I will be meeting with Representative Pedersen (He is the House Judiciary committee chairman) about the SBR bill (HB 1561) on August 3rd in Seattle.  I hope to find out why he refused to schedule the bill for a hearing this session and if he is willing to schedule it for a hearing in 2014.  I will also find out what he needs from us prior to giving the bill a hearing if needed.
I will be discussing the reasons for banning SBR's in 1994, the crime associated with them and the support that HB 1561 now enjoys from the police and the members of the House including those 7 of 13 in the Judiciary Committee.  If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know.  Thanks.
Randy Bragge



[email protected]



(360) 440-5889

 

Tag

Tagscribed.  Thanks for your hard work

I know of MANY police agencies who allow their officers to provide their own rifles for work.  Many of those officers would rather have an SBR as it would make their job that much easier.  If must be legal for the average joe first and then the average cop can also purchase one for work.  He can also show his support for law enforcement by supporting SBR's.  

The WASPC is taking a neutral position on the bill just as they did for the silencer bill.  Can you ask any police you know to encourage the WASPC to take a more supportive role?

Ranb

RanB thanks for keeping on top of this issue! It's important to me too. Last year I was straddled with a few things that kept me from actively participating in the effort as I did with the silencer issue. This time through I should be able to provide some more support than I did last try.

Tag.

Thanks for your work on this Randy!

Bravo! Keep up the good work.

I'm interested in what you find out.  Last year I sat down and called all representatives'.  I don't know why he wouldn't give it a hearing.  He wouldn't return my calls last year.

I will let you all know what happens.

Randy

Thank you.

thank you as well.

Thanks, Ranb!  

You are the man.  Who should we write letters to, and when?

ˆˆˆˆˆˆ
This!!

Write to your Representative and tell them why we need this bill.  If they are a sponsor, urge them to tell Pedersen to give the bill a hearing in the Judiciary Committee next session in January 2014.  If Brian Blake if your Representative please thank him for his efforts and let him know you are there to help if he needs anything.

Write the letters now and early next January.

Find your Representative
House Directory
SBR bill with list of sponsors

Let me know if you need any help.

Randy

Randy, Thank you for the effort you put forth to this, and your other efforts to restore the freedoms prior lost.

Randy, thank you for all of your hard work!

How'd it go?

The meeting was re-scheduled for Tuesday 8/6.

Ranb

What time? Did you need an extra body? If its before noon I can attend.

It is 3:30 pm at the Victrola Coffee House on 411 15th Avenue East in Seattle.  I will be taking the 1:45 pm ferry from Bremerton and driving to the meeting place.  The guy I went with on Saturday can't make it, if anyone wants to come along, please give me a call.  I only need one other person to come along.  It's a great chance to see how this stuff works.  

Randy
(360)440-5889

I met with Representative Pedersen this afternoon in Seattle for about 30 minutes.  He said he will probably not schedule the SBR bill (HB 1561) for a hearing in January 2014 given the present conditions.

Presently HB 1561 has a Democrat (Blake) prime sponsor, 13 other Democrat co-sponsors, 18 Republican co-sponsors, 7 of 13 of the Judiciary members are co-sponsors and it enjoys the support of WACOPS.  This is better support than the silencer bill had back in 2011.  I am not aware of any support in the Senate for a SBR bill. What worked in 2011 for the silencer use bill is not going to work in 2014 for the SBR bill.

Pedersen will probably not give the SBR bill a hearing unless a companion bill is introduced and passed out of the Senate.  There are a few reason for this, one is procedural (which I don’t really understand), for some reason more bills start in the Senate and finish in the House; if I remember what Pedersen said.  The other reason is the political climate that resulted in the defeat of all the gun bills in the 2013 session.  

After discussing the reasons why WA residents and the police want SBR’s, SBR crime rate and SBR sporting uses we talked a bit about the failed background check bill.  I told him I thought it was nearly as flawed as I-594.  Pedersen was the prime sponsor of HB1588 and claimed that he (as well as the House staff) was the author.  We briefly discussed the bills flaws and he admitted it was a learning experience.  Although we disagreed on some of the merits of the background  bill, the fact he claims ownership of the bill makes him a much better person than the poor souls (Kline, Murray, Kohl-Welles) who will not admit authoring the last three AWB bills in WA that would have deprived gun owners of their fourth amendment rights.

For what it is worth I think Pedersen will give an SBR bill a hearing if it is passed in the Senate.

If we want SBR’s it seems we need to get a bill introduced in the Senate.  Pedersen recommended Hatfield as a good prime sponsor.  Senator Mike Padden is the Senate Law and Justice Committee chairman (formerly the Judiciary), he would also be a good choice as a prime sponsor.  My senator is Sheldon, he voted to ban SBS/SBR back in 1994 but says he is willing to vote for HB1561 if it reaches the Senate.  Not exactly a ringing endorsement but it is a start.  I am going to try to talk to him about a bill.

So who here can talk to their Senator face to face about a Senate SBR bill? I can accompany anyone to a meeting within 100 miles of Seattle if you need someone to go with you  We have less than five months to get the ball moving on a Senate SBR bill.

Randy
[email protected]
(360) 440-5889

I will do some calling in the morning to find out who my senator is. Since I moved a year ago, it's different now.

Lilnk to find your Rep
Or here

Ranb

Reps e-mailed. I will call later.

Found the senator for my district, do we have a sample letter floating around that i can reference for my letter. Also have we posted about this in GD, I would think we would get a bigger responce if we called in a fire mission.

I disagree.  One face to face meeting is worth more than a 1000 letters in my opinion.  As far as I know Brian Blake got involved with the silencer use bill when one of his constituents asked him to do so.  With the right sponsor things happen.  I got my own Representatives to get on board with the silencer bill by meeting with them; letters absolutely did not work at all for me in this case.  It was only by meeting with them that they saw the light and became co-sponsors.

Write a real letter and back it up with an e-mail.  Wait a week then call their office until you are able to talk to a real person; most likely the aide.  If they agree to sponsor a bill (unlikely) just by talking on the phone or with letters, that is good.  Otherwise set up a time and place to talk to them.  This stuff really works.  They get to see that you are not some sort of psycho wanna be Sandy Hook shooter and instead are one of the good guys.

Get to know your legislators.  Obtain their contact info and read up on them on their homepage to learn more about them.  This way you will not feel like a complete stranger when talking to them.

I will post another sample letter today.

Randy

I e-mailed Senator Sheldon a few hours ago.  I included a short summary of my meeting with Pedersen and let him know what we discussed.  I have mailed and talked to Sheldon on the phone in the past about other issues so we are already sort of introduced.  About an hour after I sent my e-mail his aided called, told me that she was forwarding my e-mail to Sheldon and gave me his cell phone number.  She asked me to call him in a few days to talk to him.

This is how easy it is!!!

Anyone who is interested in easing gun restrictions can do this.

Randy

Here is a sample letter.  Do not directly copy it, personalize it.  I have data and emails to support the statements made in it if you need them.  Feel free to mention my name if they want raw crime data or my emails from Judge Appelwick (he wrote the SBR ban bill) forwarded.  If you write a letter be sure to include your full name and return address as well as e-mail and phone number.  You want the Senator to get back to you.  Always be polite even if they are not; being rude is the best way to be ignored.



Randy

Who is in Sen Roach's district? She's always been a big 2nd amendment supporter.

Roach was one of only two people (both GOP) who came out against the silencer use bill.  She changed her mind after Blake talked to her.  She may need to be convinced in person.

Randy

I just got this e-mail from Senator Hatfield's office.


The next step is to get co-sponsors.  Now that we have (or will have) an actual bill, we can ask other Senators to jump on the bandwagon and get in on a good deal.  When you guys write to your senators you can tell them that Senator Hatfield is sponsoring an SBR bill to complement HB1561 in the House.  This is much better than asking for someone to prime sponsor a bill.  We are over the first big hurdle.

The second hurdle is gathering additional co-sponsors, the third is convincing Senator Padden to schedule the bill for a hearing.

The thing about bills like the SBR and silencer bills is that even an anti-gun legislator can see that these firearms contribute little or nothing to the crime rates in WA.  Supporting these pro-gun bills is something an anti-gun legislator can do and not really risk the ire of their anti-gun constituents since it affects only a tiny percentage of the population and keeps the contraband weapons illegal to possess by anyone.   By supporting this bill they can attempt to show their pro-gun constituents that they are not rabidly anti-gun.  It is a win-win for them.

Randy

Maybe I need to call in the morning! I sent e-mails already.

i would love SBR's to be legal in washington. I'll admit all this stuff is over my head and ability to talk politics and such...lol. but i sent a email to my area senators and reps, asking for a reply and phone number to talk to them about this

Senator Kirk Pearson (R), Representative Dan Kristiansen (R) and Representative Elizabeth Scott (R) of the 39th district.

I didnt have time to post it here, but I wrote Sen. Hatfield as I am in his district, and mentioned the bi-partisan support of 1561 and needing a Senator to sponsor one to help Chairman Pedersen give the bill a shot in the House. Didn't get a reply but I have been busy. Hope to keep putting pressure on the subject in months to come.

Called my reps requesting a chance to meet them. I will be doggid on this issue until I meet them and they see things my way. I am in the 33rd - Keiser, Upthegrove, Orwell. All dems, probably not gun friendly ones at that. To boot, I am going to try to get my first CLEO signature too. Since I live in a new jurisdiction anyway. Someday I will get a signoff.

Well i got a response back from my senators aid this morning, he says he is for co sponsoring but need to talk rep named below in  their response


"Thank you for emailing Rep. Kristiansen expressing your support for HB 1561.   Rep. Kristiansen is a co-sponsor on HB 1561.

If you haven’t done so already you may want to contact the House Republican Ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Jay Rodne with your request to have the bill heard in  committee next session.

As you may know you can also track this bill.  If the bill starts moving through the legislative process you should receive email “alerts” letting you know what stage of the process the bill is in.  Since next session is only 60 days things move quickly and you may have less than 24 hours notice to prepare to come to Olympia to testify on the bill."

Even though we don't have an official senate SBR bill yet, if we hit them early they might get on board with Senator Hatfield and make it happen.

Here is a sample letter similar to the one I am going to send to every senator.



Please do not directly copy the letter.  Thanks.

House roll call vote for HB 1016 (silencer use bill)


Springer was a silencer bill co-sponsor, he says his no vote was a mistake.

Senate



This separates the good guys from the bad guys.  Thank the good guys when you all write.

Randy

Keiser voted for the silencer bill in 2011.  Upthegrove was a silencer bill co-sponsor and Orwell also voted for the silencer bill.  thank them for their support when you write.

Randy

Randy,
You know better than I, but I like to use "legally registered short-barreled rifles" so that our politicians know with certainty what we are referring to. Seems with a lot of states that the term "legally registered" is what makes or breaks it.

Since contraband can't be registered, I think it is a bit redundant.  But there is no harm in saying "legally registered".

Randy

As far as I knew, the big issue with suppressors is that they were legal to own, but not to actually use. I see your point though about registering contraband. It was just a thought I had, and I like the term personally. Would like to make 2014 the year for SBRs in WA !!!

Received an e-mail response:

Hello, Just a note to let you know that Sen. Hatfield will be sponsoring this legislation, as you have requested.  The bill will be eligible to be “pre-filed” in November (available for sponsor signatures) and it will get introduced when the next legislative session begins in January, 2014.

Got a response from Upthegrove, he says he will not be running for office this time and as such he cannot support this bill. But he said he did support the silencer bill.

Hatfield ran the companion bill for the suppressor legislation in the senate while Blake ran primary bill in the house.  He is good people.  He will do what he says.  Ran into Blake Saturday at the fair.

Senator Ann Rivers (R) says she will co-sponsor the SBR bill.
Senator Benson says he will support the bill, maybe co-sponsor when he sees it submitted.
Senator Partlette says she will possibly support after she reads the bill.
Senator Sheldon has agreed to co-sponsor the bill.  I talked to him on the phone and explained how simple the bill was.  In 1994 he was one of those who voted for the 97 page bill that restricted them.
Senator Becker's aide replied saying the Senator is an NRA member and paying attention to this issue.
Senator Hobbs' (D) aide called and said he is probably interested in the bill.
Senator Roach says she will co-sponsor the bill.

Randy