GOAL Alert\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\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a04-2014
\nElection update\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 9 November 2014<\/p>\n
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARINES<\/p>\n
SILVER LINING<\/p>\n
MOMENTUM FOR GUN CONTROL?<\/p>\n
I-594: WHAT NEXT?<\/p>\n
WARNING!!!<\/p>\n
THE OTHER WASHINGTON<\/p>\n
Tomorrow, 10 November 2014, is the 239th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps.\u00a0 Happy birthday to all of my Marine brethren and to our “FMF Corpsman,” the highest calling in the Navy.\u00a0 Right after “Semper fidelis” comes “Corpsman up!”\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (The devil made me put that in GOAL Post.)<\/p>\n
47% of the registered voters in Washington took the trouble to return their mail-in ballots this time around.\u00a0 Shame on any gun owners who failed to vote.<\/p>\n
For gun owners, the passage of I-594 will no doubt dominate the discussion, and I’ll get to that next.\u00a0 But there is a silver lining in the election.\u00a0 My biggest fear the day before the election was that I-594 supporters would use their $9 MILLION bank account to conduct a massive get-out-the-vote (GOTV) campaign.\u00a0 Without question that would have had a spillover effect on the legislative elections.\u00a0 But apparently they didn’t — and it didn’t.<\/p>\n
The overall result of the legislative elections was a net plus for Republicans.\u00a0 Former Democrat Representative and now Republican Senator-elect Mark Miloscia (R-30-Federal Way) won his bid to replace retiring Democrat Tracy Eide, giving Republicans clear majority control of the state Senate, 25R-24D.\u00a0 Add to that the fact that nominally-Democrat Senator Tim Sheldon beat off an attempt by Party loyalists to run a Democrat challenger, Irene Bowling, against him.\u00a0 No doubt with a lot of help from Republican voters in the 35th, Tim won his election, and will no doubt continue to work with Republicans in the Majority Coalition.\u00a0 (And congratulations to WAC Honorary Life Member Pam Roach (R-31) for her victory over a Republican challenger.)<\/p>\n
On the House side, the GOP picked up four seats, and a fifth seat awaits a recount vote.\u00a0 Welcome Representatives-elect Lynda Wilson (R-17) (also an NRA-certified firearms safety instructor), Melanie Stambaugh (R-25), Michelle Caldier (R-26) and Dan Griffey (R-35).\u00a0 All four defeated incumbent Democrats.\u00a0 That gives us a House make-up of 51Ds-47Rs, not a Republican majority, but a lot closer.\u00a0 All but one of the pro-gun Democrats also won reelection, so from a purely gun rights perspective, we should be in good shape.<\/p>\n
Immediately following the election, in press conferences crowing about their initiative victory, I-594 supporters promised an aggressive gun control campaign in the next legislative session, looking at things like “assault weapon” bans, magazine capacity limits, mandatory safe storage, etc.\u00a0 At least theoretically, a Republican-controlled Senate and a pro-gun majority in the House should bring all such designs to a rapid halt.\u00a0 But politics doesn’t always work that way, especially in the House where control still rests with Democrats, and leadership decides which bills move and which bills die.\u00a0 There is no doubt gun control advocates believe momentum is on their side, and they’ll attempt to exploit it.<\/p>\n
As for I-594, at this point there are more questions than answers.\u00a0 Given the ambiguity of many provisions in the initiative, it’s going to boil down to a question of interpretation, followed by a decision of what will be enforced, in which way.\u00a0 Without doubt you can expect full enforcement of background checks at gun shows and for any other permanent transfer (sale) of a firearm.\u00a0 While a strict reading of the provisions for loans, etc, would call for background checks here, too, that’s going to be difficult to enforce, and it remains to be seen what guidance will be given to police.\u00a0 This should all be hashed out before the initiative takes effect on 4 December, a day before the WAC gun show in Monroe, coincidentally!<\/p>\n
There are discussions underway about how to attack 594, and how to limit its impact on law-abiding gun owners.\u00a0 As an initiative passed by the people, for two years any legislative fixes would take a 2\/3 majority vote of the legislature — and that ain’t gonna happen.\u00a0 But there are potentially some legislative actions that can be taken around the to ameliorate the impact.\u00a0 Court challenges are also a possibility, for portions of the initiative.\u00a0 Again, the issue is being worked.\u00a0 More on that as they develop.<\/p>\n
I’ll be publishing more information about enforcement, and the gun community’s reaction to it, as the effective date approaches.<\/p>\n
WARNING!\u00a0 I expect our law enforcement professionals to be exactly that — professionals. While most did not support I-594, now that it is law they have a duty to enforce it, as interpreted by their chain-of-command.<\/p>\n
What I DO expect to see is attempted stings — entrapment scenarios played out, especially at venues like gun shows.\u00a0 Not by police officers, but by 594 supporters.\u00a0 You get out of your car at the gun show, pull a shotgun out of the trunk and head for the gate.\u00a0 It wouldn’t surprise me to see someone approach you and make an offer for the shotgun.\u00a0 You ask, “What about the background check,” and the “buyer” responds, “Hey, who’s to see or know?” \u00a0The person that will see and know is the guy the next lane over, with his cellphone camera or videocam up and running, recording the whole transaction.\u00a0 And that will force our police friends into enforcing a law they may not like or agree with, but it’s the law.<\/p>\n
DO NOT GET TRAPPED.\u00a0 LIKE IT OR NOT, FOLLOW THE LAW UNTIL WE GET IT SORTED OUT!<\/p>\n
By now the whole world knows that Republicans have taken control of the U.S. Senate, giving them a 52-46 majority in that body.\u00a0 Two seats are still up for grabs, both likely to go to Republicans, giving them 54-46 control when the new, 114th, Congress convenes in January.\u00a0 The only thing we know for sure at this point is that it will be an interesting two years!<\/p>\n
Hopefully Republicans understand that the election results were not so much an embrace of Republican policies and principles as it was a rejection of Obama policies.\u00a0 There’s a big difference there, obviously.\u00a0 But it’s hard for someone who just won an election to think that it wasn’t so much his or her winning personality as much as dislike for the other guy — or the other guy’s surrogate, President Obama.<\/p>\n
It wasn’t particularly encouraging to hear the president say that he not only heard the voters, he heard “the voice of those that did not vote.”\u00a0 Huh?\u00a0 He’s hearing voices?\u00a0 Is this the same guy who said in 2012, “If you don’t like my policies, go win an election.”\u00a0 Well, they did.\u00a0 In 1994, after the Democrat disaster that saw Republicans take control of both chambers of Congress, then-President and master politician Bill Clinton acknowledged that some of the loss was due to his policies, and he accepted full responsibility for that.\u00a0 Three words you will NEVER hear Barack Obama say are, “I accept responsibility.”<\/p>\n
In 1995 and beyond, Clinton moved to the center, worked with Republicans on many issues, and passed landmark legislation such as welfare reform (since overturned by a stroke of Obama’s executive pen).\u00a0 President Obama is still threatening us with that executive pen, apparently with immigration “reform” (i.e. amnesty) at the top of the list.\u00a0 And how close to the top is gun control?<\/p>\n
One clear outcome is that for the first time in his presidency, Obama will have to take responsibility for using that pen, whether for executive orders that exceed his authority or for use of the veto.\u00a0 For the past four years, the Republican-controlled House has been passing bill after bill, only to have them stonewalled in the Senate by Harry Reid.\u00a0 Reid has been running interference for Obama.<\/p>\n
That firewall is gone.\u00a0 Bills will now move to the president’s desk, and if he vetoes them, we will know where the “gridlock:” lies.\u00a0 Expect a lot of, “Well, the Republicans MADE me veto the bill, it’s not my fault.\u00a0 They knew I wouldn’t sign it.”\u00a0 I guess that’s an improvement from pointing the finger at George W. Bush!<\/p>\n
One last shot.\u00a0 53% of your fellow citizens did not vote in the election.\u00a0 The next time someone complains to you about the effect of I-594, ask them if they voted.\u00a0 If they didn’t, you know where the blame lies.\u00a0 Shame on them.<\/p>\n
The next legislative session begins on 12 January.\u00a0 I expect to start publishing GOAL Post a week prior to that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GOAL Alert 4-2014 Election update 9 November 2014 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARINES SILVER LINING MOMENTUM FOR GUN CONTROL? I-594: WHAT NEXT? WARNING!!! THE OTHER WASHINGTON Tomorrow, 10 November 2014, is the 239th birthday of the U.S. Marine Corps. Happy birthday to all of my Marine brethren and to our “FMF Corpsman,” the highest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-political-update"],"yoast_head":"\n