GOAL Post 2006-5

Legislative Update from Olympia 3 February 2006

COMMITTEE VOTE ON SB 5343 FAILS!

ELECTION YEAR ANTICS

MOST GUN BILLS DIE AT COMMITTEE CUT-OFF

TODAY (3 FEB) IS COMMITTEE CUT-OFF DAY

WARNING: IT’S NOT OVER ‘TIL IT’S OVER

On Wednesday, February 1^st , SB 5343 (gun show loophole) was added to
the list of bills to be heard in executive session in the Senate
Judiciary Committee. SB 5343 was the last bill to be considered, and it
was an interesting 10-minute discussion, followed by an unusual recorded
vote (most Senate committee votes are voice vote, with an occasional
show of hands where the volume of voices cannot determine the outcome).
Fortunately the audio system in the Cherberg building was working
properly and the archive is available at http://www.tvw.org/

Senator Marilyn Rasmussen (D-2) raised some good points about the
overbroad definition of gun shows. The responses by staff and by
committee chair Senator Adam Kline (D-37) were not entirely accurate.
Before the vote, Chairman Kline said he knew where the votes were, and
that this bill would come back every year. At the end of the roll call
there were three “Aye” votes (Kline, Weinstein and Thibaudeau) and five
“No” votes (Rasmussen, Johnson, McCaslin, Esser, and Carrell). Senator
Jim Hargrove (D-24) was absent for the vote (he was a solid NO). This
was Senator Rasmussen’s first hard gun vote since she joined the
committee last year and she deserves a warm thank-you. (Senator Marilyn
Rasmussen (360) 786-7602 [email protected])

Why the unusual roll call vote? It’s an election year and two of the
Republican Senators on the committee are up for reelection. Don’t be
surprised if you see ads smearing Senators Johnson and Esser for failing
to close the “gun show loophole.” That’s how the political game is
played. And that’s why it’s important for every gun owner in Washington
to do his or her best to support pro-gun candidates.

There are several changes in the “Bill Status” section below.

Only three gun-related bills remain in play, HB 2622 (CPL reciprocity
expansion), HB 2952 (retired LEO certification) and HB 2958 (penalties
for illegal use of toxic shot). All three are in the House Rules
committee awaiting a move to the floor, which should come in the next week.

Today (Friday, 3 February) is policy committee cut-off day. Bills that
did not pass out of their policy committee by the end of business today
are nominally dead for the remainder of the session. However (there’s
always a “however”), procedural measures may be used to “pull” a bill to
the floor for a vote – an unusual occurrence, but it does happen. Should
an incident occur that “fits” one of the dormant bills, that bill could
be the subject of a “pull” vote.

We’re four weeks through an 8 ½ week session. The bills that needed to
be stopped were stopped, and at least a couple of the good bills are
still moving through the system. But there are still nearly five weeks
left in the 2006 session. Remain alert and keep in contact with your
legislators. I’ll continue to publish GOAL Post every Friday until the
fat lady sings at midnight on 9 March.

BILL STATUS:

Bills currently under consideration:

Bill # Subject Sponsor Status

SB 5343 Gun show loophole Kohl-Welles (D-36) Died S. Jud.

SB 6139 Justifiable homicide Stevens (R-39) Died S. Jud.

SB 6258 School/guns penalty increase Delvin (R-8) Died S. Jud.

SB 6358 Hunter ed waiver for G.I.s Morton (R-7) Died S. NatRes

SB 6426 CPL reciprocity amendment Schoesler (R-9) Died S. Jud.

SB 6598 Restricting hunting on county lands Haugen (D-10) Died S. NatRes

SB 6616 Restricting hunting near schools Haugen (D-10) Died S. NatRes

HB 2622 CPL reciprocity amendment Blake (D-19) H. Rules

HB 2824 Threats with a firearm/schools Lovick (D-44) Died H. Jud.

HB 2835 Projectile stun gun restrictions Lovick (D-44) Died H. Jud.

HB 2861 Gun show “loophole” Williams (D-22) Died H. Jud.

HB 2930 Eliminates exceptions to guns/schools Jarrett (R-41) Died H. Jud.

HB 2951 Retired police officer certification Campbell (R-2) H. Rules

SHB 2958 Illegal use of non-toxic shot/penalty Sullivan (D-22) H. Rules

HB 3092 CPL late fee waiver Morrell (D-25) Died H. Jud.

HB 3221 Alien firearms licenses Moeller (D-49) Died H. Jud.

Key to abbreviations: S. = Senate, H. = House, Jud = Judiciary, NatRes =
Natural Resources, Parks & Shorelines (senate), Natural Resources,
Ecology & Parks (House)

GOAL POSITION ON BILLS:

SB 5343 Oppose

SB 6139 Support

SB 6258 Oppose (needs more work in the interim)

SB 6358 Support

SB 6426 Support

SB 6598 Oppose

SB 6616 Oppose

HB 2622 Support

HB 2824 Neutral

HB 2835 Oppose

HB 2861 Oppose (needs more work in the interim)

HB 2930 Oppose

HB 2951 Support

HB 2958 Support

HB 3092 Support

HB 3221 Oppose

PUBLIC HEARINGS SCHEDULED:

None.

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". It's available in two versions: text (.txt) file or
Acrobat (.pdf) file. The "Acrobat" version is preferred as it is easier
to read and is an exact copy of the hard copy format the legislators
use. You may download a free version of Adobe Acrobat from Adobe's web
site. 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] <mailto:[email protected]>
with the words “GOAL POST” in the subject line. 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 (during session) by telephone at (425) 454-4915. 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 4-5 February

Monroe 11-12 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 2006 Gun Owners Action League of WA