Trouble in the 98-Double-Ought-3

 My friendly neighborhood gun store, Federal Way Discount Guns, is in the news for defying  Washingtons ban on standard capacity magazines. 

Federal Way Discount Guns faces lawsuit for illegally selling high-capacity gun magazines

On the store’s Instagram account, the company wrote on Dec. 7: “We are in the crosshairs of the WA AG. We will fight this until the end and are going to need your support in doing so. Business will continue as usual. We are committed to serving the people of this state and nation, NOT the state.”

King County judge orders Federal Way Discount Guns to stop high-capacity magazine sales

I love this bit:

The Federal Way gun store also houses an indoor shooting range, which is used by the Federal Way Police Department for training. Department officials told the Mirror in Dec. 2022 that the department will continue to train at the site.

“The fact that the indoor range is within the city limits enhances our operational readiness by keeping officers in the city and available for calls for service, while greatly reducing the travel expenses incurred for firearms training outside the city,” said Cmdr. Kurt Schwan of Federal Way Police. “We utilize the facilities throughout the year for department-wide training, one on one training with an instructor, and individual firearms practice.”

If you watched Top Shot you saw Commandeer Schwan on, IIRC, Season 3. 

Another local store, WGS in Tacoma, got similar charges, but blamed  a new employee and settled. So I wont be visiting them any time soon...

When Joe Waldron, who used to do the GOAL Posts that I used to transcribe here, was asked about legal challenges to some gun control laws, he used to ask in reply "Are you volunteering to be the test case?" The point being that sometimes you need someone with standing to make the legal challenge. 

Now, a legal challenge has already been filed, and put on hold pending the results of similar cases on the least coast. (Trial date set for Washington’s ban on high-capacity gun magazine sales.)

And now we have a name and a face to attach to the case.

At the amateur radio club's meeting last month I asked a fellow member, whom I know frequents the weekly matches there, if there was a Mo Defense Fund yet. 

There is now:

Federal Way Discount Guns was previously featured in the following posts:

• One Step Back, Two Steps Forward?
• Another Step Forward
• "Urban Defensive Tactics" class, 12/14/14

Stack 'em deep (Updates 2)

 

High Standard-capacity ammo magazines will be banned in Washington state starting July 1

By Associated Press - Monday, June 20, 2022

EVERETT, Wash. — Starting July 1, the sale of ammunition magazines with more than 10 rounds will be banned in Washington state. Importing, manufacturing and distributing them will be outlawed, too.

The only magazines allowed for sale and importing will be those with a maximum capacity of 10 cartridges under a measure pushed through by Democrats and signed by Gov. Jay Inslee earlier this year, the Everett Herald reported.

Washington residents can continue buying larger magazines until the law takes effect. Any owned as of July 1 are unaffected by the law.

The Second Amendment Foundation and other gun rights organizations filed a federal lawsuit this month claiming the new law violates constitutional protections under the Second and Fourteenth amendments. They’ve sought to block the law with an injunction but no hearing had been set as of Friday.

Yes, I made an editorial correction to the title of the article.  

In the meantime, here are a couple of sources to help:

• Brownell's Mag Dump for WA. $2.00 from the sale of each of these mags will go to fund the second Amendment Foundation's legal challenge to this ban.
• Aero Precision 2AF Standard Capacity mags. "The net proceeds from each of these magazines sold will go directly to the Second Amendment Foundation to help fund legal action to defeat this unconstitutional bill."

UPDATE: The 98-double-ought-3 fishwrap ran an article about this, that not only quoted Dave Workman and Alan Gottlieb, but the web article LINKED to the Aero Precision mag sale above!

UPDATE 2: Rainier Arms is advertising free ground shipping on mags shipped to Washington State. (Which is great if you live more than 20 minutes from the sales store, unlike me...) (Then again, with the price of gasoline... )

WA State Action Alert, Knife Rights

 From Knife Rights:

URGENT! Urge Chairman Hansen to Hear HB 1224 Repealing WA's Switchblade Ban

The bipartisan Washington “Spring Blade” Ban Repeal bill, HB 1224, that would repeal the state's ban on automatic knives is in danger of dying on the vine. If a hearing is not held by the end of the day on Monday, February 15, it will be dead for this session. The current agenda does not include a hearing on HB 1224!

 If you are a Washington resident, please use Knife Rights’ Legislative Action Center to ask House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee Chairman Drew Hansen to please hold a hearing on HB 1224.  The members of the committee will be CC'd on the email to the Chairman asking them to also make the request of the Chairman to hear HB 1224.

We keep seeing bills to repeal this Blackboard Jungle-era crap filed in Olympia and then gather dust and die. I happen to know that First Responders all over this state support repeal, as does anyone who ever needed three hands to accomplish a task -- probably 20 feet up a ladder -- and realized they needed to open their knife.

Go to the link and sign the petition if you're a Washington resident.

Thanksgiving is Canceled!

 King Jay says so!

From 11:59 PM on Monday, November 16 through Monday, December 14, all counties in Washington rollback to the restrictions outlined below...

1. Indoor Social Gatherings with people from outside your household are prohibited unless they (a) quarantine for fourteen days (14) prior to the social gathering; or (b) quarantine for seven (7) days prior to the social gathering and receive a negative COVID-19 test result no more than 48-hours prior to the gathering. A household is defined as individuals residing in the same domicile.

I foresee widespread civil disobedience. 

Also, wide-spread pearl-clutching and calls to snitch hotlines by the "caring."

Also, people thinking "Maybe I should have voted for Culp after all", as well as "This is all #OrangeManBad's fault!"

I gotta get out of this state.

GOAL Post 2020-10 & Final

Up at this link, also linked over on the right side of the screen.

As usual, most bills did not make it to the governor's desk.

The bills that passed are HB 2467 (centralized firearm background checks), HB 2555 (background checks for receivers), HB 2622 (firearm surrender on court orders), SB 5434 (day care centers gun free zones) and SB 6288 (Office of Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention).

HB 2467 could be good or bad. 17 other states now conduct all or partial firearm background checks, and most seem to work smoothly (ATF calls them “point of contact” states. The biggest issue here is the $18 authorized for every check. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, which conducts all background checks in that state, does it for $5 – more than today’s free FFL:NICS check but much less than $18. HB 2555 essentially mimics federal law – a receiver/frame is already a firearm under federal law. SB 5434, extending gun free zones to day care centers is overreach, but it does allow licensed carry under certain circumstances. And the Office of Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention is long on “firearm” and likely nonexistent on “safety” or “violence prevention” – unless our side gets active and seeks grants for safety education and criminology studies to identify who and where the violence is being committed (don’t hold your breath on that one – the FBI’s annual Uniform Crime Report has been telling you exactly who the “who” is for decades, and it has been ignored just as long).

The ban on standard capacity magazines died when the Republican delegation filed over 100 amendments.

Unfortunately, the repeal of the ban on "assisted opening" knives also did not pass.

Joe makes a point of naming the pro-gun, pro-Second Amendment, pro-freedom Democrats in  the state legislature:

One last point: we DO have some Democrat friends in Olympia. Senators Tim Sheldon, Dean Takko, Steve Hobbs and Kevin Van Dew Wege and Representatives Brian Blake, Mari Leavitt and Dave Paul. They have clearly demonstrated their loyalty to their oath of office despite caucus pressure in the other direction. Remember them in August for the primary and again in November.

Elections -- The Good, The Bad...

Today is the Presidential Primary in Washington State

The Good: Washington is 100% Paper Ballot.¹

The Bad: Washington is 100%¹ mail-in ballot, which degrades the integrity and security of paper ballots.

Neutral: In a Presidential Primary only the Democratic and Republican candidates appear.

The Ugly: Washington requires you to declare which party you're voting for²...

The Loathsome: ...on the outside of the mailing envelope. (Check a box and sign it, on the outside for all the world to see.)

1. It is possible to request an account to vote electronically. I have no idea how many have availed themselves of this.
2. We are not registered as members of that party, simply declaring on the primary ballot who we're voting for. 

Now, the Republican Party of Washington is fine with doing away with the declaration, and failing with their attempt to eliminate it, to make it a private thing.

The Democratic Party of Washington refused -- and the Democrats have solid control of Olympia.

The Secretary of State announced she would not be voting "due to privacy concerns."

And, since the ballots are printed with the list of candidates the party designates in early January or February, it may well be inaccurate by March. In the case of the Democratic roster this year, it still included all those candidates no one ever heard of, as well as the three who are still in the race.

Three? Why, yes, Hawaii's Tusli Gabbard has not dropped out yet. (Unless I missed a very recent development.)

And yet, all the DNC Mandarins and the Mainstream Media (but I repeat myself) are wailing because of the sexism which resulted in Elizabeth "Fauxcahontas" Warren, who couldn't even win her own home state, dropping out.

Do they hate Tulsi because she's young? Because she's a veteran? Because she's a Pacific Islander...?

GOAL Post 2020-8 is up

GOAL Post 2020-8, Legislative Update from Olympia 28 February 2020 - Gun Owners Action League of Washington

I haven't been posting these, since they are now regularly posted to that web site, and let's face it, I haven't been posting much at all.

Legislative season is almost over, although with the clown show Olympia has become it is no longer accurate to suggest that our money or freedom are safe if the legislature is not in session. We're talking about a state where the state tried to sue the voters for an initiative we passed, after all.

Berthold Brecht would have been right at home here.

Anyway. It sounds like most of the bills are dead, although, as Joe points out, these clowns are always willing to pull a Miracle Max on bills that should have died...

Plus there's always the possibility that Steyer and Bloomberg will finance another corrupt initiative to back an even worse law.

One good bill remains, that would remove the restriction on spring-assisted knives. I have a lot of respect for the late Glenn Ford, Capt. USNR (RET), but The Blackboard Jungle resulted in silly restrictions on knives you can open with one hand, which sounds like a minor inconvenience until you need both hands to do a job, and a third to access the tool you need to do it. ("No shit, there I was, 30 feet up a ladder...")

The majority of the rest of the remaining gun-related bills should die in a fire.

WA - Repeal I-1639!

A petition is being circulated to put Ballot Initiative 1094 on the next ballot.

Ballot Initiative 1094 ("The People's Defense of the Second Amendment Act of 2020") would have the effect of repealing I-1639, that mish-mash of social justice virtue signalling and feel-good measures that make life ore difficult for the law-abiding, while doing nothing about crime, that was passed despite blatant illegal and unethical behavior.

Just another election in Seattle, in other words.

The text of I-1094 is here. (Opens as a .pdf.)

The website Washington State Gun Control has links to lists of "where to sign", in both map and spreadsheet format.

I walked over to my Friendly Local Gun Store, which is listed, and they said they were waiting on a fresh batch; the owner showed me a stack of completed petitions, and commented that they had been cautioned to only hand them to someone who is known to them as a representative of the organizers, as "the opposition" is known to have sent folks out to pick them up with promises to turn them in, although what they would turn them into, is another question.

Compost, no doubt.

I made the comment that it might be worthwhile to check ID, and preferably voters registration cards, of those signing: Given the shenanigans the backers of I-1639 got up to, it would not surprise me if they were to steal completed petitions, or send people out to deliberately make false entries, hoping to get them tossed out.I had my own voter's registration card out as I walked in, to make sure I put my address on the petition exactly as the state has it, to make sure my signature wouldn't be tossed out.

Recently, we had a rather egregious example of the kind of bull shit the left in this state gets up to: Olympia regularly ignores the wishes of the people, and passes various and sundry rate increases over our vote. It costs an absurd amount to register your vehicle in this state -- two hundred dollars or more to register a fairly new car in King County, most of which goes to the "Regional Transit Authority", to subsidize mass transit.

We keep passing initiatives to limit the cost of car tabs to $30, and they keep imposing these surtaxes.

A new initiative passed.

King County announced it was going to sue to have the initiative tossed out.

Apparently they feel subsidized bus rides are a Constitutional Right.

Meanwhile, in Olympia...

Washington lawmakers are done this year. Here’s what they passed — and didn’t — in 2019 | NW News Network

This list is far from complete.

Leaves out egregious gun control, and many tax increases.

Stay Tuned...

GOAL Alert 2019-2 25 April 2019

GOAL Alert 2019-2 is up at the Gun Owners Action League of Washington site.

TEMPORARY HOLD ON BUMP STOCK INFO RELEASE
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUIRED
According to information that we have not been able to confirm at this time, a temporary injunction blocking release of the names and addresses of those who turned in bump stocks to the Washington State Patrol has been imposed by a Washington judge.

Click the clicky, read the whole thing, act accordingly. It's currently 1745 in Indy, 1445 in WA, so  things may have changed by now. 

WA GOAL ALERT 2019-1

Washington State Legislative ALERT!!! Olympia is consider a bill to release the names of all that turned their bump stocks in. 

Whatever you think about bump stocks, this is an outrageous violation of privacy. 

 Joe's Alert message below has been edited slightly for some typos and punctuation. 

****

FROM: GOAL-WA (Joe Waldron) GOALWA@COX.NET

TO: undisclosed recipients

SENT: Wed 4/24/2019 2:25 AM

SUBJECT: GOAL Alert 2019-124 April 2019

Legislative Alert from Olympia

Last week we reported that a public records request had been submitted to the Washington State Patrol asking for the names and addresses of all of the individuals who turned in “bump stocks” and were compensated by the state. Under the current Public Records Act (RCW 42.56), this information MUST be released.

An emergency bill has been filed in Olympia to block this action for purposes of public safety. The bill is HB 2182, was filed by:

Representatives Shea <http://leg.wa.gov/house/representatives/pages/default.aspx#shea>,

Klippert <http://leg.wa.gov/house/representatives/pages/default.aspx#klippert>,

Boehnke <http://leg.wa.gov/house/representatives/pages/default.aspx#boehnke>,

Kretz <http://leg.wa.gov/house/representatives/pages/default.aspx#kretz>,

Dufault <http://leg.wa.gov/house/representatives/pages/default.aspx#dufault>,

Walsh <http://leg.wa.gov/house/representatives/pages/default.aspx#walsh>,

Orcutt <http://leg.wa.gov/house/representatives/pages/default.aspx#orcutt>,

Young <http://leg.wa.gov/house/representatives/pages/default.aspx#young>.

More than 25 years ago the Washington legislature followed the lead of several other states and restricted access to public records concerning concealed pistol licenses. Why give burglars a heads up of where to go “shopping,” or anti-gun activists the opportunity to publish lists of CPL holders as some have done in other states?

Bill text can be found

here: http://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2019-20/Pdf/Bills/House%20Bills/2182.pdf

Again, a reasonable assumption can be made if an individual had a bump stock, he or she also possesses a firearm suitable for use with such a device. For those liberals who think this is a reasonable measure, ask them how they would feel about a public records release of the names of all women who received an abortion using public funding as is done in Washington under MEDICAID. Try that and watch the liberal rockets being fired!

YOU MUST TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION TODAY IF THIS BILL IS TO MOVE. Again, the bill is HB 2182.It is imperative you contact YOUR state legislators today and ask them to support the bill. Your legislator is a liberal? Use the abortion example I cited above as an argument.

Contact information for your legislators may be found at https://app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder. When you insert your address, a box will pop up with links to your state Senator and two state Representatives. Or you can do it the old-fashioned way and look in the “blue” Government pages in your telephone directory.

Timing is critical. One report indicates the WSP intends to release the information as early as tomorrow, Friday, even before the mandatory release deadline.

Will Democrat leadership in both the House and Senate act, and will Governor Inslee sign an emergency bill?

 

GOAL Post 2019-15

Joe sent out the latest GOAL Post last night, and reported that his ISP is acting up again/still, and since the report is still not on the web site, I'll go ahead and post it here. Usual rules, minor editing for formatting for the blog, not textual changes.

FWIW, here is my thought about a Special Session, mentioned by Joe: The Democrats in Olympia, as in Seattle, are unhappy that the state constitution prohibits an income tax being levied by either the state or a municipality. They are trying their hardest to impose at least a "millionaire tax" or pretending that a capital gains tax would not be a fancy name for a tax on income. 

It should be noted that it has been reported that there's a budget surplus right now, and they have no actual plan to use the money they want to try and wring out of the people of Washington State, but they still think our income is rightfully theirs. 

So if there's a special session, I think that the focus will be trying to get more blood from the turnip.

In other news, I received media credentials for the NRA Annual Meeting, so I guess I'd better practice pretending how to be all journalistic and stuff. Better yet, I'll ask questions and report what I see, instead of staying in the bar and making it up...

***

FROM: GOAL-WA <goalwa@cox.net>

TO: undisclosed recipients

SENT: Fri 4/19/2019 5:35 PM

SUBJECT: GOAL Post 2019-15

Legislative Update from Olympia 19 April 2019

• RALLY FOR YOUR RIGHTS
• BILLS PASS, ONE DIES
• CONCURRENCE VOTES
• ONE MORE WEEK
• SPECIAL SESSION LOOMS
• BUMP STOCK WARNING
• LATE DISSEMINATION
• ON THE ROAD

A pro-gun “Rally for your Rights” will be held on the Capitol Campus on Saturday, 27 March at 12 noon.  A little late in the session, but still an opportunity to show your support. It IS on a Saturday. Try to make it and show them the gun lobby is not a paper tiger...

Several bills passed by the end of the second chamber cut-off on Wednesday evening. 

House Bills 1465 (handgun delivery), 1739 (undetectable/untraceable firearms), 1786 (firearms/protective orders) and 1934 (military online/mail CPL renewal) all passed out of the Senate.  HB 1934 was rushed off to Governor Inslee for his signature.  The remainder await a concurrence vote or conference committee action because they were amended in the second chamber.  It’s not over yet!

Senate Bill 5782 (assisted-opening knives) died on the House floor without a vote.  What a surprise!

The Senate has concurred in House amendments to HBs 5027 (Extreme risk protection orders, under 18), 5181 (firearms/mental health) and 5205 (firearms/incompetence for trial).  All three are on their way to the governor.

There is one week left for the House and Senate to review difference between passed versions of the bills and kick them to the governor – or they die for the session.  That doesn’t mean they won’t be back next year… or in a week or two in a special session.  The regular legislative session ends at midnight on Sunday, 28 April.

It appears the Democrats who control the House and the Democrats who control the Senate can’t agree on how much to raise taxes for the biennium.  This means it is likely we will enter one or more 30-day special sessions until they get it sorted out.  Apparently there is no honor among thieves.  As the saying goes, neither you life nor your wallet are safe as long as the legislature is in session.

An individual with what appears to be a fictitious name, “Yati Arguna,” has sent a Public Records Act request to the State Patrol asking for the names and addresses of everyone who turned in a bump stock for cash compensation.  That’s about 1,000 individuals.  Unless a judge blocks the release (reasonable as a public safety measure), state law requires the names be released.  Who is behind this and where or how the information will be used remains to be seen.  Should one assume that anyone who turned in a bump stock has a Modern Sporting Rifle in their home?

I will likely hold off on posting next week’s GOAL Post until Sunday night (when I’ll be flying back from the NRA annual meeting in Indianapolis) or Monday, when we know for sure what passed and what died.  Recognize that in the event of a special session ALL BILLS from the previous regular session come alive again and may be considered, voted on, and passed. 

The week after I’m off for Europe – allegedly.  I’ll be flying on an airline family pass, so it’s “space available” and any movement will depend on empty seats available AND my (very low) seniority number.  I sent my wife to visit family ten days ago, and now I have to go bring her back.  This living alone (not entirely alone, I have a Lab, but she doesn’t talk) isn’t all it’s cracked up to be when you’ve had a wife to spoil you for 50+ years now!

Should a special session be called, it is my intention to continue GOAL Post… all dependent on information being available to me wherever I am.  Historically they don’t use special sessions to drag back gun bills, so unless there’s a major gun incident, we should be safe.  Operative word “should.”

BILL STATUS/GOAL POSITION:

GOAL Post 2019-13

Joe sent out the latest GOAL Post but says he is having ISP issues, and it has not been posted to the GOAL web site, so I'll go ahead with it here. 

Usual thing, slight editing for formatting, no change in text.

So, while there has been good news, it is not all good news, we may be getting a "Red Flag" law, which would make it oh, so easy for a angry ex- or spiteful neighbor to use a phone to deprive you of your rights.

****

FROM: GOAL WA

TO: Undisclosed recipients

SENT: Fri 4/5/2019 2:39 PM

SUBJECT: GOAL Post 2019-13

Legislative Update from Olympia 5 April 2019

• POLICY COMMITTEE CUT-OFF; BILLS MOVE, BILLS DIE
• ACTION SHIFTS ONCE AGAIN TO CHAMBER FLOORS
• 17 APRIL CHAMBER CUT-OFF, 28 APRIL SINE DIE

 The legislature is moving into the final leg of its 105 day/15 week regular session.  Just over three weeks left.  The primary focus of the long session in odd-numbered years is supposed to be development and adoption of the biennial budget, Whether a budget agreement will be reached or a special session will be called is hard to say right now.  Both the House and Senate have passed budget bills, but the bills are $750 MILLION apart – in new spending only!  The overall biennial budget runs over $52 BILLION.  Now to guns…

The second chamber policy committee cut-off occurred two days ago.  A few more gun bills died, others moved forward.  Unless there is a dispute between the House and Senate versions of a bill, it must clear the legislature with a floor vote by April 17^th.  Bills in dispute have until the last day, 28 April.

SB 5434 (expanded gun free zones) died in House Civil Right & Judiciary. 

SBs 5027 (extreme risk protection order, under 18) and 5508 (WSP background checks for CPLs) both passed the Senate with amendments.  Both now go to a concurrence vote or a conference committee.  

HB 1949 (single POC/firearm background checks) passed out of the Senate.  It, too goes to a concurrence vote or a conference committee.

SBs 5205 and 5782 are in House Rules awaiting a floor vote.

SB 5181 still sits in House Appropriations awaiting a committee vote.

Both HBs 1225 and 1934 passed out of committee and sit in Senate Rules awaiting a floor vote.

BILL STATUS/GOAL POSITION:

WA Legislature Update

Sub-title: Didn't see this coming.

NRA-ILA | Washington: Gun-Free Zone Expansion Fails To Advance 

I really thought They'd Go There.

April 3^rd marked the deadline for all policy committees to advance bills received from the opposite chamber. Having failed to receive a vote in the House Civil Rights & Judiciary Committee, Senate Bill 5434 to expand gun-free zones is now likely dead for the year.
Senate Bill 5434, sponsored by Senator Claire Wilson (D-30), would have increased areas where law-abiding citizens are prohibited from possessing firearms, including holders of a Concealed Pistol License (CPL) carrying a handgun for self-defense.  As introduced, it would have included public parks, libraries, and child care facilities.  This bill was amended on the senate floor to remove the provisions that banned firearms in parks and libraries, but it would have still mandated that child care facilities be places where law-abiding citizens are unable to defend themselves and their loved ones against criminals who simply ignore such arbitrary boundaries, and that they post signs indicating their “gun-free zone” status.
There are still several bills relating to Second Amendment issues moving through the legislature, which is set to adjourn April 28^th.  Please stayed tuned to your email inbox and www.nraila.org for further updates in the final weeks of 2019 legislative session.

 

Full details will be available Friday afternoon/evening in the next GOAL Post, unless there's a special.

Meanwhile,  South of the Border, Down Orygun Way:
NRA-ILA | Oregon: Committee To Vote On Omnibus Gun Control Package

GOAL Post 2019-10

The new GOAL Post is out, and has arrived in email but is not yet posted at the Gun Owners Action League of Washington web site. Since this has some significant info in it -- and ties in with my previous post -- I'll revert to my past practice of reproducing the entire thing here, with minor editing for formatting.

***

FROM: GOAL WA goalwa@cox.net (Joe Waldron)

TO: undisclosed recipients

SENT: Fri 3/15/2019 2:14 PM

SUBJECT: GOAL Post 2019-10

Legislative Update from Olympia 15 March 2019

• SB 5954 PASSES LEGISLATURE
• CHAMBER CUT-OFF/TURNOVER DAY
• BILLS LIVE – BILLS DIE
• PUBLIC HEARINGS SCHEDULED

In an unusual move, SB 5954 (bump stock buyback funding) passed out of the Senate on 28 February, was fast-tracked through the House on March 11th  where it was amended, so it went back to the Senate, who concurred in the House amendment.  It’s on its way to the Governor.

Of the 23 bills that survived the original chamber policy committee cut-off, only 13 made it through the second cut by passing out of their chamber of origin.  House bills moving to the Senate include HBs 1225 (firearms/DV), 1465 (handgun delivery w/CPL), 1739 (undetectable/untraceable firearms – the Senate version died), 1786 (protective orders/firearms), 1934 (military CPL renewal by mail) and 1949 (single point of contact for background checks).

Senate bills moving to the House include SBs 5027 (underage extreme risk protection orders), 5181 (firearms/Mental health), 5205 (firearms/incompetent for trial), 5434 (new/expanded gun free zones), 5508 (WSP background checks for CPLs) and 5782 (spring-blade knives).  I mentioned SB 5954 above.

Bills that died include HB 1010 (WSP destruction of forfeited firearms), 1068 (high capacity magazine ban), 1381 (UAVs/contraband delivery), 5016 (arming animal control officers), 5061 (undetectable/untraceable firearms), 5062 (high capacity magazine ban), 5099 (target shooting on DNR land), 5143 (firearms/DV incidents). 5150 (college safety officers/weapons) and 5174 (CPL training).

Note BOTH “high capacity magazine” bills (HB 1068, SSB 5062) died, as did the mandatory training requirement for a CPL (SSB 5174).  

There is a public hearing scheduled for HB 1949 (single POC for background checks) in Senate Law & Justice at 10:00 a.m. on Monday, 18 March.  Public hearings scheduled for SB 5508  (WSP background check) in House Civil Rights & Judiciary at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, March 19.  For SB 5181 (firearms/mental health) in House Civil Rights & Judiciary at 9 a.m. on March 20.  For SB 5782 (spring assisted knives) in House Civil Rights & Judiciary at 10 a.m. on March 22.

If you are tracking a specific bill, you might want to check the bill’s page on “Bill Information” to ensure a hearing was not added later.

(I added a note below in “Other data.”  The same bill information page for each bill that tells you where/how to get copies of bills and bill reports also mentions public hearings are available on TV Washington, both live and archived.  Links to airings are available at the very bottom of the bill page – no need to search the archives.)

{Continued after the jump -- DWD}

Good News/Bad News

NRA-ILA | Washington: Gun Ban Bills Fail Crossover Deadline

Today, March 13th at 5:00PM, was the cutoff deadline for all bills to be voted out of the chamber in which they originated. Having failed to receive a floor vote, the following bills are likely dead for this year.

The Substitute to Senate Bill 5062, sponsored by Senator Patty Kuderer (D-48), and House Bill 1068, sponsored by Representative Javier Valdez (D-46), were filed at the request of Attorney General Bob Ferguson. SB 5062 would have banned the possession of ammunition magazines with a capacity greater than 10 and HB 1068 would have banned those greater than 15. They would have encompassed the standard capacity magazines for many handguns and rifles commonly owned by law-abiding citizens for self-defense. SB 5062 would have required that those who owned non-compliant magazines prior to the ban would only be allowed to possess them on their own property and in other limited instances such as at licensed shooting ranges and nationally sanctioned sport shooting events. These magazines would have had to be transported unloaded and locked separately from firearms and stored at home locked, making them unavailable for self-defense.

Senate Bill 5174, sponsored by Senator Guy Palumbo (D-1), would have increased the time, cost, and government red tape that law-abiding adults must go through in order to obtain a Concealed Pistol License by requiring a mandatory training course that meets arbitrary standards. Adding additional barriers to law-abiding citizens who wish to exercise a constitutional right would not improve public safety. Concealed carry permit holders have consistently demonstrated themselves to be one of the most law-abiding segments of the population in Washington and across the country. Hindering them from being able to defend themselves and their families would not affect criminals who do not obey the law.

Senate Bill 5745, sponsored by Senator Marko Liias (D-21), would have expanded Washington’s existing Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO) to allow Second Amendment rights to be suspended for individuals alleged to make certain threats by third party accusers with little, if any, real evidence and limited “due process” for the respondent. Hearings for the orders would have been ex parte, where the respondent would not have been present to challenge the accuser and defend against allegations made against them. The issuance of an order would have immediately prohibited the respondent from exercising their Second Amendment rights. The Right to Keep and Bear Arms should not be treated as a second-class right and should only be restricted consistent with the constitutional requirements of due process.

House Bill 1010, sponsored by Representative Tana Senn (D-41), would have allowed the Washington State Patrol to destroy forfeited firearms rather than raise funds by selling them to licensed firearm dealers.

However, several anti-gun bills did receive a floor vote and passed their chamber of origin, and are still alive for the session.

House Bill 1225, sponsored by Representative Laurie Jinkins (D-27), would require law-enforcement to seize firearms and ammunition when they are called to the scene of an alleged domestic violence incident and hold them for at least five business days. This would result in property being confiscated without first going through due process and subjecting citizens to bureaucratic red tape to get their property returned.

House Bill 1465, sponsored by Representative Roger Goodman (D-45), would require CPL holders to undergo a state background check on handgun purchases instead of the instant NICS check that is currently being conducted as a courtesy by the FBI. Unfortunately, beginning July 1st, the FBI will no longer be conducting these courtesy NICS checks for CPL holders.

House Bill 1786, sponsored by Representative Laurie Jinkins (D-27), would expand firearm seizures to a wider range of protective orders with little to no due process, and in some cases, would remove a judge’s discretion as to whether to impose firearm restrictions upon respondents of protective orders.

Senate Bill 5027, sponsored by Senator David Frockt (D-46), would expand Washington’s existing Extreme Risk Protection Orders (ERPO). It would affirm that the ERPO can be issued against minors while also infringing upon the self-defense rights of law-abiding parents or others in the household without due process.

Senate Bill 5181, sponsored by Senator Kuderer, would suspend Second Amendment rights without due process for six months from individuals who are admitted for a 72-hour mental health evaluation, but who are not subsequently involuntarily committed.

The Substitute to Senate Bill 5434, sponsored by Senator Claire Wilson (D-30), would increase the areas where law-abiding citizens are prohibited from possessing firearms, including holders of a Concealed Pistol License (CPL) carrying a handgun for self-defense. It would mandate that child care facilities be “gun-free zones” where law-abiding citizens would be unable to defend themselves and their loved ones against criminals who simply ignore such arbitrary boundaries. In addition, they would be required to post signs indicating their “gun-free zone” status.

In addition, pro-gun legislation, House Bill 1934, also passed its chamber of origin and will be advancing. Sponsored by Representative Michelle Caldier (R-26), HB 1934 would allow military members who are stationed or assigned out-of-state to renew their CPL by mail.

Thank you to all the NRA members and Second Amendment supporters that attended committee hearings and contacted legislators. While your NRA is at the Capitol on a daily basis throughout the session, it is your continued involvement that makes the difference. Please stay tuned to www.nraila.org and your email inbox for further updates on these bills and others affecting our Second Amendment rights in Washington.