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WASHINGTON ARMS COLLECTORS 2010 Gun Owners Action League Email Alerts and Posts Please click here for WAC's 2008 Election Recommendation to members.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 Alert emails for 2007 below, the most recent alert at top. Below the alerts is an archive of GOALs 2006 Election recomendations. Gun Owners Action League of Washington (GOAL) GOAL Post 2010-6 Legislative Update from Olympia 12 February 2010
After passing out of the House Judiciary Committee, HB 2778 was sent to the House Ways & Means Committee due to its impact on the state budget (all bills that cost the taxpayer over a certain dollar amount must pass one of the chamber's fiscal committees). While in the Ways & Means Committee, committee member and House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler (D-24) offered an amendment that stripped out the firearm restrictions in the bill. Before the bill was voted on, a caucus meeting (Democrats and Republicans meeting separately, usually to discuss a bill or amendments to it) was held. Following the caucus meeting, HB 2778 was NOT called up for a vote. Thus it died at the fiscal committee cut-off later that day. There are 23 sections to HB 2778, only two of which deal with firearms (Sections 310 and 311). It appears there was a split -- a wide split -- in the Democrat caucus (14 of 22 committee members are Democrats) on the gun issue. Enough of a split to lose on the gun vote. In the words of a senior pro-gun politico in Olympia, that they would rather let the bill die than take out the firearm provisions. A reasonable conclusion can be drawn that the remaining 21 secstions of the bill were just eyewash to cover a gun control bill. (Keep in mind that until the session ends, bills can be revived. We're not home free yet!) As noted above, the fiscal committee cut-off occurred at close of business on Tuesday, 9 February. The next big hurdle is Tuesday, 16 February: chamber cut-off day. If a House bill hasn't cleared the House, or a Senate bill the Senate, it's considered dead for the session. Of the four thousand or so bills filed in any two-year biennium, only a quarter receive a public hearing, and fewer still actually pass the legislature and go to the governor. Starting next Wednesday, bills that passed the House will go through the committee process in the Senate, and vice versa. Only two gun bills remain in play for a Senate hearing: HB 2226, a bill that would standardize in-state requirements for retired law enforcement officers to qualify to carry firearms nationwide and SHB 2499, the bill increasing the storage limits on black powder. At this time, HB 2226 is not scheduled for a hearing in Senate Judiciary. HB 2499 is scheduled for a hearing in Senate Labor, Commerce and Consumer Protection on Thursday, 18 January. *BILL STATUS / GOAL POSITION ON BILLS:* Bill # - Subject - Sponsor - Status
GOAL POSITION ON BILLS: hearings scheduled:
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." 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. Notice: If you believe you have received the GOAL Post in error, first check the "From" line in the address to determine if you received it directly or as part of a list. GP has both individual subscribers and ist subscribers. If you do not wish to receive direct distribution of GOAL Posts, please send an e-mail to jwaldron@halcyon.com with "Remove GOAL Post" in the subject line. Please include in the body the address that sent you GP. If you received it as a list member (e.g. WA-CCW, WA-GUNS, etc), you must ask the list owner to be removed. I will respond directly to individual subscribers. upcoming wac gun show(s): ""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."" Copyright 2010 Gun Owners Action League of WA GOAL Post 2010-5 Legislative Update from Olympia 5 February 2010 HB 2226 is a holdover bill from last year. It would standardize requirements for retired peace officers to acquire their certificate to carry concealed firearms nationwide under the 2004 federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act (H.R. 218). This is primarily an assist for out-of-state officers retired in Washington. SB 6396, the so-called "assault weapon" ban bill, died in the Senate Judiciary Committee at the policy committee cut-off. Knowing he didn't have the votes to pass it out of committee, he didn't even bring it up for a vote. While in Olympia earlier this week, one Senator showed me two 4" thick binders full of e-mails opposing SB 6396. Several others mentioned similar responses. Along with the overwhelming turn-out for the public hearing last week, it's input like this that demonstrates the strength of the gun lobby in influencing the legislative process. To paraphrase the bumper sticker, we're ALL the gun lobby! HB 2778, the bill that would combine the worst of federal and state restrictions for firearm possession by individuals convicted of certain domestic violence-related misdemeanors or subject to certain restraining orders sits in the House Ways & Means Committee. Fiscal committee cut-off is Tuesday, 9 February. Assuming it passes out of Ways & Means, it will go to House Rules, awaiting a pull to the floor for a vote of the full House. Amendments will be offered to eliminate or reduce the firearms provisions of the bill. HB 2499, the bill that would increase limits on the amount of black powder allowed to be stored in the home, transported on public highways or be offered for sale in commercial establishments suffered a setback when a more restrictive version passed out of the House Labor & Commerce Committee on 2 February. The substitute bill, SHB 2499, increases the limit to private possession from five to 10 pounds, and requires "hazardous cargo" placards to be placed on vehicles transporting more than five pounds of black powder. While not as good as the original bill, it does reflect an incremental improvement in the current situation. NOTE: these restrictions DO NOT apply to Pyrodex and other black powder substitutes. These substitutes are treated the same as conventional smokeless powders. Friday, 5 February, was the last day for bills to pass out of their original chamber policy committee. Bills that did not pass are considered technically dead for the remainder of the session. However, these cut-off dates are self-imposed for bill management purposes; if leadership wants to make an exception to policy, the can call for a vote to do so. The "Bill Status" section below provides current status of bills. As some dead white man observed a century ago, neither your wallet nor your liberties are safe as long as the legislature is in session, *BILL STATUS / GOAL POSITION ON BILLS:* * GOAL POSITION ON BILLS * 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!!! 1-800-562-6000 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." 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. Notice: If you believe you have received the GOAL Post in error, first check the "From" line in the address to determine if you received it directly or as part of a list. GP has both individual subscribers and list subscribers. If you do not wish to receive direct distribution of GOAL Posts, please send an e-mail to jwaldron@halcyon.com with "Remove GOAL Post" in the subject line. Please include in the body the address that sent you GP. If you received it as a list member (e.g. WA-CCW, WA-GUNS, etc), you must ask the list owner to be removed. I will respond directly to individual subscribers. Upcoming WAC gun show(s): ""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 2010 Gun Owners Action League of WA GOAL Post 2010-4 Legislative Update from Olympia 29 January 2010
PUBLIC HEARING ON SB 6396 (Admin note: GOAL Post distribution was late last week because I was in Las Vegas working the annual Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trades (SHOT) show. I'm sending it out a few hours early this week because I'll be on my way to Orlando to attend the annual meeting of the Florida Sport Shooting Association. If there are any significant changes, I'll publish a separate GOAL Alert.) a Anticlimactic probably best describes the public hearing on SB 6396, except for the turn-out by gun owners. 313 citizens signed in for the hearing, 298 opposed to the bill, 14 in favor, and one confused gent didn't take a position. Several other gunnies showed up but didn't sign in because once again they "ran out" of sign-in sheets, or they were unable to find a parking space. WAY TO GO! AND THANK YOU! (As with the hearing on gun shows in 2007, when well over 300 pro-gun citizens showed up, this kind of presence sends signals far across the campus. Even before the hearing ended, I received calls from House members across the campus asking what was going on and why did we have so many people there. This is what grassroots activism and grassroots lobbying is all about. That, and literally thousands of e-mails and calls to legislative offices urging a "no" vote on SB 6396.)) Judiciary Committee chair Kline, the bill's prime sponsor, limited testimony to three on each side of the issue, but took plenty of time for himself to proclaim the virtues of the bill. There was a lot of misinformation and misdirection passed out by the other side, from Chairman Kline to Washington Ceasefire president Ralph Fascitelli to Bellevue police chief Linda Pillo (allegedly speaking as a private citizen, but appearing in uniform. Had it been a debate format, almost all their points would have been easily refuted. At this time, it does not appear the votes are there to pass the bill out of committee. It must clear the committee by Friday, 5 February, or be considered dead for the session. Because this GOAL Post is coming out a day early, I can't provide a recap of the public hearing on HB 2499. Hopefully I'll have more next week. At this point, no new gun bills have been introduced and no additional hearings are scheduled on gun bills. *BILL STATUS / GOAL POSITION ON BILLS:* GOAL POSITION ON BILLS: Hearings scheduled: NoneLegislative hotline: 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." 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. Notice:If you believe you have received the GOAL Post in error, first check the "From" line in the address to determine if you received it directly or as part of a list. GP has both individual subscribers and list subscribers. If you do not wish to receive direct distribution of GOAL Posts, please send an e-mail to jwaldron@halcyon.com with "Remove GOAL Post" in the subject line. Please include in the body the address that sent you GP. If you received it as a list member (e.g. WA-CCW, WA-GUNS, etc), you must ask the list owner to be removed. I will respond directly to individual subscribers. Upcoming WAC gun show(s): ""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."" Copyright 2010 Gun Owners Action League of WA GOAL Post 2010-3 Legislative Update from Olympia 22 January 2010
PUBLIC HEARING ON SB 6396 It is imperative that as many individuals as possible attend the hearing and sign in in opposition to the bill. A sign-in sheet will be available at a side table just inside the hearing room (or if the crowd is large enough, the sign-in sheet may be outside the room in the corridor). Sign in with your name, address and a position on the bill: "con." There is a place on the sign-in sheet to indicate whether or not you would like to testify. Time is limited, so I anticipate only a few individuals will be called upon on both sides of the issue. Who gets to testify and who does not is solely up to the committee chair (Senator Adam Kline, sponsor of the bill). Hints on testimony: public input is limited to three minutes or less. Begin by stating your name and where you are from. Personal attacks on the motives of bill supporters are not allowed. If a point has already been made, do not repeat it. As with a letter to the editor, short, concise points are best. While reference to "cold, dead fingers" may be dramatic, this is NOT a drama. Courtesy is a virtue! Parking in and around the Capitol Campus is extremely limited. Olympia parking enforcement makes a ton of money enforcing the one-hour limit in the residential areas just south of the Campus! If the spaces on Campus or overflow parking lots to the east are taken, it's best to park in the business area in the blocks to the north, using the parking meters. Car-pooling is the way to go! It is equally imperative that, whether you can attend the hearing or not, you contact your Senator, by e-mail (https://dlr.leg.wa.gov/MemberEmail/Default.aspx), direct telephone (http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx) or Legislative Hotline (1-800-562-6000) to indicate your opposition to the bill. A committee vote on the bill will likely be taken a few days later in executive session. The Judiciary Committee has eight members, five Democrats and three Republicans (matching the proportion of Democrats to Republicans in the Senate). The three Republicans and one Democrat lean our way. Public testimony will also be taken on HB 2499, the bill that increases the allowable limits on possession of black powder. That hearing will be conducted on Friday, 29 January, at 8 a.m. by the House Labor & Commerce Committee in House Hearing Room "B" in the John L. O'Brien House Office Building, also on the Capitol Campus. This is more of a technical bill, lacking the controversy of SB 6396. While a turn-out isn't needed, calls to your two Representatives in support of HB 2499 ARE needed. HB 3082, a bill that would lower from 21 to 18 the age at which an application for a concealed pistol license could be applied and issued. The bill was filed by Representative Brendan Williams (D-22), a legislator heretofore known for filing anti-gun bills (e.g. HB 2264, HB 2477). While the language of the bill is straightforward, at this point I can only assume this is a case of election year politicking. Until proven otherwise (and simply filing a bill is not proof), I question the motive behind the bill. * BILL STATUS * GOAL POSITION ON BILLS: hearings scheduled: 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." 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. notice: If you believe you have received the GOAL Post in error, first check the "From" line in the address to determine if you received it directly or as part of a list. GP has both individual subscribers and list subscribers. If you do not wish to receive direct distribution of GOAL Posts, please send an e-mail to jwaldron@halcyon.com with "Remove GOAL Post" in the subject line. Please include in the body the address that sent you GP. If you received it as a list member (e.g. WA-CCW, WA-GUNS, etc), you must ask the list owner to be removed. I will respond directly to individual subscribers. upcoming wac gun show(s): ""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."" Copyright 2010 Gun Owners Action League of WA GOAL Post 2010-2 Legislative Update from Olympia 15 January 2010 The legislature adopted the cut-off calendar for the 2010 session. Certain "cut-off" dates are established, dates by which bills must clear certain hurdles or be considered "dead" for the session. Most bills die at the various cut-offs. Remember: "dead" doesn't necessarily mean "dead." Language from a bill can be amended into another bill, or the cut-off can be waived by a majority vote.
HB 2703, by Rep. Dean Takko (D-19), is a shooting range protection bill that would immunize ranges against nuisance lawsuits filed for noise abatement. Similar bills have passed twice in previous years, only to be vetoed by the governor. HB 2709, by Rep. Matt Shea (R-4) is similar to bills passed in Montana and Tennessee and filed in more than a dozen other states. It effectively says if a firearm is manufactured within Washington and sold within the state, the interstate Commerce Clause does not apply and thus federal firearms laws do not apply. The intent of this bill is NOT to encourage people to go out and build firearms, it's to open the door to a challenge of the federal commerce clause. HB 2711, by Rep. Matt Shea (R-4), broadly defines the right of self defense, and declares any federal or state law to the contrary to be invalid. The bill also prohibits tracking of firearms and other self defense tools by means of RFID chips and other technical means. SB 6396, by Sen. Adam Kline (D-37), called by the sponsors the "Aaron Sullivan Public Safety and Police Protection Act," would ban possession of so-called "assault weapons." The term would include a broadly-defined category of BOTH semi-automatic and pump action firearms (rifles, shotguns AND handguns) capable of accepting a detachable or fixed box magazine of more than 10-rounds capacity with certain "evil" features, some parts for these firearms (defined as "conversion kits"), and all magazines with greater than 10-round capacity. If the firearm was possessed prior to the effective date of the act, it could be kept ("grandfathered"), but subject the owner to warrantless "inspections" by the county sheriff and possession is limited to property owned by the possessor and "licensed ranges." SB 6429, by Senator Dale Brandland (R-42) would lift the current prohibition on use of otherwise lawfully possessed (i.e. registered with the ATF) by law enforcement officers ONLY. Current law allows possession, if legally-possessed under federal law, but prohibits their use BY EVERYONE. SB 6429 would NOT legalize suppressor use by private citizens. HB 1604 is the preferred bill, as it makes use of ALL lawfully-possessed suppressors legal. SB 6473, by Senator Val Stevens (R-39), is the Senate companion bill to HB 2711. No public hearings have been scheduled for gun bills in the coming week. However, past experience indicated close attention to this. Legislative hearing schedules are published on the Wednesday of the week prior to the hearings, to provide the legal advance notice and allow for time to plan to attend. Last minute changes are allowed, but are supposed to be only when unavoidable. Several years ago, a "gun show loophole" bill was NOT on the weekly schedule, but added later without the statutory advance notice. An oversight, maybe. Except that Washington Ceasefire published a message to its members, informing them of the hearing BEFORE the weekly schedule came out. I guess they must be clairvoyant. *BILL STATUS: * * GOAL POSITION ON BILLS * HEARINGS SCHEDULED: NONE (at this time) legislative hot line: you may reach your representatives and senator by calling the legislative hotline at 1-800-562-6000. toll free!!! the hearing impaired may obtain tdd access at 1-800-635-9993. also toll free!!! 1-800-562-6000 tdd 1-800-635-9993. other data: copies of pending legislation (bills), legislative schedules and other information are available on the legislature's web site at www.leg.wa.gov. bills are available in acrobat (.pdf) format. you may download a free version of adobe acrobat reader from adobe's web site (http://www.adobe.com). 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. 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). 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. 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. notice: if you believe you have received the goal post in error, first check the "from" line in the address to determine if you received it directly or as part of a list. gp has both individual subscribers and list subscribers. if you do not wish to receive goal posts, please send an e-mail to jwaldron@halcyon.com with "remove goal post" in the subject line. please include in the body the address that sent you gp. if you received it as a list member (e.g. wa-ccw, wa-guns, etc), you must ask the list owner to be removed. i will respond directly to individual subscribers. upcoming wac gun show(s): "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." Copyright 2010 Gun Owners Action League of WA GOAL Post 2010-1 Legislative Update from Olympia 8 January 2010 The state legislature convenes Monday, 11 January, for a 60-day "short" session (a longer, 105-day session is held during odd-numbered years). Much of the attention this year will be focused on budgetary issues and fixes or patches for the economy. Rest assured, however, time will be set aside to take a look at firearms and laws regulating their use! Once convened, the legislature does not take holidays off (MLK Day in January, President's Day in February), although they do take most weekends off to visit the home district and receive input from constituents. Before each session starts, there is typically a reshuffle of offices as assignments are changed, replacements are seated, etc. Telephone numbers remain the same, by district, so if your Senator or one of your Representatives has changed, the office telephone will be the same. Your elected legislators and their contact information is available by inserting your residence zip code at http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx Combined House and Senate e-mail addresses are available at https://dlr.leg.wa.gov/MemberEmail/Default.aspx Several thousand bills are filed in a typical two-year legislative biennium (in this case, 2009-2010). Bills that were filed but not acted on last year may still be considered this year. In addition, new bills are being filed daily. Only a small percentage of bills filed actually make it to the Governor's desk for her signature or veto. Getting a bill all the way to the governor is generally a five or six step process. It must first be heard by the appropriate policy committee (for firearms, usually the House or Senate Judiciary Committees). If it passes out of the policy committee, it goes to the Rules Committee where it awaits a floor vote by the entire chamber (House or Senate). If it passes out of the original chamber, it then goes across the capitol building to the other chamber, where it goes through the committee and floor vote process again. (Bills that have a fiscal impact must also be passed by the fiscal committee in each chamber.) If a bill is modified in the second chamber (House bill in the Senate or Senate bill in the House), it must receive a concurrence vote by the original chamber or go to a conference committee for reconciliation, then back for an concurrence vote by both chambers. Once all those hurdles are passed, it's on its way to the governor. Now you can see why only a fraction of bills make it all the way through the process. A graphic depiction of the process is available at http://www.leg.wa.gov/StudentsPage/Pages/bill2Law_elementary.aspx One of the first items of business in each legislative session is adoption of a cut-off calendar. The cut-off calendar establishes the dates by which a bill must clear steps in the process. In most cases (not always) if a bill does not pass it's cut-off date, it is considered dead for the session. Exceptions are made occasionally, so the only real cut-off date is when the legislature adjourns, this year at midnight on Thursday, on March 11. I'll post the cut-off dates in the next GOAL Post. A few bills of interest from the last session remain and may or may not be acted on. HB 1604 would allow use of lawfully registered suppressors (current law allows lawful possession, but prohibits their use). HB 2226 improves the process that allows retired peace officers to carry firearms nationwide (scheduled for a public hearing Monday, 11 January; see information below). HB 2264 requires all firearm transfers at gun shows be conducted (and papered) by a licensed dealer (FFL). HB 2477, by Rep. Brendan Williams (D-22) would impose strict liability standards against anyone who sells or transfers a firearm at a gun show to a person who could not have passed a NICS check. (It's already a criminal offense to KNOWINGLY transfer a firearm to a prohibited person. The Williams bill does NOT include "knowingly.") HB 2499, by Rep. Barbara Bailey (R-10) pre-filed a bill that relaxes the limit on possession of black powder used in muzzle-loading firearms. The bill increases the current limit of five pounds to 50 pounds. HB 2499, by Rep. Barbara Bailey (R-10) pre-filed a bill that relaxes the limit on possession of black powder used in muzzle-loading firearms. The bill increases the current limit of five pounds to 50 pounds. Senator Adam Kline (D-37) and Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48) held a press conference last month where they said they would introduce a bill banning possession of so-called "assault weapons." Kline said the bill will be similar to the 1994 Clinton gun ban, which wasn't really a ban at all. He declined to share a copy of his draft with me. I expect the bill will go far beyond the Clinton ban, just as his so-called a/w bill from 2005 did: it bans all future possession, with a limited grandfathering provision for those already in possession, IF you register them with the local sheriff, pass a background check and pay a registration fee -- annually. 2010 is an election year. That will have an impact on what bills pass and those that die. According to an article in the Seattle Weekly published shortly after the Kline/Hunter press conference, both Speaker of the House Frank Chopp and House Majority Leader Lynn Kessler expressed doubts about such a bill getting through their chamber. With a large number of rural Democrats taking our side of the gun issue, passing anti-gun bills is no sure thing, even in a legislature that's 2/3 controlled by Democrats. If your legislators are rural democrats, be sure to contact them and give them your views on the various bills. (Actually, you should all give your legislators your position on bills; whether they choose to follow it or not is something for subsequent discussion in November!) *BILL STATUS / GOAL POSITION ON BILLS: * * goal position on bills * hearings scheduled: 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. 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). 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. 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. notice: if you believe you have received the goal post in error, first check the "from" line in the address to determine if you received it directly or as part of a list. gp has both individual subscribers and list subscribers. if you do not wish to receive goal posts, please send an e-mail to jwaldron@halcyon.com with "remove goal post" in the subject line. please include in the body the address that sent you gp. if you received it as a list member (e.g. wa-ccw, wa-guns, etc), you must ask the list owner to be removed. i will respond directly to individual subscribers. upcoming wac gun show(s): "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." Copyright 2010 Gun Owners Action League of WA 2007 GOAL Posts and Alerts are archived here: GOAL 2007 |