URGENT in WA State: Anti-Gun Hearing THIS TUESDAY. Please Read!!!!!!!

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Re: p35's comment on the media

You're right that the media is acting like this is only about the no guns in the capitol bill. I just don't think there's much we can do about it.

Someone already mentioned that the Seattle PI wrote an article on the 'no guns in the capitol' bill and made no mention of the other bills. This points to a deliberate attempt to let the other bills slide through. If they were just ignorant of them then we could inform them, but I think they're letting the general population be ignorant on purpose.

Everyone here with moderately good writing skills should write a letter to the editor of their local paper. They haven't published mine yet (it may have been too verbose) but with a number of these letters coming in they'll have to publish at least one.

Jeff
 
GOAL Post update

Here's the GOAL update from our paid lobbyist, Joe Waldron. Please note that bill numbers have been assigned, which means you can finally look up the exact wording of the bills through the WA-gov web site.

When I talked to him at SHOT Show earlier this week, Waldron's opinion was that a couple of the REPUBLICAN committee members may not hold the line -- especially those from eastern Washington. If you live in eastern Washington and your Senator is on this committee, please (please please please!) contact them and let them know we are watching.

If Senator Hargrove is your Senator, please contact him with a note of appreciation. He is standing against his own party on this one for us, and that cannot be easy for him to do. Let him know we are watching and appreciate it.

Even if all the members ostensibly on our side do hold the line, there are some procedural things the chair can do to force these to the floor. Keep the pressure on, folks!

pax

GOAL Post 2005-4


Legislative Update from Olympia 28 January 2005

GUN BAN MANIA CONTINUES

GREAT TURN-OUT FOR SENATE JUDICIARY HEARING

MORE ANTI-GUN BILLS FILED

TIME TO CALL YOUR SENATOR

It’s clearly payback time AGAINST gun owners, with Washington Ceasefire,
animal rights groups, and their allies in the Democrat-controlled
legislature continue to file bills banning different kinds of guns,
banning guns in different locations and banning the private sale of
firearms at gun shows.

Approximately 300 citizens turned out for the 25 January public hearing
by the Senate Judiciary Committee. They were still signing in an hour
after the hearing began, a first in Washington legislative history! At
least 95% of the attendees were on our side of the issues, although in
the interests of “fairness,†committee chair Senator Adam Kline allowed
equal numbers of individuals (50-50) to testify pro and con (usually
four on each side of each bill). Even the news coverage of the event,
which ran 45 minutes over the scheduled two hours, gave us credit for
“200 attendees†and acknowledged most were opposed to the gun control
bills.

Gun ban bills just keep on coming. Senate bill numbers have been
assigned to the “assault weapons†ban (SB 5475) and .50 BMG caliber ban
(SB 5593). A House companion bill to SB 5475, the “assault weapon†ban,
has been filed (HB 1627) by Representative Ruth Kagi (D-32). A bill
banning the use of lead shot is being circulated, but final language has
not been selected. The bill could focus solely on hunting and field use
of lead shot, or it could include skeet and trap ranges as well.

At this time the bills considered in the public hearing in Senate
Judiciary last Tuesday are still there, where they will stay as long as
the four Republican members and Democrat Senator Jim Hargrove (D-24)
hold firm. I anticipate some form of procedural maneuver may be made to
get the bills out of committee.

NOW is the time to call your Senator and Representatives and let them
know how you feel about these bills. Elected officials DO respond to
public pressure. A brief BUT POLITE call or e-mail asking them to oppose
ANY infringement on your right to keep and bear arms can work miracles…
provided the call is made! You can call them toll free via the
Legislative Hotline at (800) 562-6000, or visit the legislative web site
at http://www.leg.wa.gov <http://www.leg.wa.gov/> and click on “Senateâ€
or “House of Representatives†at the top of the page to access their
direct phone lines (all begin with 360-786-xxxx) or e-mail addresses. <>

As this is being written, there are 86 days left in the 2005 Regular
Session. We have a long way to go!

BILL STATUS:

Bill # Subject Sponsor Status

SB 5041 Sentencing range McCaslin (R-4) S. Jud.

SB 5131 Insanity finding/firearms Carrell (R-28) S.Jud.

SB 5167 Firearm suppressors Hargrove (D-24) S.Jud.

SB 5342 Safe storage of firearms Kohl-Welles (D-36) S.Jud.

SB 5343 Gun show loophole Kohl-Welles (D-36) S.Jud.

SB 5344 Capitol campus gun ban Fairley (D-32) S. Jud.

SB 5383 Juvenile hunting licenses Oke (R-26) S. NatRes

SB 5475 Assault weapon ban Kline (D-37) S. Jud.

SB 5545 deployed military CPL renewal Roach (R-31) S. Jud.

SB 5593 .50 BMG rifle ban Kline (D-37) S. Jud.

SB 5635 Restoration of rights Schoesler (R-9) S.Jud.

SJM 8005 Manufacturer protection Benton (R-17) S. Jud.

HB 1133 Public disclosure law Nixon (R-45) H. StatGov

HB 1213 Juvenile hunting licenses Clements (R-14) H.NatRes

HB 1473 Safe storage of firearms…….Moeller (D-49) H. Jud.

HB 1489 Capitol campus gun ban Williams (D-22) H.Jud.

HB 1490 Park/rec area gun ban Darneille (D-27) H. Jud.

HB 1627 Assault weapon ban Kagi (D-32) H. Jud.

HJM 4002 Manufacturer protection Curtis (R-18) H.Jud.

Key to abbreviations: S. = Senate, H. = House, HJM = House Joint
Memorial, Jud = Judiciary, CJ&J = Criminal Justice & Corrections,
Fish/Ecol = Fisheries, Ecology & Parks, JuvJust = Juvenile Justice, Educ
= Education, LocGov = Local Government, NatRes = Natural Resources; W&M
= Ways and Means

<>

GOAL position on bills:

<>
SB 5041 Neutral

SB 5131 Neutral

SB 5167 Support

SB 5342 Oppose

SB 5343 Oppose

SB 5344 Concerns

SB 5383 Neutral

SB 5475 Oppose

SB 5545 Support

SB 5593 Oppose

SB 5635 Support

HB 1133 Neutral

HB 1213 Neutral

HB 1433 Oppose

HB 1489 Oppose

HB 1490 Oppose

HB 1627 Oppose

HJM 4002 Support

Note: Our position on bills may change as they are amended and move
through the process.

HEARINGS SCHEDULED:

<>
None. (A quick note on public testimony: as a general rule testimony is
subject to a three minute time limit ? which may be cut if there are
several people wishing to testify. Testimony should not be redundant ?
if someone else already said it, find something else to say. Like a
letter to the editor, testimony should focus on no more than two or
three points. Personal attacks or criticizing the motives of our
opponents is NOT allowed. Vague references to the Second Amendment or
Nazi gun control are meaningless in a public hearing.)

<>
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". It's available in two versions: text (.txt) file or
Acrobat (.pdf) file. The "Acrobat" version is preferred as it is easier
to read and is an exact copy of the hard copy format the legislators
use. You may download a free version of Adobe Acrobat from Adobe's web
site. 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 "[email protected]". 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 "[email protected]" or (during
session) by telephone at (425) 454-4915. Unfortunately, I am unable to
mail hard copy GOAL Post to individuals. Limited numbers of hard copies
MAY be available at WAC gun shows.

Upcoming WAC gun show(s):

<> Puyallup 5-6 February

Monroe 12-13 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 2005 Gun Owners Action League of WA
Click to expand...
 
I just figured I should take this opportunity to point out the "RKBA" section of the Washington State constitution for our out of state (and some in state) members. I hate to say it but, the courts may just be our last hope if this slides through.

SECTION 24 RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS
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.
Click to expand...

We nicely do right away with that "collective right" crap in the first sentance, and also afirm that the purpose of the RKBA is DEFENSE of self and state (not HUNTING). The capitol ban will likely pass muster with the state constitution but, they are gonna have to stretch really hard to justify the .50cal ban and the AWB. They argue that the weapons that they are banning are "extra deadly". But, "extra deadly" is just what you want in a WEAPON. The fact that these weapons are of military extraction helps the constitutional case.

Of course this is all academic since I seriously doubt that any of our lawmakers even have a copy of this particular document, nor do they care what it says.

On a sad note my district representative is one of the key sponsors of the .50ban. :( I'll write a letter but, it won't do a damn bit of good. I hope you people on the dry-side can talk some sense into your critters.
 
Is "Pistol Packin' Pam" Roach still in the WA State Legislature? If so, y'all need to be jumpin' on her and her son "Baby" Roach (assuming he is still there as well) for assistance with this.

Pam is well known among the legislators for carrying a concealed weapon on the floor, at all times. She should be a great advocate for shooting down these bills (of course the pun is intended!).
 
My God, what a raft of anti legislation. How can they get away with it in light of the WA constitutional RKBA provision????
 
Snake Eyes ~

Yes, she is, and she was at the hearing briefly.

However, she is not a member of the Judiciary Committee. Right now, we need to keep pressure on those committee members to keep the bills in committee and not allow them to come to the floor.

pax
 
I wrote letters to my E. Spokane legislatures about the AWBs in committee. Responded as follows:

1. Sen. McCaslin - opposed to the AWB
2. Rep. Schindler - opposed to the AWB
3. Rep. Crouse - opposed to the AWB

Looks good in my district but what is the prognosis for the others (besides King county) ?
 
I've been very encouraged

in my correspondences with my reps. My Democrat representative and Republican representative both oppose these bills.

Representative Dawn Morrell (D) opposes
Representative Joyce McDonald (R) opposes

Morrell says that we "waste time trying to limit gun rights". Pretty good - maybe Democrats aren't all bad.
 
Do those who oppose the AWB also oppose the .50 ban? This should also be a big deal.

IMHO, the Capitol carry ban is much less of a big deal. The people put at risk as a result are the legislators themselves. It impact only a very small number of citizens.
 
Henry Bowman ~

"Only a very small number of citizens."

If you listen to the RealAudio of the hearings, my voice is one of the last ones you'll hear. I drove an hour and a half up the road in order to be there to testify. When the hearing ended, it was after dark and the shuttle to the parking lots had already shut down. My car was parked -- as almost all visitors' cars must be parked -- at least 1/2 mile away from the room where the hearing was held. Of course my car was parked on the Capitol campus and under the proposed legislation I could not legally even leave my handgun in the car while I testified.

Should I have driven that far from home without the means to defend myself & my child if the car broke down? When I knew the ride home would happen after dark? Should I have left the gun (illegally) in the car where it could be stolen? Should I have planned to walk a half mile by myself in a big city after dark?

If this proposed legislation were already the law, should I have just decided to stay home and forget about trying to get to the Capitol for such hearings?

My point? The "very small number" of citizens you reference ... includes me.

It includes any person who ever wants to be politically active by visiting her senators and representatives.

It includes any mom who brings her kids for a day at the Capitol as a field trip.

It includes young women working in the office buildings there ... do you think they sometimes have to work after dark, after the shuttles have stopped, and might sometimes have to walk some distance back to their cars?

Oh, and it includes big, burly men who visit the Capitol for whatever reason, too. But who cares, that's only a very small number of citizens.

NONE of my rights are for sale.

pax

We must remember that a right lost to one is lost to all. -- William Reece Smith, Jr.
 
Pax,

This displaced Washingtonian very much appreciates the work you're doing on behalf of the RKBA. After all, I intend to return to Gods' Country one day.

walk a half mile by myself in a big city after dark?
Click to expand...
However, if Olympia is the "big city" you, sweetpea, need to get out more often!! :neener:

Peter

(Stop by The Spar and have some Mac & Cheese for me. It's the "soup of the day", dontcha know!)
 
C_Yeager

Yeah, Dawn Morrel (D) and Joyce McDonald (R) are both in Pierce County - the 25th Legislative district. I still haven't heard back from my Senator Jim Kastama (D).
 
Pax,

I have never met you, but I have great respect for your opinions on this board and work in Washington to advance the pro-gun rights effort and to dispell stereotypes of gun owners and users (particularly as a parent). My respect for you and gratitude cannot be overstated.

I did not mean to belittle the magnitude of the impact (on you or anyone affected). I was trying to use as few words as possible to the compare and balance the magnitude of the risk against the number of people impacted. Even though the number affected is small (relatively speaking), the impact on those affected is great. Of those affected within the capitol building, the legislators themselves are most likely to be the target of a criminal meaning to cause harm to a specific person. If we look at the number of days spent each year in the capitol building, the legislators and their staff are most affected. Providing lock boxes at the security screening point would allow you (and them) to protect yourself outside of that controlled area.

Don't get me wrong. Every infringement on our right to self defense is insulting, endangering, and uncontitutional. Nevertheless, they happen and are tolerated. For example, my non-resident WA CHP does not allow me to carry in places where I may be most likely to need it (bars) or where our most precious treasures are kept (schools). The legislators should value their own lives enough to want to protect them, but, alas, the controlling majority in Washington does not. Nor do they value the principle of freedom enough to be willing to pay even a small price for it for themselves or others.

I lived in Washington for 11 years and hope to return there someday. Having a draconian state AWB and a .50 cal ban (even though I do not own one of the latter) would probably cause me to cross WA off my list of potential relocation spots. Banning capitol buliding carry would not, especially if they provided lock boxes at the door. A "campus wide" ban would be very bad (and even more stupid). But considering the mentality of those whose hold the majority in the legislature (and the gov) and the numbers who put them there, I sadly doubt that reason will triumph. The population explosion of Seattle and the urban mentality of liberalism and dependency that goes with it is killing eastern King County. On a state level, King County (because of the population power it carries) is attempting to kill the whole state.

I have passed your report of the hearings along to other gun owner's rights proponents I know in WA. They, like me, are worried that the Dem controlled legislature and governor are giddy to railroad these bills through and that the rational, reasonable rural culture is now completely overshaddowed by the burgeoning population of the liberal, urban culture of greater Seattle. They are fearing (and expecting) the worst of these anti-gun bills to pass. I have no faith in the WA Supreme Court to rationally and logically apply the state constitution and strike down these bad laws. (I am a member of the WA bar.) They have a history of being emotionally motivated and intellectually dishonest.

Compromise is immoral when we are talking about human rights. It is, however, a shameful political reality.

Thank you for fighting the good fight. We support you.
 
Well, I got another reply from one of the reps that I contacted, this time it was from Rep. Beverly Woods in response to my phone call. It stated;

"Dear Bradley,

Thank you for your correspondence regarding the various pieces of proposed legislation pertaining to gun control. Most of the bills are currently being heard in the Senate with a few that have been introduced in the House.

Please be assured that I will not be supporting any of the gun control bills as they are currently written.

Again, thank you, for contacting me concerning this issue.

Sincerely,

Beverly Woods
State Representative
23rd Legislative District"

It sounds OK besides the part about "as they are currently written". But I figured y'all might like the update.
 
Here's my letter...

Sent USPS to my Senator and Reps. It borrows heavily from the one posted earlier.
-------------

I've recently become aware that the Senate is considering a ban on so-called “assault weapons,†SB 5475. This bill flies in the face of both the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, but also Article I, Section 24 of the state constitution. Art. I, Sec. 24 reads:
“The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired.â€
The language is quite clear, and it should be equally clear that SB 5475 would violate it.
Proponents of SB 5475 and it’s companion bill, HB 1627, claim that these firearms are “too dangerous†and have “no legitimate civilian use.†I direct your attention again to the state constitution, “to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state.â€

These types of weapons with "military features" and “high capacity magazines†that are being considered in the ban are exactly the types of arms that those who wrote the U.S. Constitution and that of the state intended to protect. Contrary to the notions of gun-control groups like the Brady Campaign and the Violence Policy Center, these types of weapons are used in an insignificant number of crimes compared to other types of weapons. The United States Department of Justice and the FBI have both made this very clear, as has the National Academy of Science, which, in a recently released paper based on studies of almost 400 journal articles, books, and government publications, the concluded that it could not show a single gun control law that reduced violent crime, suicide, or accidents. Gun control laws had no impact whatsoever on crime, but did infringe on the constitutionally protected rights of American citizens.

Most pro gun-rights citizens recognize these types of bans, which are primarily cosmetic with little plausible potential impact on crime, as another step down the slippery slope that inevitably leads to total gun confiscation, as was the case in England and Australia, where guns have been virtually outlawed, and violent crime has skyrocketed.

As your constituent, I ask that you please act against SB 5475 any gun-control measures that involve banning certain types of firearms or include gun registration. It is no surprise that the states with the most criminal violence (NY, NJ, IL, CA) also have the most gun control. Gun control does not work, and only disarms the law abiding majority among us.

I am fully in favor of extremely tough laws and sentences for criminal use of firearms. The record has shown that tough laws, sentences, and strong enforcement of these laws is the best deterrent to gun violence. A new law such as Florida’s “5-10-20†law would be a much better solution than attacking the rights of the citizens of Washington.
 
Here's the letter I got published in the Tacoma News Tribune:

Legislation’s language would outlaw many designs

Last updated: February 7th, 2005 02:40 AM
Senate Bill 5475 has received surprisingly little attention given its radical nature. Under the guise of an assault weapons ban, it slips in language which would outlaw all semi-automatic pistols and rifles (except .22 caliber rimfire rifles).

Section 18 (c) defines an assault weapon as: “any semiautomatic pistol, any semiautomatic, center-fire rifle, or any shotgun with a fixed magazine that has the capacity to accept more than ten rounds of ammunition.â€

Upon an initial reading one would assume that it refers only to pistols and rifles that accept over 10 rounds. But a careful rereading reveals that the “10 rounds†phrase applies only to shotguns.

Consider the following sentence: ‘any chair, any blue sofa, or any coffee table made of oak.’ This sentence seems to refer to three types of oak furniture. In reality, however, the sentence really means that only the coffee table is oak.

This is even more clear when one considers that there are no pistols in production that “accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition†in a “fixed†magazine. Pistols with a magazine all use detachable magazines, not fixed magazines.

The true meaning of this bill is so foreign to the beliefs of the residents of Washington that its proponents can only hope to get it passed through verbal subterfuge.

The only other option is to believe that our senators are incapable of writing a coherent English sentence.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/opinion/letters/story/4527534p-4248147c.html

They edited it some, but it didn't change the meaning. I also sent copies to all of the Republicans on the Senate and House Judiciary Committees.
 
“any semiautomatic pistol, any semiautomatic, center-fire rifle, or any shotgun with a fixed magazine that has the capacity to accept more than ten rounds of ammunition.â€
Click to expand...
Even if they actually meant semiautomatic pistols with the capacity to accept more than ten rounds of ammunition, that would apply to any semi-auto pistol that can accept a "high capacity" magazine. A Glock G-21 can accept both 10 round mags and 13 round mags, giving it "the capacity to accept more than ten rounds of ammunition." It would take a major rewrite to even get down to CA AWB standards.
 
Why would that be difficult to believe? After all one of your US Senators is Patty Murray.
Click to expand...

You don't actually think that these laws are literaly written by the hand of the lawmakers do you? They are written by proffesionals that know what they are doing. And I assure you that little "mistakes" are not mistakes at all. They are simply 'loopholes' that allow selective interpretation. Our lawmakers know that law is ultimately made in the courts so they leave their legislation as "roomy" for interpretation as possible.
 
I suspect that this was written by Washington Ceasefire anyway, I just wanted to close it off in a way that was insulting because I thought it would be more likely to get published.

Jeff
 
Update:

I asked Representative Tom Campbell, a Republican on the Judiciary Committee, about the progress of the AWB. He says it is dead in the House. Not sure if he was referring just to the AWB or the other bills too. I'm emailing him again for clarification.
 
Abaddon ~

You missed another thread ... um, it's around here somewhere ... where we all breathed a sigh of relief because the cut-off for getting the bills out of committee had passed. Here's what our man in Olympia had to say about that:
GOAL Post 2005-9

Legislative Update from Olympia 4 March 2005

POLICY COMMITTEE CUT-OFF PASSES

MOST GUN BILLS DIE

LEAD SHOT EXCISE TAX BILL STILL IN PLAY

51 DAYS REMAIN IN SESSION

At 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday (2 March), bills that had not passed out of
their original policy committee were and are considered dead for the
session. Remember, these cut-off dates are internal control measures,
and may be waived by a simple majority vote.

Almost all of the gun-related bills, good and bad, died this week. A
complete listing of what died and what is still in play can be found
below in the “Bill Status†section. Next week I will delete the gun
bills no longer under consideration.

The only really bad bill still under consideration is HB 2211, the lead
shot excise tax bill. It has until 5:30 p.m. Monday (7 March) to clear
committee or be considered dead for the session. At this point, and next
week’s schedule is already posted, it has not been scheduled for a
public hearing. Tax (revenue) bills are a little different, however, in
that it is fairly easy for them to be amended or rolled into another
revenue bill. Given the state’s revenue shortfall and the “creative
financing†going on in Olympia this year to “find†$2.2 BILLION
somewhere, this is one we’ll have to keep an eye on for several more weeks.

51 days remain in this year’s 105 day session. We still need to be alert
to procedural manipulation or “deal cutting†as various cut-off
deadlines approach. This is the biennial budget year, where billions of
taxpayer dollars are being doled out (not to mention shotgunners’ lead
excise tax bucks!). Gun control advocates may offer pork barrel projects
in return for votes on gun bills. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom!

BILL STATUS:

Bill # Subject Sponsor Status

SSB 5041 Sentencing range McCaslin (R-4) S. W&M

SB 5131 Insanity finding/firearms Carrell (R-28) S.Rules

SB 5167 Firearm suppressors Hargrove (D-24) Died S.Jud.

SB 5342 Safe storage of firearms Kohl-Welles (D-36) Died S.Jud.

SB 5343 Gun show loophole Kohl-Welles (D-36) Died S.Jud.

SB 5344 Capitol campus gun ban Fairley (D-32) Died S. Jud.

SB 5383 Juvenile hunting licenses Oke (R-26) Died S. NatRes

SB 5475 Assault weapon ban Kline (D-37) Died S. Jud.

SB 5545 Military CPL renewal Roach (R-31) Died S. Jud.

SB 5593 .50 BMG rifle ban Kline (D-37) Died S. Jud.

SB 5635 Restoration of rights Schoesler (R-9) S. Rules

SJM 8005 Manufacturer protection Benton (R-17) Died S. Jud.

SHB 1133 Public disclosure law Nixon (R-45) H. Rules

SHB 1213 Juvenile hunting licenses Clements (R-14) H. Rules

HB 1473 Safe storage of firearms Moeller (D-49) Died H. Jud.

HB 1489 Capitol campus gun ban Williams (D-22) Died H.Jud.

HB 1490 Park/rec area gun ban Darneille (D-27) Died H. Jud.

HB 1627 Assault weapon ban Kagi (D-32) Died H. Jud.

HB 1687 Insanity finding/firearms Moeller (D-49) H. Rules

HB 1804 CPL renewal notification Ericksen (R-42) Died H. Jud.

HB 1822 Lead shot hunting ban Kagi (D-32) Died H. NatRes.

HB 2211 Lead shot excise tax Kagi (D-32) H. Fin.

HJM 4002 Manufacturer protection Curtis (R-18) Died H.Jud.

Key to abbreviations: S. = Senate, SSB = Substitute Senate Bill, H. =
House, SHB = Substitute House Bill, HJM = House Joint Memorial, Jud =
Judiciary, Fin. = Finance, NatRes = Natural Resources; W&M = Ways and Means

GOAL position on bills:

SSB 5041 Neutral

SB 5131 Neutral

SB 5167 Support

SB 5342 Oppose

SB 5343 Oppose

SB 5344 Oppose

SB 5383 Neutral if amended

SB 5475 Oppose

SB 5545 Support

SB 5593 Oppose

SB 5635 Support

SJM 8005 Support

SHB 1133 Neutral

SHB 1213 Neutral

HB 1473 Oppose

HB 1489 Oppose

HB 1490 Oppose

HB 1627 Oppose

HB 1687 Neutral

HB 1804 Support

HB 1822 Oppose

HB 2211 Oppose

HJM 4002 Support

Note: Our position on bills may change as they are amended and move
through the process.

HEARINGS SCHEDULED:

None 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". It's available in two versions: text (.txt) file or
Acrobat (.pdf) file. The "Acrobat" version is preferred as it is easier
to read and is an exact copy of the hard copy format the legislators
use. You may download a free version of Adobe Acrobat from Adobe's web
site. 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 "[email protected]". 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 "[email protected]" or (during session) by telephone at (425) 454-4915. Unfortunately, I am unable to mail hard copy GOAL Post to individuals. Limited numbers of hard copies
MAY be available at WAC gun shows. GOAL Post is usually posted to the
Washington State Rifle & Pistol Association’s web site within 24 hours
of transmission (http://www.wsrpa.org).

Upcoming WAC gun show(s):

Monroe 12-13 March

Puyallup 2-3 April

"The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself,
or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall
be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize,
maintain or employ an armed body of men."

Article 1, Section 24

Constitution of the State of Washington

Copyright 2005 Gun Owners Action League of WA
Click to expand...


And here's the latest update from the desk of Joe Waldron, lobbyist for Washington's Gun Owner's Action League:
The House Finance Committee ended a marathon public hearing/executive
session a short time ago. HB 2211 (excise tax on lead shot) was NOT
brought up. End-of-business today is the cut-off for legislative fiscal
committee action on bills. This is another important hurdle that
blocked an extremist gun control bill (the power to tax is the power to
destroy).

Lest anyone think all these gun bills were just smokescreen and "they
never would have passed..." All of the right conditions were in place
for a repeat of the 1993-94 legislative session, when several gun
control measures passed the legislature and were signed by then-Governor
Mike "Where have YOUR hands been today?" Lowry. Democrats control the
House, the Senate and the Governor's desk. The urban Democrat caucus is
firmly in charge of the agenda. Just look at some of the other bills
still moving, liberal to the core.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the gun control fest. Several
rural Democrat legislators were given a history lesson of what happened
in the 1994 elections. Just a few words whispered in the right ears.
And then the 25 January hearing on gun bills in the Senate Judiciary
Committee, where hundreds of gun rights advocates gave meaning to the
whispered history lesson. That was enough to rattle cages and encourage
rural Dems to encourage THEIR leaders to back away from gun control.
For now.

The session is by no means over. The next important hurdle will come
next Wednesday (16 March) when all bills must pass their original
chamber. That makes resurrecting and acting on any of thes ebills even
harder. But it can happen.

And remember that our legislature works a biennium -- TWO year cycles.
All bills filed this year may be considered next year as well.

I will continue to publish the weekly GOAL summaries (GOAL Posts), and
alerts as required.

Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.
Click to expand...
 
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