closing the "gun show loophole" are themselves a bigger loophole by their own definition. Maybe they don’t like competition? PLEASE CALL, E-MAIL OR WRITE YOUR SENATORS TODAY. THE GUN SHOW YOU SAVE MAY BE YOUR OWN! TOLL FREE LEGISLATIVE HOTLINE 1-800-562-6000 Link to combined House/Senate e-mail list: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/memberemail/Default.aspx Senate roster with links to telephone numbers http://www.leg.wa.gov/Senate/Senators/ House roster with links to telephone numbers http://www.leg.wa.gov/House/Representatives/ http://www.leg.wa.gov/house/members%20by%20district.htm It would also be appropriate to call Senate Labor & Commerce committee chair Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36) and POLITELY ask her to withhold a committee vote on SB 5197. The bill is fatally flawed and does not deserve further consideration. Senator Kohl-Welles office telephone: (360) 786-7670 Senator Kohl-Welles facsimile number: (360) 786-1999 Senator Kohl-Welles e-mail address: kohl-welles.jeanne@leg.wa.gov GOAL Post 2007-7Legislative Update from Olympia 16 Feb 2007 HB 1126 PASSES HOUSE 95-0; SENT TO SENATE JUDICIARY SB 5456 AWAITS SENATE ACTION NEW BILLS INTRODUCED SB 5197 STILL IN COMMITTEE PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULED ON HBs 2177 and 2268 CALL YOUR SENATOR HB 1126, the bill that waives the $10 late CPL renewal fee for military personnel returning from overseas, passed out of the House of Representatives on a 95-0 vote with three members excused (attending to other business). Upon arrival in the Senate it was assigned to the Senate Judiciary Committee for action. SB 5456, a bill to allow certain aliens to enter Washington with firearms for sporting purposes, still sits in Senate Rules awaiting a move to a full floor vote. Rep. Maralyn Chase (D-32), not known as a friend of gun owners, introduced HB 2168. The bill directs the Superintendent of Public Instruction to develop a firearms safety course similar to the NRA’s "Eddie Eagle" program, specifically to include the mantra "Stop, Don’t touch, Leave the area, Tell an adult." Unfortunately, the bill requires the course be available, on a voluntary basis, up through the 12th grade. Eddie Eagle is a gun avoidance program, suitable for young children but definitely inadequate for adolescents, the age where most firearm accidents occur. Teens need the Home Firearm Safety Course. This would appear to be another pro-gun bill designed to give cover to anti-gun legislators (not all of the bills sponsors are anti-gun, but some are, as is the prime sponsor). SB 5197, the gun show "loophole" (actually gun show killer) bill remains in the Senate Labor, Commerce, Research and Development Committee. It could come out of committee at any time. Above and beyond the underlying incorrect premise of the bill that gun shows are a common source of guns for criminals, the bill has fatal procedural flaws. This is the only (proposed) law of its kind that holds an event promoter criminally liable for third party actions beyond his or her control. To include outside in the parking lot! Bad law, bad precedent. A public hearing will be held in House Hearing Room A in the John L. O’Brien Building at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, 20 February. On the surface, it would appear the bills are just shifting the description of "dangerous weapons" contained in RCW 9.41.250 to other sections of RCW. The need for these changes is not clear, and until it is, we will not support the bills. We still need individuals to call, write or e-mail their legislators, especially their Senators, and ask them to oppose SB 5197. If you haven’t called already, please do so in the next few days. All you need to do is leave a simple message with the Hotline operator: Please vote NO on SB 5197. There is no gun show loophole. Criminals obtain their guns on the street, NOT from gun shows. No evidence of guns going from gun shows to the street was offered in the public hearing. A lot of hot air, but no hard facts. BILL STATUS: The following bills have been filed for the 2007-08 biennium: Bill # Subject Sponsor Status HB 1011 Alien firearm licenses Moeller (D-49) H. Jud. HB 1014 Mandatory safe storage Moeller (D-49) H. Jud. HB 1026 Gun show loophole Williams (D-22) H. Jud. HB 1126 CPL extension Morrell (D-25) S. Jud. HB 1633 Prohibit confis. during emerg. Roach (R-31) H. Jud. HB 1764 Prohibit stun guns for students Lantz (D-26) H. Jud. HB 2036 Shooting range protection Van De Wege (D-24) H. Jud. HB 2168 Gun safety education program Chase (D-32) H. Jud. HB 2177 Weapon definition Moeller (D-49) H. Jud. HB 2268 Weapons at schools Lantz (D-26) H. Jud. SB 5197 Gun show loophole Tom (D-48) S. Lab/Comm SB 5456 Alien firearm licenses Morton (R-7) S. Rules SB 5465 Restoration of gun rights Schoesler (R-9) S. Jud. SB 5516 Prohibit confis. during emerg. Stevens (R-39) S. Jud. SB 5791 School gun safety program Sheldon (D-35) S.Educ. Key to abbreviations: S. = Senate, H. = House, Jud = Judiciary, Educ = Early Learning/K-12 Education, Lab/Comm = Labor, Commerce, Research & Development HEARINGS SCHEDULED:Tues, 20 Feb House Judiciary Comm. House Hearing Room A HBs 2177 & 2268 6:00-8:00 p.m. JohnL. O’Brien Bldg GOAL POSITION ON BILLS: HB 1011 SUPPORT IF AMENDED HB 1014 OPPOSE HB 1026 OPPOSE HB 1126 SUPPORT HB 1633 SUPPORT HB 1764 NEUTRAL HB 2036 SUPPORT HB 2168 SUPPORT HB 2177 OPPOSE HB 2268 OPPOSE SB 5197 OPPOSE SB 5456 SUPPORT SB 5465 SUPPORT SB 5516 SUPPORT IF AMENDED SB 5791 SUPPORT 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 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) 454-4915 (work). 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): Monroe 10-11 March Puyallup 24-25 March "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 2007 Gun Owners Action League of WA GOAL Post 2007-6Legislative Update from Olympia 9 February 2007 NEW BILLS INTRODUCED -SB 5456 MOVES TO SENATE RULES -SB 5197 PUBLIC HEARING US 301 THEM 74 THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ATTENDED - CALL YOUR SENATORHouse Bills (HB) 2036 (Shooting range protection) and 2177 (Dangerous weapons) were introduced in the House and assigned to the House Judiciary Committee for action. HB 2036 was introduced by newly elected Rep. Kevin Van De Wege (D-24). The legislature passed range protection bills twice in the 1990s, only to have them vetoed by Governors Lowry and Locke. Maybe the third time is the charm. HB 2177 is a request bill from Board for Judicial Administration. We’ll have to look into this one before we take a position. It appears to be a simple language shift from one section of RCW 9.41 to another. As President Reagan once observed, trust, but verify. SB 5456, which opens the door to alien visitors bringing firearms to Washington for specific sporting purposes AND fixes the current moratorium on Alien Firearm License issue/renewal passed out of Senate Judiciary to Senate Rules. It appears both HB 1126 (GI CPL renewal late fee waiver) and SB 5456 may move to the House and Senate floor, respectively, next week for a full vote. The public hearing on SB 5197, the alleged gun show loophole bill, was conducted on Thursday, 8 February. Overall, it would appear we won that one on points. The "Kumbaya Express" brought 74 Washington Ceasefire supporters to Olympia to attend the hearing. Judicious car-pooling by gun rights advocates brought 301 of our supporters to the same hearing, filling four overflow rooms! We outnumbered the other side 4:1. Ceasefire supporters wore a small yellow button with the UN "politically correct revolver" (a revolver with the barrel tied in a knot). Our side had 3" diameter red and white "circle/slash" buttons covering the number "5197" (provided courtesy of GOAL). Guess which buttons were more visible? To level that playing field, Senate Labor & Commerce committee chair Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles limited testimony on the bill to two panels per side of four speakers each. Then she allowed three pro-5197 introduction speakers to open the discussion, vice the usual single bill prime sponsor. Some of the speakers on the pro-5197 panels included American Shooters & Hunters Association head Bob Ricker (turncoat former NRA and CCRKBA gun lobbyist), anti-gun advocacy researcher Garen Wintemute, Seattle Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske and an Auburn police officer. Considering the credentials they possessed, their testimony appeared weak, with a lot of "we feel" and "we believe," and few or no specifics. Our panels included NRA lobbyist Brian Judy, Hunters Heritage Council and longtime Oly lobbyist Ed Owens, Dr Mike Brown of Doctors for Sensible Gun Laws (who did a great job of refuting anti-gun "junk" science), former NRA director and senior editor of /Gun Week/ Dave Workman, CeaseFear (Seattle version of Pink Pistols) founder Ray Carter, retired Los Angeles County deputy sheriff and firearm forensics consultant Joe Horn (now a Lewis County resident), retired Los Angeles Police Department officer Mike McKinney and yours truly, Joe Waldron. That’s about as diverse a groups as you’ll find, and all committed pro-gun activists. We’d like to thank all of you who were able to attend the hearing. While the media talks about the "evil gun lobby" and such, our strength is not in high powered lobbyists as much as it is in strong grassroots. The bumper sticker "I am the gun lobby" says it all. A show of strength, and visits by constituents to individual legislators, carries a lot of weight in the legislature. We still need individuals to call, write or e-mail their legislators, especially their Senators, and ask them to oppose SB 5197. If you haven’t called already, please do so in the next few days. All you need to do is leave a simple message with the Hotline operator: Please vote NO on SB 5197. There is no gun show loophole. Criminals obtain their guns on the street, NOT from gun shows. No evidence of guns going from gun shows to the street was offered in the public hearing. A lot of hot air, but no hard facts.
BILL STATUS:
Key to abbreviations: S. = Senate, H. = House, Jud = Judiciary, Fish/Ecol = Fisheries, Ecology & Parks, JuvJust = Juvenile Justice, Educ = Early Learning/K-12 Education, Lab/Comm = Labor, Commerce, Research & Development, LocGov = Local Government, NatRes = Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks, PubSaf = Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness, W&M = Ways and Means
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 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) 454-4915 (work). 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): Monroe 10-11 FebruaryMonroe 10-11 March Puyallup 24-25 March
"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 Copyright 2007 Gun Owners Action League of WA GOAL Post 2007-5Legislative Update from Olympia 2 February 2007 -ANOTHER PRO-GUN BILL INTRODUCED -HB 1126 IN HOUSE RULES -HEARING HELD ON SBs 5456 AND 5465 -PUBLIC HEARING ON GUN SHOW BILL (SB 5197) -WASHINGTON CEASEFIRE PLANS BUS RUN TO OLYMPIA ATTEND HEARING - CALL YOUR SENATORSenator Tim Sheldon (D-35), one of the strongest pro-gun members of the legislature in EITHER party, has filed SB 5791, a bill that would create an elective K-12 school course covering firearms safety, history, and hands-on marksmanship training. The bill was assigned to the Senate Early Learning/K-12 Education Committee for action. At this time the bill has five Democrat and three Republican co-sponsors. And no hearing scheduled. HB 1126, which waives the $10 late CPL renewal fee for military members returning from overseas, has passed out of the House Judiciary Committee and awaits further action in House Rules. The bill could come up for a floor vote at any time. The Senate Judiciary Committee conducted a public hearing on Senate Bills 5456 (expanding alien firearm access in WA) and 5465 (creating a path to restoration of gun rights by individuals convicted of certain crimes). While the hearings went well, and both bills address needed solutions, their outcome in the Senate is cloudy. They may be offered as part of a trade for the gun show bill. While both 5456 and 5465 deserve passage in their own right, neither is worth accepting the impact of SB 5197, the gun show loophole bill.A public hearing has been scheduled in the Senate labor, Commerce, Research and Development Committee on SB 5197, the alleged gun show "loophole" bill. The hearing will be conducted at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 8^th , in Senate Hearing Room 4 in the John A. Cherberg Senate Office Building on the Capitol Campus. In a message to gun control supporters, Washington Ceasefire President Ralph Fascitelli informed them a bus would be available to take supporters to Olympia. Last year there were fewer than two dozen pro-gun-control individuals at the hearings. They’ve learned a lesson from us, and will try to stuff more Ceasefire members into the hearing room. Which in a round-about way is saying we need to ensure that WE outnumber the Washington Ceasefire crowd several times over. If you have to take an afternoon off or shift your work schedule, compare that to losing the Washington Arms Collectors gun shows and others put on across the state. In addition to the opportunities to examine and buy/sell/trade guns, gun shows offer a meeting place where we can discuss protection of our rights and plan strategies. Gun shows were ruled a protected form of expression by the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals several years ago. Don’t let a small cabal of anti-gun politicians block YOUR Second AND First Amendment rights! We still need individuals to call, write or e-mail their legislators, especially their Senators, and ask them to oppose SB 5197. If you haven’t called already, please do so in the next few days. All you need to do is leave a simple message with the Hotline operator: Please vote NO on SB 5197. There is no gun show loophole. Criminals obtain their guns on the street, NOT from gun shows. BILL STATUS:The following bills have been filed for the 2007-08 biennium: Bill # Subject Sponsor Status HB 1011 Alien firearm licenses Moeller (D-49) H. Jud. HB 1014 Mandatory safe storage Moeller (D-49) H. Jud. HB 1026 Gun show loophole Williams (D-22) H. Jud. HB 1126 CPL extension Morrell (D-25) H. Rules HB 1633 Prohibit confis. during emerg. Roach (R-31) H. Jud. HB 1764 Prohibit stun guns for students Lantz (D-26) H. Jud. SB 5197 Gun show loophole Tom (D-48) S. Lab/Comm SB 5456 Alien firearm licenses Morton (R-7) S. Jud. SB 5465 Restoration of gun rights Schoesler (R-9) S. Jud. SB 5516 Prohibit confis. during emerg. Stevens (R-39) S. Jud. SB 5791 School gun safety program Sheldon (D-35) S.Educ. Key to abbreviations: S. = Senate, H. = House, Jud = Judiciary, Fish/Ecol = Fisheries, Ecology & Parks, JuvJust = Juvenile Justice, Educ = Early Learning/K-12 Education, Lab/Comm = Labor, Commerce, Research & Development, LocGov = Local Government, NatRes = Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks, PubSaf = Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness, W&M = Ways and Means HEARINGS SCHEDULED: 8 February Senate Labor & Commerce Committee Senate Hearing Room 4 SB 5197 John A. Cherberg Bldg GOAL POSITION ON BILLS: HB 1011 SUPPORT IF AMENDED HB 1014 OPPOSE HB 1026 OPPOSE HB 1126 SUPPORT HB 1633 SUPPORT HB 1764 NEUTRAL SB 5197 OPPOSE SB 5456 SUPPORT SB 5465 SUPPORT SB 5516 SUPPORT IF AMENDED SB 5791 SUPPORT 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 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) 454-4915 (work). 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 3-4 February GOAL Alert 2-2007 31 January 2007PUBLIC HEARING ON SB 5197 THE "GUN SHOW LOOPHOLE" BILL The Senate Labor, Commerce, Research & Development Committee will conduct a public hearing on SB 5197 on Thursday, 8 February, at 3:30 p.m. The Senate Labor & Commerce Committee meets in Senate Hearing Room 4 in the John A. Cherberg Senate Office Building The John A. Cherberg building is located on the south side of the Legislative (capitol) building, just east of the "sundial" open area. A public cafeteria is located in the Joel A. Pritchard building,. Just south of the "sundial". A copy of SB 5197 can be downloaded at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill5197&year=2007 Scroll down to "Original bill" and click. TURN-OUT Two years ago more than 300 gun owners showed up at the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on several gun control bills, versus only a couple of dozen on the other side. That turnout had a major impact on the legislature and resulted in stopping all of the proposed anti gun bills. Washington Ceasefire learned that lesson. They have told their members they will run a bus or busses from Seattle to Olympia on February 8th to stuff the hearing room with gun control advocates. Lets ensure a warm greeting for them when they arrive with hundreds of courteous and friendly gun owners. DRESS While business suits are the "uniform of the day for lobbyists, citizens attending public hearings are not held to a specific dress code. Clean, neat, casual attire is entirely acceptable, especially in winter weather. NRA or gun club baseball caps, gun club badges and the like all send a positive signal about gun ownership. On the other hand, "I’ll give up my guns when they pry them from my cold, dead fingers" detracts from our message more than helping it. Ditto camouflage attire. There’s a time and a place for camo; Olympia is not it. DEMEANOR The "other side" would like nothing more than to portray us as a bunch of rednecks. Don’t give them the opportunity. The responsible, law-abiding gun-owning community will be on display here. Public hearings are a family event. Well-behaved children may find this an excellent learning opportunity (not to mention a justifiable afternoon off from school)! PARKING Parking in the immediate vicinity of the campus is limited, and the City of Olympia balances its budget every legislative session through active enforcement of the one-hour and two-hour residential parking zones south of the campus. Parking lots are located several blocks east of the campus, and limited paid parking is available in the diagonal streets running just east of the Legislative Building and Temple of Justice. Bring quarters! More information on parking is available at: http://www.leg.wa.gov/WorkingwithLeg/parking.htm http://www.leg.wa.gov/WorkingwithLeg/dashshuttle.htm SIGN-UP PROCEDURES A sign-up sheet for each bill being heard will be posted on a table just inside the hearing room. The sheet asks for your name, address, telephone and e-mail address, your position on the bill in question ("pro" or "con", "con" is the correct answer on SB 5197!), and whether or not you wish to testify. Even if you don’t want to testify on the bill, you should sign in to make your position (and your presence) known. Given the limited time for the hearing, very little oral testimony will be taken. If you have written testimony or a written statement with you, it can be delivered to the committee staff. WRITTEN TESTIMONY Should you elect to write testimony or a statement, be sure to include your name, address & telephone number, and if you know it, your legislative district. If you represent an organization, such as a gun club, state that in the introduction (be sure you have authority to speak for that organization; club elected officials are preferred). If you prepare written testimony, you should bring four copies with you. A copy should be left with the Labor & Commerce Committee staff. The other three copies should be given to the legislative aide for your state Senator and two Representatives. Additional information about testifying at public hearings may be found at http://www.leg.wa.gov/WorkingwithLeg/testify.htm VISIT YOUR LEGISLATORS This is a golden opportunity to visit with your state Senator and two Representatives. Constituents are the most important (an defective) lobbyists we have. Do not miss this opportunity to meet them, shake their hand, and give them your input on the gun show bill and other gun bills before the legislature (see the "Bill Status" section of the GOAL Post). I’ll be in the vicinity of the cafeteria from noon on to assist in locating legislators. TALKING POINTS ON SB 5197 - There is no such thing as the gun show loophole. All laws that apply elsewhere in the state apply at gun shows. Licensed dealers must comply with all state and federal laws governing their businesses. Private citizens are prohibited from selling firearms to anyone they have reason to believe is prohibited from possessing one. - According to the U.S. Department of Justice, gun shows are the LEAST LIKELY source of felons’ guns. Only 0.7% of felons surveyed acquired their guns at gun shows. Nearly 80% of criminals get their guns from family or friends ("strawman purchases" are already a felony) or "off the street" from illegal black-market gun sales. - None of the high visibility shooting incidents that occurred in the greater Seattle area over the past year involved a gun from a gun show. - The only gun show promoter in the greater Seattle area, the Washington Arms Collectors, limits firearm transfers to members. And WAC requires a background check before becoming a member. - Forcing private sales of firearms at gun shows to go through a federally-licensed dealer would add $25-35 processing fee to the cost of the firearm due to dealer paperwork charges. - The deeper impact of the "gun show loophole" bill is twofold: it would stifle all activity at gun shows, to include limiting their role in grassroots political activism (the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled gun shows a protected form of expression under the First Amendment). By requiring all transfers to be processed by a federally-licensed dealer, it would create a de facto registration system through the federal record-keeping requirements (an din the case of handguns, state record-keeping as well). - The term "unlicensed dealer" is an oxymoron. "Dealer" is clearly defined in both federal and state law. Occasional sales of firearms between private individuals does NOT constitute "dealing." There are other points that could be made. I’ll leave the rest up to you. MEDIA PUSH Expect to see editorials published in your local newspapers supporting SB 5197 and HB 1026. These are knee-jerk reactions by mainstream media who know nothing about gun shows and (generally) don’t care to learn. The best way to respond to this is with short, concise, letters to the editor, shooting holes in the myth of the alleged "gun show loophole." The best chance of getting a letter to the editor published is to limit it to 100-150 words and make one or two points about the issue. The idea is to get the word out to the public about the gun show issue. One or two of the talking points above, whittled down to 100 words, would be fine. Don’t cut-and-paste, use your own words. Additional information about the hearing will be published as it becomes available. I’ll cover it briefly in the GOAL Post to be distributed on Friday as well. (webmaster: Here is a map of some outlying Olympia lots; some shuttle lots) GOAL Post 2007-4Legislative Update from Olympia 26 January 2007MORE NEW BILLS INTRODUCED HB 1126 PUBLIC HEARING, PASSES OUT OF COMMITTEE PUBLIC HEARINGS SCHEDULED ON SBs 5456 AND 5465 CALL YOUR SENATOR Two new gun-related bills were filed this week, both prohibiting the confiscation of firearms during declared emergencies. SB 5516, by Senator Val Stevens, would prohibit confiscation of guns lawfully possessed during declared emergencies, but needs to be amended to delete confiscation authority already granted to certain government officials. HB 1633, by Representative Dan Roach, is a better bill intended to accomplish the same task. An additional bill, HB 1764, by Representative Pat Lantz, would prohibit the possession of electronic stun guns by students in the K-12 school system. While not a gun bill, it will amend state firearms code (RCW 9.41) so we’ll follow it here. A public hearing was conducted on HB 1126 by the House Judiciary Committee. I was the only person testifying on the bill. The bill passed out of the Judiciary Committee on a 10-0 vote and awaits action in the House Rules Committee. The bill waives the late renewal fee for concealed pistol licenses (CPLs) held by servicemembers returning from overseas. A public hearing is scheduled in the Senate Judiciary Committee on SB 5456 (foreign visitors with firearms) and SB 5465 (restoration of firearm rights). The hearing will be conducted in Senate Hearing Room 1 on the ground floor of the John A. Cherberg Senate office building. There is no word yet whether or when either of the gun show bills (HB 1026 and SB 5197) will receive a public hearing. We anticipate action in the Senate first, because the make-up of the Senate Labor & Commerce Committee indicates the bill will probably pass out of committee to a full Senate floor vote. This is likely the only major anti-gun bill that will be considered this year. A separate GOAL Alert will be distributed when additional information is developed. We still need you to call your Senator and Representatives and ask that they oppose SB 5197 and HB 1026, respectively. Criminals DO NOT obtain their guns at gun shows, they get them either “on the street” or from friends and criminal acquaintances. A Justice Department study placed gun shows as the LEAST LIKELY source of criminals’ guns. You can reach your legislators through the Legislative Hotline at (800) 562-6000. BILL STATUS: The following bills have been filed for the 2007-08 biennium: Bill # Subject Sponsor Status HB 1011 Alien firearm licenses Moeller (D-49) H. Jud. HB 1014 Mandatory safe storage Moeller (D-49) H. Jud. HB 1026 Gun show loophole Williams (D-22) H. Jud. HB 1126 CPL extension Morrell (D-25) H. Jud. HB 1633 Prohibit confis. during emerg. Roach (R-31) H. Jud. HB 1764 Prohibit stun guns for students Lantz (D-26) H. Jud. SB 5197 Gun show loophole Tom (D-48) S. Lab/Comm SB 5456 Alien firearm licenses Morton (R-7) S. Jud. SB 5465 Restoration of gun rights Schoesler (R-9) S. Jud. SB 5516 Prohibit confis. during emerg. Stevens (R-39) S. Jud. Key to abbreviations: S. = Senate, H. = House, Jud = Judiciary, Fish/Ecol = Fisheries, Ecology & Parks, JuvJust = Juvenile Justice, Educ = Education, Lab/Comm = Labor, Commerce, Research & Development, LocGov= Local Government, NatRes = Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks, PubSaf= Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness, W&M = Ways and Means HEARINGS SCHEDULED: 30 January Senate Judiciary Committee Senate Hearing Room 1 SB 5456 and SB 5465 John A. Cherberg Bldg GOAL POSITION ON BILLS: HB 1011 SUPPORT IF AMENDED HB 1014 OPPOSE HB 1026 OPPOSE HB 1126 SUPPORT HB 1633 SUPPORT HB 1764 NEUTRAL SB 5197 OPPOSE SB 5456 SUPPORT SB 5465 SUPPORT SB 5516 SUPPORT IF AMENDED 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 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) 454-4915 (work). 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 3-4 February Monroe 10-11 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 2007 Gun Owners Action League of WA GOAL Post 2007-3Legislative Update from Olympia 19 January 2007 NEW BILLS INTRODUCED REWRITE OF HB 1011 (ALIEN FIREARM LICENSES) HB 1126 SCHEDULED FOR PUBLIC HEARING CORRECTED LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR DATES WASHINGTON CEASEFIRE RADIO ADS CALL YOUR SENATOR Two new gun-related bills were filed this week, both in the Senate. SB5456, by Senator Bob Morton, addresses the temporary possession of firearms by foreign visitors. SB 5465, by Senator Mark Schoesler, clarifies and simplifies the procedures to restore firearms rights for individuals convicted of certain crimes. We have not had time to fully evaluate the language of either of these bills. GOAL will adopt a position on them next week. Lobbyists met with Rep. Jim Moeller, sponsor of HB 1011, and House Judiciary Committee staff to address problems in the bill. Agreement was reached on how the bill should read. A substitute will be offered if the bill receives a public hearing (none is scheduled at this time). HB 1126 by Rep. Dawn Morrell, would waive the CPL renewal late fee for military personnel returning from overseas. The bill will receive a public hearing on Tuesday, 23 January, in the House Judiciary Committee hearing room (House Hearing Room “A” in the John L. O’Brien office building). We don’t anticipate any problems with this bill passing. The Legislative Cut-off Calendar I published last week was a draft version. A slightly revised calendar was adopted. The correct cut-off dates are: 28 Feb Original policy committee deadline 5 March Chamber fiscal committee deadline (if required) 14 March Chamber cut-off (bills must pass original chamber) 30 March Second chamber policy committee deadline 2 April Second chamber fiscal committee deadline 13 April Second chamber cut-off (bills must pass with the exception of bills in conference committees) 22 April Adjourn sine die We have been informed that radio ads are running on KOMO radio and possibly some other stations asking listeners to call their legislators and support SB5197, the “gun show loophole” bill. Presumably Washington Ceasefire is behind the ads, although we have not heard one at thistime. Without doubt citizens ignorant of the true facts will react to these ads and call their legislators. It is all the more important that you call your Senator and Representatives and ask that they oppose SB 5197 and HB 1026, respectively. Criminals DO NOT obtain their guns at gun shows, they get them either “on the street” or from friends and criminal acquaintances. A Justice Department study placed gun shows as the most UNLIKELY source of criminals’ guns. You can reach your ;legislators through the Legislative Hotline at (800) 562-6000. BILL STATUS: All bills filed during the 2005-06 biennium are dead. The following bills have been filed for the 2007-08 biennium: Bill # Subject Sponsor Status HB 1011 Alien firearm licenses Moeller (D-49) H. Jud. HB 1014 Mandatory safe storage Moeller (D-49) H. Jud. HB 1026 Gun show loophole Williams (D-22) H. Jud. HB 1126 CPL extension Morrell (D-25) H. Jud. SB 5197 Gun show loophole Tom (D-48) S. Lab/Comm SB 5456 Alien firearm licenses Morton (R-7) S. Jud. SB 5465 Restoration of gun rights Schoesler (R-9) S. Jud. Key to abbreviations: S. = Senate, H. = House, Jud = Judiciary, Fish/Ecol = Fisheries, Ecology & Parks, JuvJust = Juvenile Justice, Educ= Education, Lab/Comm = Labor, Commerce, Research & Development, LocGov= Local Government, NatRes = Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks, PubSaf= Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness, W&M = Ways and Means HEARINGS SCHEDULED: HB 1126 House Judiciary House Hearing Room “A” 23 January 10:00 a.m. GOAL POSITION ON BILLS: HB 1011 SUPPORT IF AMENDED HB 1014 OPPOSE HB 1026 OPPOSE HB 1126 SUPPORT SB 5197 OPPOSE SB 5456 UNDER REVIEW SB 5465 UNDER REVIEW --- Key to abbreviations: S. = Senate, H. = House, Jud = Judiciary, Fish/Ecol = Fisheries, Ecology & Parks, JuvJust = Juvenile ustice, Educ = Education, Lab/Comm = Labor, Commerce, Research & Development, LocGov = Local Government, NatRes = Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks, PubSaf = Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness, W&M = Ways and Means HEARINGS SCHEDULED: At this time no hearings have been scheduled for gun-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!!! 1-800-562-6000 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) 454-4915 (work). 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 20-21 January Puyallup 3-4 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 2007 Gun Owners Action League of WA (end of GOAL Post 2007-2) --- GOAL Post 2007-2Legislative Update from Olympia 12 January 2007LEGISLATURE CONVENED MONDAY, 8 JANUARY LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR "GUN SHOW LOOPHOLE" BILL FILED IN SENATE DEMOCRAT MANIPULATION BEGINS CALL YOUR SENATOR The 60th (biennial) Washington state legislature convened Monday, January 8th for it’s long (105 day) session. The principal focus of the long legislative session is supposed to be the biennial budget, but rest assured several other topics, including firearms, will receive attention. The Democrats achieved a super-majority in the 2006 election, so their control of BOTH chambers (House and Senate) has increased. In addition, they control the Governor’s Mansion as well. ("Special interests" are those interests of a small percentage of the population - like Washington Ceasefire’s 3,500 members statewide; public interests are those interests of a significant percentage of the population - like Washington’s 1,000,000+ gun owners.) 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. The following dates apply to the 2007 session: 28 Feb Original policy committee deadline 5 March Chamber fiscal committee deadline (if required) 14 March Chamber cut-off (bills must pass original chamber) 29 March Second chamber policy committee deadline 2 April Second chamber fiscal committee deadline 15 April Second chamber cut-off (bills must pass with the exception of bills in conference committees) 22 April Adjourn sine die New bills must be filed for consideration by the 60th Legislature. Five gun bills have already been filed. Two new gun bills were filed this week. HB 1126 would exempt active duty military personnel from paying the late fee in their CPLs expire while they are overseas. SB 5197, the Senate version of the "gun show loophole" bill, was filed on Friday, 12 January. Rather than assign SB 5197 to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where it belongs as a gun control bill, it was sent to the Senate Labor, Commerce, Research and Development Committee for primary action. Why this odd assignment? Because it is likely we can still block gun bills in the Senate Judiciary Committee, where Democrat Senator Jim Hargrove joins with the three Republican members in supporting the rights of gun owners. That gives gun bills in this committee a four-four split, locking them up in committee. The Senate Labor, Commerce, Research & Development Committee has five Democrats and two Republicans assigned. All of the Democrats are anti-gun, meaning the bill will likely pass out of committee for a full vote on the Senate floor. It is likely the bill will pass the Senate if a floor vote is taken. Rules and procedures obviously mean nothing to the liberal Democrats in charge of the Senate. Anything goes as long as they have their way. We need you to call your Senator and demand that this blatant political manipulation stop. Now. If the Democrats want to pass gun control bills in the Senate, they should reorder the Judiciary Committee. To allow a bill to be misassigned this way sets a very bad precedent. The easiest way to reach your Senator is via the Legislative Hotline at (800) 562-6000. Tell the operator you want to leave a message for Senator (your senator), and tell your Senator to stop this misuse of bill assignment procedures. If you do not take action, SB 5197 will likely move out of committee to the full Senate within two weeks. BILL STATUS: All bills filed during the 2005-06 biennium are dead. The following bills have been filed for the 2007-08 biennium: Bill # Subject Sponsor Status HB 1011 Alien firearm licenses Moeller (D-49) H. Jud. HB 1014 Mandatory safe storage Moeller (D-49) H. Jud. HB 1026 Gun show loophole Williams (D-22) H. Jud. HB 1126 CPL extension Morrell (D-25) H. Jud. SB 5197 Gun show loophole Tom (D-48) S. Lab/Comm Key to abbreviations: S. = Senate, H. = House, Jud = Judiciary, Fish/Ecol = Fisheries, Ecology & Parks, JuvJust = Juvenile ustice, Educ = Education, Lab/Comm = Labor, Commerce, Research & Development, LocGov = Local Government, NatRes = Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks, PubSaf = Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness, W&M = Ways and Means HEARINGS SCHEDULED: At this time no hearings have been scheduled for gun-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!!! 1-800-562-6000 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) 454-4915 (work). 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 20-21 January Puyallup 3-4 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 2007 Gun Owners Action League of WA (end of GOAL Post 2007-2) GOAL Post 2007-1Legislative Update from Olympia 5 January 2007LEGISLATURE CONVENES MONDAY, 8 JANUARY PRE-FILED GUN BILLS BILL TUTORIAL LEGISLATIVE CALENDAR DEMOCRAT CAUCUS DIVIDED ON GUNS? The 60th (biennial) Washington state legislature convenes Monday, January 8th for it’s long (105 day) session. The principal focus of the long legislative session is supposed to be the biennial budget, but rest assured several other topics, including firearms, will receive attention. The Democrats achieved a super-majority in the 2006 election, so their control of BOTH chambers (House and Senate) has increased. In addition, they control the Governor’s Mansion as well. ("Special interests" are those interests of a small percentage of the population - like Washington Ceasefire’s 3,500 members statewide; public interests are those interests of a significant percentage of the population - like Washington’s 1,000,000+ gun owners.) New bills must be filed for consideration by the 60th Legislature. Three gun control bills have already been pre-filed. They’re listed below under "Bill Status." For those new to legislative affairs, here’s how the process works: When a bill is filed in the House or Senate (or both, simultaneously, called "companion bills") it is assigned to a policy committee. Most gun-related bills go to the Senate Judiciary Committee in the Senate. In the House it’s a little more complicated, as it may be sent to House Judiciary, House Public Safety, or House Juvenile Justice. Public hearings may be held, after which the bill may (or may not) be voted out of committee. If the bill has a fiscal impact (usually an expenditure of more than $50,000), it must then go to Senate Ways & Means or one of a couple of House fiscal committees. The bill then goes to the Senate or House Rules Committee, where it must be voted on to pass out to the floor for a full vote. After a bill passes the Senate or House, it then goes over to the opposite chamber (House or Senate), where the whole process starts over again. If the bill passes the second chamber in the same form it passed the first, it goes to the governor for signature (or veto or partial veto). If changes are made in the second chamber, it goes back to the first for concurrence. It may also go to a conference committee from both chambers to resolve differences. The final version must pass both chambers. The bill then goes to the Governor, who may sign it into law, veto (kill) the bill, or sign a partial veto (killing just selected section(s) of the bill). The governor may also allow a bill to become law without her (or his) signature. Most signed bills take effect on 1 July, although bills with an "emergency clause" (considered immediately necessary for public safety) take effect upon signature by the governor. 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 2006 session in the next issue of GOAL Post. Democrats MAY face a dilemma on the gun issue during this session. When the Democrat caucus was largely limited to urban districts, support for gun control was very high. Now that the Democrats have expanded their reach to rural districts, 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. BILL STATUS: All bills filed during the 2005-06 biennium are dead. The following bills have been pre-filed for the 2007-08 biennium: Bill # Subject Sponsor Status HB 1011 Alien firearm licenses Moeller (D-49) pending HB 1014 Mandatory safe storage Moeller (D-49) pending HB 1026 Gun show loophole Williams (D-22) pending Key to abbreviations: S. = Senate, H. = House, Jud = Judiciary, Fish/Ecol = Fisheries, Ecology & Parks, JuvJust = Juvenile Justice, Educ = Education, LocGov = Local Government, NatRes = Natural Resources, Ecology & Parks, PubSaf = Public Safety & Emergency Preparedness, W&M = Ways and Means HEARINGS SCHEDULED: At this time no hearings have been scheduled for gun-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!!! 1-800-562-6000 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) 454-4915 (work). 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): Monroe 6-7 January Puyallup 20-21 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 2007 Gun Owners Action League of WA (End GOAL Post 2007-1) 2006 GENERAL ELECTION RECOMMENDATION LISTGOAL Election Recommendations, 2006. The Gun Owners Action League (GOAL) issues alerts to firearms owners in Washington to keep them informed of firearms related legislation and firearms owner friendly candidates in our state. Please find GOAL election alerts below, we hope you'll find them helpful. GOAL Election Alert 2006-3 17 October 2006Gun Owners Action League of Washington (GOAL)P. O. Box 50143, Bellevue, WA 98015-0143 2006 GENERAL ELECTION RECOMMENDATION LISTIncumbents in CAPITALSThe following recommendations represent what we believe are the best choices for gun owners in the 2006 general election. Note there are 15 Democrat candidates on the list; all with pro-gun track records. The 2007 legislative session will be a very interesting one. For the first time in several years we may see floor votes on the gun issue, votes that will be critical in defending YOUR right to keep and bear arms. The recent state Supreme Court decision allowing cities to impose certain regulations on some gun shows will embolden our enemies. GOAL is a registered PAC and has made cash contributions to candidates we are supporting. But it takes more than money to win a political campaign, it takes "sweat equity," work by volunteers in support of candidates. This is the time to make YOUR contribution: a few hours helping with doorbelling, envelope stuffing, phone banking or other campaign volunteer work will pay off on election day. VOTE! Be sure your family members VOTE! Be sure your co-workers VOTE! Be sure your shooting buddies VOTE! U.S. SENATE Mike McGavick (R) CONGRESSIONAL RACES 1st Larry Ishmael (R) 2nd Doug Roulstone (R) 3rd Michael Messmore (R) 4th RICHARD 'DOC' HASTINGS (R) 5th CATHY McMORRIS (R) 6th Doug Cloud (R) 7th Steve Beren (R) 8th DAVE REICHERT (R) 9th Steve Cofchin (R) JUDICIAL RACES Supreme Court Stephen Johnson TOM CHAMBERS COUNTY RACES Spokane County Phil Harris (R) Thurston County Kevin O'Sullivan (R) LEGISLATIVE RACES Dist. Position Name 1 House 1 AL O’BRIEN (D) House 2 Mark Davies (R) 2 House 1 JIM McCUNE (R) House 2 TOM CAMPBELL (R) 3 House 1 no recommendation House 2 no recommendation 4 House 1 LARRY CROUSE (R) House 2 LYNN SCHINDLER (R) 5 House 1 JAY RODNE (R) House 2 GLENN ANDERSON (R) 6 Senate BRAD BENSON (R) House 1 JOHN SERBEN (R) House 2 JOHN AHERN (R) 7 Senate BOB MORTON (R) House 1 BOB SUMP (R) House 2 JOEL KRETZ (R) 8 Senate JEROME DELVIN (R) House 1 SHIRLEY HANKINS (R) House 2 LARRY HALER (R) 9 House 1 Steve Hailey (R) House 2 DAVID BURI (R) 10 House 1 CHRIS STROW (R) House 2 BARBARA BAILEY (R) 11 House 1 no recommendation House 2 no recommendation 12 House 1 CARY CONDOTTA (R) House 2 MIKE ARMSTRONG (R) 13 Senate JANE’A HOLMQUIST (R) House 1 Judy Warnick (R) House 2 BILL HINKLE (R) 14 House 1 no recommendation House 2 Charles Ross (R) 15 Senate JIM HONEYFORD (R) House 1 BRUCE CHANDLER (R) House 2 DAN NEWHOUSE (R) 16 House 1 MAUREEN WALSH (R) House 2 BILL GRANT (D) 17 House 1 JIM DUNN (R) House 2 DEB WALLACE (D) 18 House 1 RICHARD CURTIS (R) House 2 ED ORCUTT (R) 19 House 1 DEAN TAKKO (D) House 2 BRIAN BLAKE (D) 20 House 1 RICHARD DEBOLT (R) House 2 GARY ALEXANDER (R) 21 Senate no recommendation House 1 no recommendation House 2 BRIAN SULLIVAN (D) 22 House 1 no recommendation House 2 Kevin Bonagofski (R) 23 House 1 Earl Johnson (R) House 2 BEVERLY WOODS (R) 24 House 1 JIM BUCK (R) House 2 LYNN KESSLER (D) 25 House 1 JOYCE McDONALD (R) House 2 Wally Nash (R) 26 Senate Jim Hines (R) House 1 no recommendation House 2 Tom Boehne (R) 27 House 1 Stan Barker (R) House 2 no recommendation 28 House 1 Don Anderson (R) House 2 Bob Lawrence (R) 29 Senate no recommendation House 1 STEVE CONWAY (D) House 2 STEVE KIRBY (D) 30 Senate Renee Maher (R) House 1 Anthony Kalchik (R) House 2 SKIP PRIEST (R) 31 Senate PAM ROACH (R) House 1 DAN ROACH (R) House 2 JAN SHABRO (R) 32 Senate David Baker (R) House 1 Noreen Federow (R) House 2 Steve Gibbs(R) 33 Senate KAREN STEELE (R ) House 1 Mike Cook (R) House 2 NO RECOMMENDATION 34 Senate no recommendation House 1 no recommendation House 2 no recommendation 35 Senate TIM SHELDON (D) House 1 Marco Brown (R) House 2 BILL EICKMEYER (D) 36 Senate no recommendation House 1 no recommendation House 2 no recommendation 37 Senate no recommendation House 1 no recommendation House 2 no recommendation 38 Senate JEAN BERKEY (D) House 1 Kim Halvorson (R) House 2 no recommendation 39 House 1 DAN KRISTIANSEN (R) House 2 KIRK PEARSON (R) 40 House 1 DAVE QUALL (D) House 2 JEFF MORRIS (D) 41 House 1 no recommendation House 2 no recommendation 42 Senate DALE BRANDLAND (R) House 1 DOUG ERICKSEN (R) House 2 KELLI LINVILLE (D) 43 Senate no recommendation House 1 no recommendation House 2 no recommendation 44 Senate DAVE SCHMIDT (R) House 1 Mike Hope (R) House 2 Robert Legg (R) 45 Senate TOBY NIXON (R) House 1 Jeffrey Possinger (R) House 2 Tim Lee (R) 46 Senate no recommendation House 1 no recommendation House 2 no recommendation 47 Senate Mike Riley (R) House 1 Donna Watts (R) House 2 Andrew Franz (R) 48 Senate LUKE ESSER (R) House 1 Nancy Potts (R) House 2 Bret Olson (R) 49 House 1 Nancy DeLeo (R) House 2 Sharon Long (R) GOAL ELECTION ALERT 2006-2 31 August 2006Gun Owners Action League of Washington (GOAL) PRIMARY ELECTION RECOMMENDATIONSThe primary election is 19 September, but most counties have switched to 100% mail-in balloting. Mail-in ballots are already in the mail, or will go out in the next few days.Several very critical elections will be decided in the primary. In those judicial races where only two individuals have filed, the candidate who receives more than 50% of the vote on September 19th is the de facto winner. Only the one name will appear on the November ballot. In the final analysis, it is the Supreme Court that will decide the constitutionality of any gun control laws passed by the legislature. GOAL recommends the following candidates for the positions indicated: SUPREME COURT STATE LEGISLATURE (recommendations made only in selected contested primary races) CONGRESSIONAL RACES Under Washington’s new court-ordered primary system, you will receive both a Republican and Democrat ballot in the mail (or choose one at the polling place). Judicial positions are non-partisan and appear on both ballots. If you live in the 1st or 35th Legislative Districts, please consider taking the Democrat ballot and voting for Al O’Brien and Tim Sheldon, respectively. If you have any questions about these endorsements, please call JoeWaldron at (425) 454-4915 during working hours. To change GOAL message subscriptions please email jwaldron@halcyon.com GOAL Election Alert 2006-1 30 August 2006 Gun Owners Action League of Washington (GOAL) 35th LEGLISLATIVE DISTRICT CRITICAL ALERTSenator Tim Sheldon (D-Hoodsport), one of the strongest friends gun owners of Washington have in Olympia, is facing a strong primary challenge from political newcomer Kyle Taylor Lucas. Lucas was recruited by the state Democratic organization to run against Tim Sheldon because of his steadfast support of gun owners in his district and across the state.During the debate over gun control Initiative 676 (I-676), the proposed handgun owner licensing initiative, Tim was in the public forefront of the fight to stop the initiative. He traveled across the state to rally conservative Democrat votes against I-676. Thanks in large part to his efforts, the voters of Washington defeated I-676 71-29%. In Tim’s 35 th District, voters rejected this extremist measure by a resounding 80-20% NO vote. The liberal Seattle crowd, lead by state Democratic Party chair Dwight “Cuba” Pelz, wants Sheldon OUT. The law-abiding gun owners of Washington need to keep Tim right where he is, in Olympia protecting US and OUR rights. 35TH DISTRICT VOTERS (Mason and parts of Kitsap, Thurston and Gray’s Harbor Counties): Under Washington’s new party primary system, you will receive both a Democrat and Republican ballot in the mail. Please use the Democrat ballot and vote for TIM SHELDON (D). The other statewide offices for Supreme Court races are on BOTH ballots, so you can use the Democrat ballot and still vote your choice for Supreme Court Justice (more on those in the next GOAL Election Alert). Tim has always been there for us. This is our opportunity to be there for him! Return your ballot as quickly as possible. Remember sign and date the inner envelope and be sure to put a stamp on the outer envelope! Thank you. To change GOAL message subscriptions please email jwaldron@halcyon.com | ||
