GOAL Post 2018-6
Legislative Update from Olympia 9 February 2018

CHAMBER CUT-OFF NEXT WEDNESDAY
ACTION ON BILLS
PUBLIC HEARING ON SBs 5553 AND 5992
NO PUBLIC HEARINGS SCHEDULED
TEN BILLS REMAIN UNDER CONSIDERATION
TITLE ONLY BILL

The mid-session chamber cut-off occurs next Wednesday, 14 February. House bills that have not passed out of the House, and Senate bills that have not passed out of the Senate, are supposed to be dead for the session. That’s true in almost all cases, but on rare occasions, a bill can be resurrected.

SB 6298 (DV harassment) passed out of the Senate late Friday afternoon. It will now go to House Judiciary for consideration. SB 5444 (“assault weapon” background checks) and HB 1270 (encouraging voluntary use of firearm safety products) both died in the fiscal committee cut-off this week.

The Senate Law & Justice Committee held a public hearing on HB 2363 (delivery of contraband by drones). The House Judiciary Committee held a public hearing this morning on SB’s 5553 (voluntary waiver of firearm rights) and 5992 (bump stocks). I watched the hearing on TVWashington from my home office and I learned a new term: the “machine gun loophole.” The ignorance on the issue displayed by the bill’s supporters was immense – but that isn’t unusual when gun control advocates talk about guns. We really, really DO need gun safety education in our schools. True gun safety, not Michael Bloomberg’s version.

No public hearings on bills have been scheduled for next week, as most of the action is on the House and Senate floor through Wednesday. However, Senate L&J has scheduled a vote on HB 2363 for Wednesday, 15 Feb. House Judiciary has scheduled an executive session (committee vote) for Wednesday, 14 February, on SBs 5553 (waiver of firearm rights) and 5992 (bump stocks). The vote may be held over until Thursday.

At the end of the fifth week, there are ten bills surviving and still under consideration. The five are House Bills 1122 (safe storage), 1483 (destruction of firearms), 2363 (drone delivery of contraband), 2519 (return of seized CPLs) and Senate Bills 5441 (freeze on firearm possession), 5506 (transfer of firearms), 5553 (voluntary waiver of firearm rights), 5992 (bump stocks), 6297 (firearms with history of violence) and 6298 ( DV harassment firearm ban). SB 5506 is actually a Rules holdover from last year and will most likely not get a floor vote.

Then there’s Olympia trickery. The legislature will frequently reserve blank bills with a “title only” bill (i.e. give them a number and a broad title) and allow them to move through the process as a title only, without public review, until an agreement is reached on language). It is typically used in budget bills, leaving room for negotiation up until the last day(s).

On Tuesday, Senator Jaime Pedersen (D-43), chair of the Senate Law & Justice Committee, filed SB 6606, a bill “relating to criminal justice.” The bill, SB 6606, has been assigned to the Senate Ways & Means committee, indicating it is somehow a budget-related, but the “related to criminal justice” title could include just about every gun bill we’ve been tracking. I don’t recall seeing a “criminal justice” title-only bill in my time in Olympia. Senator Pedersen may have something entirely different in mind. Or this may be a gun control Trojan horse. That’s probably my gun rights activist paranoia kicking in! The fact that the bill number includes 66 6 doesn’t help, either.

BILL STATUS/GOAL POSITION:
HB 1000 Use of deadly force Doglio (D-22) DIED. OPPOSE
HB 1004 Possession of firearms/state of emergency Shea (R-4) DIED. SUPPORT
HB 1015 Limiting restrictions on concealed carry Shea (R-4) DIED. SUPPORT
HB 1122 Safe storage of firearms Kagi (D-32) H. Rules OPPOSE
HB 1134 Assault weapon ban Peterson (D-21) DIED. OPPOSE
HB 1174 Firearm safety education in schools Muri (R-28) DIED. SUPPORT
HB 1181 Prohibiting handgun sales registry Blake (D-19) DIED. SUPPORT
HB 1190 Prohibiting handgun sales registry Taylor (R-15) DIED. SUPPORT
HB 1270 Encouraging voluntary use of locking devices Harmsworth (R-44) DIED. SUPPORT
HB 1380 Repeals I-594 Shea (R-4) DIED. SUPPORT
HB 1381 Universal recognition of all state CPLs Blake (D-19) DIED. SUPPORT
HB 1387 Assault weapons background check Jinkins (D-27) DIED. OPPOSE
HB 1483 Allows destruction of forfeited firearms Lovick (D-44) H. Rules OPPOSE
HB 1529 Use of force Ryu (D-32) DIED. OPPOSE
HB 1592 Delivery of firearms to LEOs Klippert (R) DIED. SUPPORT
HB 1725 I-594 check exemption for CPL holders Koster (R-44) DIED. SUPPORT
HB 1731 Certain exemptions to I-594 Jinkins (D-27) DIED. SUPPORT
HB 1900 Hunter ed funding/NRA license plates Griffey (R-35) DIED. NEUTRAL
HB 1933 Transfer of firearms at non-profit events Walsh (R-19) DIED. SUPPORT
HB 2136 Profits from seized firearms go to education fund Taylor (R-15) DIED. SUPPORT
HB 2293 Bans firearms in daycare facilities (exception) Kagi (D-32) DIED. OPPOSE
HB 2306 Allows licensed veterans to carry at CommColl VanWerven (R) DIED. SUPPORT
HB 2329 Strengthens law making CPL data private Walsh (R-19) DIED. SUPPORT
HB 2363 Drone delivery of firearms to offenders Pellicciotti (D-30) S. L&J SUPPORT
HB 2422 Bans “high capacity” magazines Peterson (D-21) DIED. OPPOSE
HB 2519 Return of seized CPLs Lovick (D-44) H. Rules NEUTRAL
HB 2666 Repeals state preemption of gun laws Macri (D-43) DIED. OPPOSE
HB 2738 Permission to carry in a residence Doglio (D-22) DIED. OPPOSE
SB 5000 Use of deadly force McCoy (D-38) DIED. OPPOSE
SB 5050 Assault weapon ban Frockt (D-3) DIED. OPPOSE
SB 5073 Use of force McCoy (D-38) DIED. OPPOSE
SB 5216 Firearm safety education in schools O’Ban (R-28) DIED. SUPPORT
SB 5441 Involuntary freeze on firearm possession Kuderer (D) S.Rules OPPOSE
SB 5444 Background check for “assault weapons” Frockt (D-46) DIED. OPPOSE
SB 5463 Mandatory safe storage of firearms Palumbo (D) DIED. OPPOSE
SB 5506 Transfer of firearms at non-profit events Zeiger (R-25) S. Rules SUPPORT
SB 5553 Suicidal, waiver of rights Pedersen (D-43) H. Jud. NEUTRAL
SB 5795 Mandatory firearm liability insurance Chase (D-32) DIED. OPPOSE
SB 5992 Bans certain “trigger devices” Van De Wege (D-24) H. Jud. OPPOSE
SB 6049 Bans “high capacity” magazines Frockt (D-3) DIED. OPPOSE
SB 6146 Repeals state preemption of gun laws Saldana (D-37) DIED. OPPOSE
SB 6173 Strengthens law making CPL data private Takko (R-19) DIED. SUPPORT
SB 6297 Firearm possession with history of violence Dhingra (D-45) S. Rules NEUTRAL
SB 6298 DV harassment firearm ban Dhingra (D-45) Passed Senate OPPOSE
SB 6415 Permission to carry in a residence Hunt (D-22) DIED. OPPOSE
SB 6476 Exempts background checks between CPL Wagoner (R-39) DIED. SUPPORT

HB = House bill, SB = Senate bill. L&J = Law & Justice, Jud = Judiciary, PubSaf = Public Safety, HC = Health Care, H. K-12 = House Early education, Aprop = Appropriations, Fin = Finance, W&M = Ways &Means “S” before a bill number indicates Substitute, “E” means Engrosssed (both mean amended).

HEARINGS SCHEDULED:
None

Contact information for your Representatives may be found at http://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder or at http://leg.wa.gov/House/Pages/MembersByDistrict.aspx. 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“. Bills are available in Acrobat (.pdf) format. You may download a free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader from Adobe’s web site (http://www.adobe.com). 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). Each bill’s web page contains a link to any public hearing at the bottom of the page.

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.

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Upcoming WAC gun show(s):
Monroe 10-11 February
Puyallup 24-25 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

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