GOAL Post                                                                                             2014-3
Legislative Update from Olympia                                                               23 January 2014

PUBLIC HEARINGS ON INITIATIVES

I-594 CERTIFIED BY SOS; I-591 NEXT

FIREARMS ON THE CAPITOL CAMPUS

FORMAT CHANGE

NEW BILL(S) FILED

ADDITIONAL  PUBLIC HEARING(S) SCHEDULED

OPPOSE HB 2459/SB 6039

Public hearings will be conducted on Initiatives 591 (pro-gun) and 594 (anti-gun) on 28 January (House Judiciary) and 29 January (Senate Law & Justice).  It is critical that as many individuals turn out as possible to attend BOTH of these hearings.  A strong turnout sends a strong signal to both the legislature and to the media present of the support for, or opposition to, each of the initiatives.

Signs and posters are not allowed inside the buildings, but we will be distributing “Guns Save Lives” stickers to participants.  Parking in the vicinity of the Campus is tight, and Olympia loves to give tickets for illegal parking, so car pools are strongly encouraged.  http://www.leg.wa.gov/legislature/Pages/Parking.aspx

The House Judiciary Committee will conduct it’s hearing on both initiatives at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, in House Hearing Room “A” in the John L. Obrien (House) Office Building.  The Senate Law & Justice Committee will hear both initiatives at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Senate Hearing Room “1” in the John A. Cherberg Senate Office Building.  Sign-up sheets will likely be posted outside the hearing rooms.  Please come early and sign in FOR I-591 and AGAINST I-594.

(And just before I sent this, House Judiciary chair Rep. Laurie Jinkins (D-27) announced she would also hear HB 1561 — legalizing short-barreled rifles under state law — in conjunction with her hearing on the initiatives Tuesday afternoon.)

The Secretary of State announced on Wednesday that the count of signatures for I-=594 was completed, and the initiative has sufficient signatures to move forward.  The count on I-591 is underway as you read this.

And here is where I alienate some of you on the list.  Carry is legal on the Capitol Campus.  But both committee chairs have asked that no one OPEN carry in deference to the victims the other side is expected to bring in.  I know, and for the most part agree with, the arguments for open carry.  But occasionally discretion is the better part of valor.  This is NOT the time to push the issue.  In fact, the most likely reaction to such activity is a change in the law banning ALL firearms on the Campus.  That does no one any good.  Please be discrete.

I’ve merged the “Bill Status” and “GOAL Position” segments to make for easier linking of the two.  The GOAL position on a given bill will appear immediately below the bill information.

One new firearm-related bill was filed this week.  SB 6245, by Sen. Brian Dansel (R-7) makes technical fixes to the existing law requiring surrender of a CPL held by anyone convicted of certain offenses.

A public hearing will be conducted on SB 6199, a bill restricting the use of incendiary or tracer ammunition and incendiary devices.

I have taken a position to oppose HB 2459 and SB 6039, bills dealing with hunter education training.  I support the intent of hunter education training.  I was first certified by the State of California as a Hunter Safety instructor in 1973.  Hunter education training was developed by the NRA in the 1930s.  Hunter Ed instruction is currently conducted by volunteer instructors.  But this bill allows the Department of Fish and Wildlife to set a registration fee “of not more than $20” to take the course.  Revenues collected shall be used to reimburse volunteer instructors for out-of-pocket expenses and other purposes.  I oppose the bills as written because I believe $20 is too high and will evolve into a cash cow for DFW.  Instructors deserve to be reimbursed, but a $20 fee for the course may act as a bar to certifying young hunters.

Key to abbreviations:  S. = Senate, H. = House, Ag/NatRes = Agriculture/Natural Resources, Fin = Finance, Jud = Judiciary, K-12 = Education, L&J = Law & Justice, NatRes = Natural Resources & Parks, Trans = Transportation, W&M = Ways and Means

HEARING(S) 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 “[email protected]” or 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) 985-4867.  Unfortunately, I am unable to mail hard copy GOAL Post to individuals.  Limited numbers of hard copies MAY be available at the Second Amendment Foundation book table at WAC gun shows.

Upcoming WAC gun show(s):

Monroe                  15-16 February

Puyallup                 22-23 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 2014 Gun Owners Action League of WA