GOAL Post\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 2013-12
\nLegislative Update from Olympia\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 5 April 2013<\/p>\n
SECOND POLICY COMMITTEE CUT-OFF PASSES<\/p>\n
BILLS PASS COMMITTEE<\/p>\n
28 DAYS LEFT IN SESSION<\/p>\n
UN ATT PASSES<\/p>\n
SHOWDOWN ON CAPITOL HILL<\/p>\n
GRASSROOTS TRAINING EVENT 30 APRIL<\/p>\n
Another milestone passed Wednesday evening with the second chamber policy committee cutoff.\u00a0 No bills on our tracking list were affected.<\/p>\n
Of the six bills still on the list, four (SHBs 1383 and 1840, SSBs 5282 and 5452) are in their respective Rules Committee, awaiting a floor vote.\u00a0 Two (SHB 1612 and SB 5865) are sitting in Senate Ways & Means for funding approval.\u00a0 SHB 1840 was amended in Senate Law & Justice to remove offending portions.\u00a0 There is no reason to oppose the bill at this point.<\/p>\n
There are 28 days left in the 2013 regular legislative session.\u00a0 Per the state constitution, the legislature must adjourn by midnight, Sunday, 28 April, the end of the 105-day long session.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, 2 April, the United Nations General Assembly passed the Arms Trade Treaty (UN ATT) that has been under development for a decade.\u00a0 Supporters of the treaty continue to claim it will have no impact on gun control within member states and will not infringe on the Second Amendment within the U.S.\u00a0 The United States voted FOR the treaty, and there is no doubt President Obama will sign it when it is presented to him.\u00a0 The stumbling block for full U.S. implementation of the treaty’s provisions will be ratification by 2\/3 of the U.S. Senate — unlikely at this time (the Senate has yet to vote on ratification of the Inter-American Arms Trade Treaty passed in the 1990s and signed by President Clinton in 1999).<\/p>\n
As always, the devil is in the details.\u00a0 And therein lies the problem.\u00a0 The treaty in many cases speaks in generalities, addressing various forms of arms control.\u00a0 There is no doubt that it applies to “small arms” (including “sporting” arms), and there is no doubt it seeks to limit not only INTERNATIONAL trafficking in arms of all kind, but imposing necessary INTERNAL controls to ensure no weapons “leak” into the international market (can you say “Fast & Furious?”).\u00a0 That covers just about everything a gun control advocate could put on his or her Christmas list:\u00a0 bans, registration, the whole gun control ball of wax.\u00a0 One passage reads, “Each State Party (nation) shall establish and maintain a national control system, including a national control list, in order to implement the provisions of this Treaty.”\u00a0 The treaty also has the potential to restrict U.S. arms support to our allies around the world.<\/p>\n
Next week the U.S. Senate will take up S. 649, Majority Leader Harry Reid’s omnibus gun control bill.\u00a0 While the bill language has been posted on the Congressional web site (www.thomas.loc.gov<\/a>), the only sure thing is what you see on the Congressional web site right now will not be the version finally voted on at the end of floor action.\u00a0 I gave a detailed description of the first draft of the bill in last week’s GOAL Post.<\/p>\n Despite sequester-driven cash shortages, President Obama has embarked on a nationwide tour to try and generate public pressure on Senators to pass S. 649.\u00a0 Sunday evening, 60 Minutes will bring out Newtown\/Sandy Hook family survivors in an attempt to generate further support.\u00a0 The administration is pulling out all the stops to push as restrictive a bill as they can get through the system.<\/p>\n Reportedly Senators Schumer (D-NY) and Manchin (D-WV) and considering watering down the bill to try and get more Republican votes.\u00a0 Illinois “Republican” Mark Kirk, a long time gun control advocate, has already agreed to vote for the bill, no matter what it contains.\u00a0 Schumer\/Manchin are hoping they can lure maverick Republicans like John McCain (R-AZ) and Susan Collins (R-ME) to roll over as well.<\/p>\n The bottom line is that “universal background checks” is code for “universal gun registration.”\u00a0 Once the data is collected, the reason for its collection is irrelevant.\u00a0 They know who you are and what you own.\u00a0 And while gun registration doesn’t automatically lead to confiscation, it is a necessary precursor to any effective confiscation program\u00a0 A few years ago, the California Rifle & Pistol Association ran billboards promoting concealed carry with the message, “Society is safer when criminals don’t know who is armed.”\u00a0 Society is also safer when GOVERNMENT doesn’t know who is armed.<\/p>\n The Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and the Gun Owners Action League are joining with the Leadership Institute to conduct a grassroots training program at the Pierce County Library in Tacoma on Tuesday, 30 April.\u00a0 The evening event will focus on several topics to include the legislative process, persuasive communications, traditional citizen (grassroots) lobbying and “new generation lobbying” — employing social media and other new methods of outreach.<\/p>\n Cost to attend is $10 and additional information may be obtained from Phil Watson, Special Projects Director at the Second Amendment Foundation, (425) 454-7012.\u00a0 You may also register directly at https:\/\/www.leadershipinstitute.org\/Training\/register.cfm?ID=22877<\/a><\/p>\n The following bills remain under consideration in the 2013 session<\/p>\nBILL STATUS:<\/h1>\n