New Senate SBR bill.

[Ranb]

There is a new Senate SBR bill here; SB 5956 No text or sponsors yet though. This is a start though. At least we now have a bill number we can reference.

Randy

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[e55komp]

i should be excited..... but my cleo wont sign off even if it does happen

 

[spectra]

Looks like Hatfield has sponsored it so far.

I would love to see this pass.

 

[Ranb]

SB 5956 - 2013-14
New bill text here. It's just like the House bill.
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2013-14/Pdf/Bills/Senate Bills/5956.pdf

Here is a sample letter. Please do not directly copy it.

Senator XXXXX,

I am writing to call your attention to Senate Bill 5956; a bill to ease restrictions on short barreled rifles (SBR). This bill is the Senate version of House Bill 1561 submitted by Representative Blake during the end of the 2011 session. House Judiciary Chairman Pedersen declined to give HB 1561 a hearing during the 2013 session due to the current political climate but indicated he would probably give a Senate SBR bill such as SB 5956 a hearing in the 2014 session if it reaches the House.

This bill has broad support. 14 of the 32 HB 1561 sponsors are Democrats and 7 of 13 members of the House Judiciary Committee are co-sponsors. WACOP's is supporting the bill and the WASPC is taking a neutral position.

Short barreled rifles were unrestricted in Washington until passage of bill 2319-1994. The legislative intent of this bill did not give any reason why these firearms needed additional restrictions, but as of July 1, 1994 the only WA residents allowed to own SBR's are those of us who were grandfathered in.

Judge Appelwick was a State Representative and one of the bill authors back in 1994. He was asked why the legislature needed to ban these firearms. He stated in part that; "We undertook a review of existing firearms regulations and attempted two things: a cleanup/update of the statutes and some modest additional regulations to dampen the cries for major restrictions." and "In 1994 there was no objection to restrictions on short-barreled weapons like sawed off shotguns, and apparently there has not been any since. No one saw a purpose for them." It appears that the only reason these firearms were banned was for some sort of feel good measure.

Public disclosure requests were submitted to each county in the State to determine what kinds of problems we have with these firearms. It appears that illegally possessed SBR's are very rarely associated with any violent crime; at most a few were simply possessed in violation of RCW 9.41.190. There is no evidence that any registered, legally possessed SBR was ever used in a violent crime in our state. These firearms are every bit as suitable for use by sportsman and recreational shooters as their full sized counterparts. There is no rational reason for them to remain so restricted.

Our police will also benefit by passage of the bill. While police officers are allowed to possess SBR's while on duty, they cannot purchase one for use as a duty firearm or train with them outside of a duty environment.

Federal law requires that an individual wanting to own an SBR obtain BATFE authorization prior to purchase and pay a $200 tax. House Bill 1561 would simply bring state law into line with federal law. Unregistered contraband SBR's would remain illegal in Washington as they are everywhere else in the United States.

I would like to know if you have any reservations about these types of firearms. Would you be willing to co-sponsor the bill with Senator Hatfield? I would like to discuss this bill with you further if possible. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Respectfully,

Your Name

Randy

 

[Ranb]

i should be excited..... but my cleo wont sign off even if it does happen

What did he say when you discussed it with him?

Randy

 

[Cameron72]

This my be good news.

 

[mortar maggot]

Ranb,

Thank you for doing a ton of work yet again on this, how can we help you out other than writing our Senators and Reps.?

 

[mancat]

What did he say when you discussed it with him?

Randy

I would also like to know, since I moved to Pierce this year and would prefer to do a Form 1 SBR

 

[Swedish K]

Let me know what I can do to help! If this passes an MP5SD in semi will be on my build list

 

[Ranb]

If you have never contacted your legislators before, this is how you do it.
Figure out which ones are yours. http://app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/

Send a real letter and back it up with an e-mail. There is an e-mail link on the Senator's homepage. Or you can use [email protected] to reach them directly

Once you get their attention they will most likely reply by e-mail. Save all of your e-mails to and from your Senators and Representatives. I have a sample letter above, use it to get ideas but also personalize it. Never say anything you can't prove. Always be polite even if they are not. Make sure to ask them to sponsor the bill, and if they already are, thank them for it. We have to convince these guys that SBR's will only be owned by the nicest people in town.

After they respond, ask them to sponsor the bill. If they don't, then ask to meet with them. Invite a friend to go with to meet them. If they refuse to meet, then ask them for a date and time to speak on the phone. These legislators are part-time politicians and most have day jobs. The district legislators in WA are much easier to talk to than the ones in Washington DC. If they don't want to sponsor, press them for a reason why.

Most of the time you will be dealing with their administrative aide. This is normal as the aide is the filter between the Senator and the voters.

..... how can we help you out other than writing our Senators and Reps.?

When a hearing is scheduled, take time off from work or play to attend. We never had more than a dozen people show for the silencer use bills, we were very lucky that those attending did not oppose the bills. Anyone living within 50 miles of the Seattle/Tacoma area should have no trouble getting there to Olympia.

Keep in mind that while there are other forces at work (back room politics/deals) we need grass roots support. The NRA is offering no support as far as I know. Even the WAC offered no more than a letter to the committee for the silencer use bill. Whlie it is the bill priime sponsor that pushes or makes deals to get this bill a hearing, it is the voters that push their Senators to get on board as a co-sponsors. I turned Senator and Representatives in my district from a "I'll think about it" to actual co-sponsors with a simple meeting or phone call.

Randy Bragge
Belfair, WA [email protected]
(360) 440-5889

 

[mortar maggot]

Randy,

please post when the hearings are coming up, the longer the notice the better.

I'll send you an Email to your yahoo acount

 

[Ranb]

With Pedersen taking Murray's place in the Senate the new House Judiciary Chair will be Laurie Jinkins. Jinkins

She co-sponsored the gun range protection bill during the 2013 session but also supported the background check bill. I did not see anything else outstanding on her sponsorship record. I sent her a letter asking to meet or speak to her about the SBR bill.

With Pedersen gone, it looks like we will have a chance to get HB 1561 a hearing in the House Judiciary Committee. Keep your fingers crossed.

Randy

 

[knarley]

Good luck guys! Maybe there's hope for the peoples republic of Wash. You too, should know the joy of having an suppressed AR that's shorter than a Kentucky rifle!

 

[Ranb]

A new Senate Committee of Law and Justice agenda is posted. <broken link removed>

I594 (bkgd check) and I591 (protect gun rights) are scheduled for a hearing on 1/29 at 1:30 pm. There is a 8:00am meeting scheduled for the 31st, but no bills listed yet.

The shipyard is sending me to San Diego for 45 days at the end of the month. I was planning on leaving on the 30th, but if the SBR bill is scheduled for Friday I'll delay my trip to make the hearing. I really want to speak to the committee about this bill, but we need others who are ready to attend and speak. Who is ready to do this?

Randy

 

[Ranb]

Sentor Padden has scheduled SB 5956 for a hearing.

Law & Justice* - 01/31/14 8:00 am
Full Committee
Senate Hearing Rm 2
J.A. Cherberg Building
Olympia, WA
Public Hearing:
1.SJR 8215 - Amending the state Constitution so that only persons who are qualified voters in a county are elected or appointed to the office of judge of the superior court for that county.
2.SB 5956 - Concerning short-barreled rifles.
3.SB 6198 - Protecting sport shooting ranges.
4.SB 6066 - Allowing for the restoration of firearms rights under certain conditions.
5.SB 6433 - Prohibiting discrimination by an individual or entity on the basis of creed.
6.SB 6310 - Clarifying the retention of biological material collected during criminal investigation.
7.SB 6118 - Protecting citizens from the application of foreign laws that would result in a violation of a constitutional right.

The House Judiciary Committee hearing is on Tuesday 1/28/14 at 1:30 pm. The Senate Law and Justice Committee hearing is on Friday 1/31/14 at 8:00 am. I will be at the House hearing but am unable to attend the Senate hearing due to my trip to San Diego with the shipyard.

These bills are making better headway than the silencer use bill did back in 2011.

The House hearings are scheduled the same day as I-594 (bkgd checks) and I-591. Expect many people to be at the House hearings for the initiatives.

The Senate hearings also include a range protection bill. Last session this bill brought out many people both pro and con. If you want to speak, it is important to arrive at least an hour early to be signed up near the top of the list.

Randy

 

[Dogfish]

Outstanding job Randy on gettin the support out there. Nice job on testimony folks. Good to see you there Tom.

I spoke with Brian Blake, the representative running the bill, and he said the next step in the process should be an email campaign to the folks on the judiciary, especially the democrats, but do not include Jinkins in your emails. His reasoning for this is as follows. Jinkins is a public health nurse who sees guns as a disease that needs to be treated and eliminated through legislation, and SBR's are just another gun to her. She doesn't care about the mechanics. She is vehemently anti-gun, so you will not sway her, but it is very likely that we can get a number of the democratic members of the judiciary commiittee to support moving the bill forward.

Emails to the other members of the committee should be short. "Thanks for taking the time to hear the presentation on the bill, this is why I support it, and I would appreciate it if you would do your best to move it out of committee so that the bill can be voted on the floor." That's it. Keep it a max of a paragraph or two.

Brian says that it is best to do an "end around" Jinkins. It is obvious that Matt Shea supports the bill, along with a number of republicans, as he was also on board with the suppressor legislation.

Here is the list of representatives on the judiciary committee. Remember, email everybody except for Jinkins. Committee Members and Staff

See you guys Friday at the Senate hearing for the second part of the process.

 

[Dogfish]

i should be excited..... but my cleo wont sign off even if it does happen

Go the trust route.

 

[Ranb]

Here are the House Judiciary Committee members.

Jinkins, Laurie (D) Chair She schedules bills for hearings
Hansen, Drew (D) Vice Chair
Rodne, Jay (R)
Nealey, Terry (R) HB1561 co-sponsor
Goodman, Roger (D) HB1561 co-sponsor
Haler, Larry (R)
Kirby, Steve (D) HB1561 co-sponsor
Klippert, Brad (R) HB1561 co-sponsor
Muri, Dick (R)
Orwall, Tina (D)
Roberts, Mary Helen (D) HB1561 co-sponsor
Shea, Matt (R) HB1561 co-sponsor
Walkinshaw, Brady (D)

There are changes to the membership since last session, so we no longer have 7 of 13 members as co-sponsors. If all of the members are in attendance during the executive hearing, then we only need one additional member to vote for the bill to send it along with a pass recommendation.

If you write to all the members except for Jinkins, please thank the co-sponsors in addition to requesting that the others on the committee vote for the bill during the executive hearing.

Randy

 

[spectra]

Any info from today?

 

[Ranb]

Six people signed in for SB 5956, all pro and none against. Three of us spoke and we were not rushed by the chairman at all. You can see the video here; TVW v3 Senator Hatfield's opening statement was mostly like Blake's at the House hearing. Padden has to get this bill an executive hearing and recommend it for passage prior to 2/7 so it can go to the Rules Committee. It has until 2/18 to pass the Senate and go to the House.

Randy