The View Of An American Citizen
Emergency: Magazine Ban Revived via HB2947
Public hearing today heard great testimony from the people supporting the 2A, however, the stories told by the proponents seemed to drive an emotional response from some members. Get those emails out to the Finance Committee members. This is no over until the governors signature is applied so keep hammering them.
Emails for the Finance committees can be found here
HB2947 is a new bill introduced on 2/20 that has the same language as HB2240 had. HB2240 died in the house last night after the Republican submitted over 120 amendments essentially running the clock out on the bill. The deadline for policy related bills was 2/19 at 5:00pm. What makes this bill different is they have added a buyback program which now makes it a budget related bill and able to proceed through the legislature until the session ends. They have also declared and emergency in this bill making it much harder to repeal by referendum. Here is what the Constitution says about referendum in Article 2 Section 1:
"Referendum. The second power reserved by the people is the referendum, and it may be ordered on any act, bill, law, or any part thereof passed by the legislature, except such laws as may be necessary for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health or safety, support of the state government and its existing public institutions..."
This means that we could be completely blocked from repealing this bill by referendum since they declared an emergency. This bill must be stopped in its tracks now. Below is a list of all the democrats in the house. Email them telling them how displeased you are with this bill and that you will make sure their seat is in jeopardy if they vote yes on this bill.
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Here I will lay out in detail the major issues us washingtonians are facing. The most prominent ones are taxes, gun control, and the education of our children. The link on the upper left corner of this page will take you to an email list for every state representative and sentator. Use this list to voice your opinion regarding upcoing bills. Each Bill on this site will have a link to the official site where you can read the bill yourself and see the status of it. We must stand up to those that are trying to take out guns and out money away from us.
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Updated 02/25/2020 4:30PM PST
This bill would allow provisions for the State Patrol to destroy forfeited firearms rather than sell them. While this bill does not impact our rights, it will reduce the opportunities for low income citizens to have a chance at buying a firearm at a discounted price. Guns sold off by the State Patrol typically are much cheaper than others. This will also stop that revenue stream and impose more cost when destroying firearms.
This one is interesting and im not sure how I feel about it. this bill would lay out the process for enforcing a court order mandating the surrender of firearms, ammunition, and a concealed pistol license. I think it is a good thing to make sure dangerous people do not have firearm but I think this bill could result in the arrest and unreasonable seach of homes. In this bill it provides a provision that if law enforcement has a "reasonable suspicion" that a person is not complying with the order, they can pettion the court and have an arrest warrant issued for that person in the name of contempt of court. This would ultimately lead to the search of the home. I am staying nuetral on this one until I gather more information on what is actually going to happen.
These bill are the Left's kneejerk response to the recent meeting of armed protesters at the capitol. Remember, it is our right to protest peacefully...armed or not. This bill also has some pretty significant side effects. It would prevent staff at the capitol from carrying a firearm on their trip to and from the parking lot. It would leave them defensless against an attack on that trip. This is just a flat out ridiculous law
This bill would create a new excise tax on wholesale ammunition sales meaning every round purchased by a dealer from a distributor would be taxed. This tax would ultimately be paid by the end user in the form of price increases. under this bill, 22LR and smaller would be taxed at 2¢ and everything else would be taxed at 5¢ a round. For a box of 50 rounds, the price will increase by $2.50. This is a tax on a right. It is no different that the former poll tax that was imposed on voters that was ultimately outlawed
This bill is particularly concerning to me. I already believe that we should be able to concealed carry a firearm without a license. Now, they want to impose strict training on us too. This would include required live fire training at a range. This is going to cost a lot of money and is going to adversly effect the low income citizens of Washington. It will cause many people to carry concealed pistols without a license, opening the door for arrest due to illegally carrying a firearm. This a violation of our rights and we must sound off on this. PS. They even struck the line in there that says "The applicants right to bear arms shall not be denied" instead it now would say "The concealed pistol license appication shall not be denied". That alone shows the complete disregard for our rights!
These bills would make it illegal to purchase, manufacture, or possess any magazine that holds more than 10 rounds of ammunition. These laws are bad from the get go, but the fact that they "grandfather" in current owners is going to make it difficult to enforce and could lead to people getting in trouble. There will be no way to tell if the magazine was bought prior to the law or after. Its just bad all around
This bill is the most dangerous one out there. This bill would effectively ban any semi-automatic rifle that can accept a 30 round mag or can be customized. It specifically list 61 types of firearms this would ban. Although there is a "grandfather" clause in this, The same problem exist. Unless you bought a completely assembled firearm from a dealer after the I-1639 law went into effect, how are they going to know when you took possession of the firearm. The only way to know for sure would be to go to the dealer that you trasfered the lower reciever from and hope they still have record of it. This law not only infringes on our rights but it is also going to lead to dangerous situations in the future. It opens the door for confiscation. Its time to speak up!
Although this bill doesn't specifically reference a ban on online sales of ammunition, it would defacto ban them because it would be very difficult for online sellers to conduct a background check. Currently, federal law does not allow the use of the National Instant Criminal Background Check system for ammunition sales. This bill will only come into effect if the federal law changes. This is an oportunity to contact both our state legislators and our US legislators to stop this law from taking effect
This bill would allow local municipalities to create their own laws on top of the state laws. I believe that this would make it very confusing for gun owners and could lead to accidental arrest by otherwise law abiding citizens. An example would be if a person from Spokane had to travel to Seattle for business and was unaware that Seattle has passed a law that it was illegal to have a loaded firearm in a vehicle regardless of a CPL. If that person got pulled over for speeding and informed the officer of the firearm, they could be arrested without even realizing they were breaking the law. This law is all around a bad idea.
This law would require a state approved training course prior to obtaining a CPL. This is one that has alot of support among non-gun owners because they make the argument "you need to be trained to drive a car so you need training to carry a gun". While training is a very important part of being a responsible gun owner, the state does not have the power to force us to get training in order to exercise our second amendment right. Some would argue that a CPL does not even fit within the lines of the second amendment. This law would also adversly effect low income citizens from protecting themselves. Although the cost of the training is not spelled out in the bill, it could be assumed that they are going to require live fire training that could end up costing hundreds of dollars. This bill is essentially a tax on a right and that is no different from the old poll tax for voting.
This bill is pretty much explained in the header. It is another attempt to restrict law abiding citizens from protecting themselves. They are quite literally trying to ban firearms in any place they have control over. We as citizens must demand that we be able to exercise our right to personal protection in public.
This bill is a big one for future owners of AR-15s and similar weapons. This will bring the same restriction when buying a lower reciever as if you were buying a complete handgun or rifle. Right now, you can purchase a lower reciever with just and instant background check at the point of sale. This will now include a holding period for local law enforcement to have time to respond. Once again the state wants to get into our medical records and will require a signed HIPPA waiver for any records related to mental health.
This bill won't really change any rules other than it is going to streamline the process and create a board of directors comprised of people from different backgrounds. Althought this bill doesn't really help firearm owners, it does add a layer of accountability over the background check process. The Board consist of: The Chief of the State Patrol, The executive director of the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs,Two Sheriffs, Two Police Chiefs, One person engaged in the business of lawfully selling firearms at retail in this state who holds a federal firearms license, One representative of an organization known to actively advocate in this state on behalf of firearms rights, One representative of an organization known to actively advocate in this state on behalf of greater firearm regulation, and one member of the general public.
Every single parent in this state should be speaking up in support of this bill. With all the talk about comprehensive sex ed and in-school health clinics managed by Planned Parenthood, this bill will give power back to the parents. This state is heading in the same direction as Maryland who just passed a law that would allow obscene material into the classroom and also have health clinics on site run by planned parenthood. It would not be required for schools or medical staff to obtain consent from parents prior to their kids reciveing this sex ed or medical treatment at the school. This bill changes that. Its called the Parents Bill of Rights. It takes all the power away from the government and puts it back into the hands of parents, allowing for parents to opt out of any material and the power to say no to any medical treatments. This one is important. The Radical Left wants parents out of the loop when it comes to decisions revolving around sex or gender. It is quite literally insane to me to think my kid could be getting horomone treatment without me even knowing. Thats what they want and they are on track to getting it.
This bill is the acute reason why we need the bill above, SB6664. It will require all public schools to teach Sexual Education base on guidelines and approved materials set by the state. Massechusetts just had this law pass and it is disturbing what is being taught to middle and high schoolers.An article in the New Boston Post descibes some of the content the children will be taught. I urge every parent and future parent to read this article and see for yourself the kind of content that is approved age appropriate content. This is exactly what liberal lawmakers in our state want. If this passes, they will be sexualizing our children beginning in kindergarten. The state should have no say of what is taught to our children. It is up to parents to decide what is and what is not appropriate for our kids. Although there is a way to opt children out of the course, I'm not willing to put my trust in the government to not pass a future bill making this a graduation requirement. I am under the firm belief that if religion cannot be taught in schools, then anything that directly contradicts religion should also not be taught in school. This bill is a horrible one and is on its way to passing the house.
Any bill that "appears" to be dead can come back to life at any time. if that happens I will update this page and send a notice out if you are subscribed to my newsletter. If I have missed a bill, please contact me on the contact page and let me know.