Posted: 2/1/2008 9:17:45 AM EDT
In Before Phil  GOAL Alert 1-2008 ATTENDANCE NEEDED AT SENATE HIGHER ED HEARING At 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, 7 February, the Senate Higher Education Committee will hold a public hearing on two gun-related bills inspired by the mass murder at Virginia Tech last April. SB 6841 (Murray, D-43) would ban firearms and other weapons on all college campuses. SB 6860 (Roach, R-31) would clarify the fact that state preemption of firearm regulation extended to institutions of higher learning, thus preventing them from imposing bans on firearms. The two approaches are directly opposite, and offer a great opportunity to stand up for our rights as gun owners and as citizens of a free country. Do we want more “victim disarmament zones” where murderers can commit their crimes without fear of immediate response, or do we want to allow responsible, licensed ADULTS to exercise their right of self defense as affirmed by both the federal and state constitutions and by natural law? The only incidents where spree shooters have been stopped in their tracks is when armed citizens were in a position to stop the shooter. Pearl, MS, High School. Appalachia Law School. Trolley Square Mall in Salt Lake City. And most recently at the New Life Church in Colorado Springs. We encourage any who can to ATTEND THE 10 a.m. HEARING. Sign in on BOTH bills’ sign-in sheets: AGAINST SB 6841, FOR SB 6860. If you would like to testify, write “yes” in the appropriate block. Remember: identify yourself and where you are from, limit your testimony to three minutes maximum, do not attack the motives of our opponents, do not repeat points already made by others. It’s a good idea to have a written copy of your testimony to drop off with Senate staff. Additional guidance on testimony is available at www.leg.wa.gov/WorkingwithLeg/testify.htm Without doubt, the “other side” will attempt to cram the hearing room with gun prohibitionists. Are you willing to sit by and allow that? Parking at the Capitol Campus is limited. Car pooling is encouraged. Metered parking is available a few blocks north and a few blocks west of the Campus. For additional parking information, visit: www.leg.wa.gov/WorkingwithLeg/parking.htm If you can’t make it to Olympia next Thursday, please call, e-mail or write your Senator and ask him or her to oppose SB 6841 and support SB 6860. To find your legislator(s): apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx We need your assistance in contacting your Representatives (in the case of House Bills) and Senator (in the case of Senate Bills) on the following bills that are coming up for legislative action next week: HB 3095 For at least 20 years Washington gun owners have had the right to a jury trial (guaranteed by the Washington Constitution, Article 1, section 21) with a standard of guilt of “clear, cogent, and convincing evidence” before they lost their fundamental constitutional right to own a firearm due to involuntary mental health commitment. HB 3095 will take away a person’s Article 1, Section 24 gun rights without a jury trial, with a standard of “preponderance of the evidence”. Even an accused child molester has to be found guilty by the highest standard, “beyond a reasonable doubt”, by a unanimous jury of his peers before he loses his right to bear arms. Gun owners should not be treated worse than child molesters! ACTION: Politely tell your representatives that gun owners must be given jury hearings with a standard of “clear, cogent, and convincing evidence” before being involuntarily committed for 14 days and losing their gun rights. Urge them to oppose HB 3095 unless amended to provide the basic legal safeguards. HB 3148 An interpretation by the FBI that the Washington Department of Licensing, issuing agency for Alien Firearms Licenses, does not meet federal requirements for access to criminal data base information has resulted in a moratorium on the issue of Alien Firearm Licenses. That means aliens visiting Washington to participate in recreational shooting activities (hunting and target shooting) are denied that opportunity (with local loss of revenues as a result). Even worse, aliens residing in Washington who already own guns under an Alien Firearm License risk being charged with a felony as their licenses expire and renewal denied. While we are opposed to Alien Firearm Licenses in principle (even California ended this discriminatory practice three decades ago), HB 3148 at least allows for the licenses to be issued (shall-issue, in fact) once again. This bill is good for gun owners, and especially for rural hunting communities. ACTION: Urge your representatives to vote in favor of this bill, and work to ensure that it gets passed and signed into law by Governor Gregoire. HB 3131 This bill adds a variety of devices to the definition of “weapons” that are prohibited on K-12 school grounds, or on any school transportation or at any facility (e.g. sports complex, etc) when exclusively used by a K-12 school. It also adds “Airsoft guns” (toy guns, NOT a firearm or even a true airgun) to the ban list – with criminal penalties for possession on school-controlled grounds. In a bizarre twist of logic, the law allows possession of a handgun by a licensed adult while dropping off or picking up a child, or possession by an adult non-student of an otherwise legal firearm if unloaded and locked in a vehicle, but applies criminal penalties to possession of lesser “weapons.” There is sufficient confusion between Sections 1 and 2 (violations) of this bill and Section 4 (exceptions) that the whole bill should be scrapped and the bill rewritten for next session. This bill is a classic example of a well-intended but misguided legislative attempt to create a “safe” environment. It also suffers from repeated amendment over the past decade to the point where the original intent is difficult to interpret. ACTION: Urge your representatives vote NO on this bill. RCW 9.41.280 needs to be entirely rewritten to ensure clarity on when, and what type of devices are allowed on or prohibited from school grounds. SB 6304 This bill would give colleges the authority to regulate, even to ban, firearms on property they control, including on trust lands used for hunting. It would give them the authority to prohibit licensed concealed carry on campus. They currently try to do this under administrative codes (WACs), but there is no clear statutory authority for these administrative codes. This bill would make their existing questionable rules, legal. SB 6860 is a far better method of ensuring safety on campus. ACTION: Tell your representatives not to exempt colleges from existing state firearms preemption. Tell them not to ban licensed concealed carry or hunting & sport shooting on trust lands by any other method. Tell them instead to support SB 6860. |
|
Just a reminder for those who will make contact with the legislators. Various contact methods have different strength of impression, ranked from lowest to highest: Fax (is stronger if it's hand written vs word processor output) Phone Call Mailed Letter In Person Visit Basically the more effort you had to put into the contact the more weight it carries. |