Langenator
Member
OK, Washington state residents. Here's the latest from Olympia, from the WSRPA GOAL Post 2007-2.
Executive Summary: There are now a total of 5 gun bills, two of which are House and Senate versions of the "So-Called Gunshow Loophole" bill. And apparently, despite indications from some in the Democrat leadership, they might actually be serious about this one especially in the Senate, where, instead of sending the bill to the Judiciary Committee, where the Dems only have a 4-3 majority, with some of those being gun-friendly types from rural districts, it was given to the Labor, Commerce, Research & Development Committee, where the Dems rule 5-2 and are all GFWs. Senators need to be told to stop playing games with our rights. Nice way to remind them: they love to talk about "special interests" (Cease Fire WA: 3,500 or so members) vs "public interests" (1,000,000 gun owners.)
One good bill is HB 1126, which would give deployed military members whose CPL expires while they are overseas and extension until they return home.
Text of the GOAL Post follows.
-----------------------------
LEGISLATURE 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 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:
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 "[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 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
Executive Summary: There are now a total of 5 gun bills, two of which are House and Senate versions of the "So-Called Gunshow Loophole" bill. And apparently, despite indications from some in the Democrat leadership, they might actually be serious about this one especially in the Senate, where, instead of sending the bill to the Judiciary Committee, where the Dems only have a 4-3 majority, with some of those being gun-friendly types from rural districts, it was given to the Labor, Commerce, Research & Development Committee, where the Dems rule 5-2 and are all GFWs. Senators need to be told to stop playing games with our rights. Nice way to remind them: they love to talk about "special interests" (Cease Fire WA: 3,500 or so members) vs "public interests" (1,000,000 gun owners.)
One good bill is HB 1126, which would give deployed military members whose CPL expires while they are overseas and extension until they return home.
Text of the GOAL Post follows.
-----------------------------
LEGISLATURE 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 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:
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 "[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 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
