Please attend the House Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for tomorrow, January 21st at 1:30 p.m., to discuss important legislation in Room A of the John L. O’Brien Building.
Sponsored by anti-gun lawmakers, the four bills below contain boilerplate language from the Obama/Bloomberg playbook. The proposed measures would only place an undue burden on law-abiding Washington gun owners.
House Bill 1747, sponsored by state Representative Ruth Kagi (D-32), would impose criminal penalties for “child endangerment due to unsafe storage of a firearm" if a “child” (defined as up to age 17) causes personal injury or death with a firearm. This bill is unnecessary; firearms are at the bottom of the list of items causing injury and/or death to children and in those rare cases where adults are truly negligent, the existing reckless endangerment statute is adequate. The only purpose of this bill is to single out and demonize firearms in the Washington code.
House Bill 2461, sponsored by state Representative Laurie Jinkins, would allow family members or law enforcement to petition the court to issue an “extreme risk protection order,” taking away someone’s Second Amendment rights without due process.
House Bill 2372, sponsored by state Representative Tana Senn, would permit law enforcement to destroy firearms that have been seized or forfeited. Existing law allows local municipalities to sell seized and forfeited firearms to raise money for local public safety. HB 2372 repeals that opportunity. This bill was introduced by the same legislator who brought the ammunition tax, a bill that places the blame of criminal activity and violence on her law-abiding constituents.
House Bill 2460, sponsored by state Representative Brady Walkinshaw, would allow local municipalities to ban the possession of firearms in public parks, recreational facilities, libraries and in all public transportation. Not only would this effectively take away the right of self-defense in these public places, but it would be a huge first step in weakening the preemption statute and opening the door to allow for the local prohibition of firearms. The preemption statute is put in place to prevent local municipalities from creating a patchwork of complex and confusing gun laws that could ensnare gun owners unaware of the laws.
Also being heard by the House Judiciary Committee is NRA-backed legislation, House Bill 2481. Sponsored by state Representative Brian Blake, HB 2481 would clarify the current, inadequately-written exemption in Washington law that is intended to allow individuals who are licensed under federal law to manufacture, own, buy, sell, furnish or be in possession of a short-barreled rifles.
It is imperative that members and Second Amendment supporters attend this hearing to strongly oppose these radical anti-gun bills. If you are unable to attend, please contact members of the House Judiciary Committee and politely urge them to oppose anti-gun legislation and to support HB 2481.
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Also, there is a new sign-in process for testimony. Below are instructions:
For the 2016 session, the House Judiciary Committee is using the electronic Committee Sign-In program. You will experience a shorter and faster waiting period if signing in through your mobile devices. Those wishing to sign-in for a bill may do so on the day of the hearing by:
- Using a web-enabled device (laptop, tablet, or smart phone), navigate to https://app.leg.wa.gov/CSI, only while on campus and connected to the Legislature’s WSLPublic wireless internet network; or
- Accessing one of the public sign-in kiosks located in the O’Brien Building (west entrance), each House hearing room, the Cherberg Building (main hallway), each Senate hearing room, and the first floor of Pritchard and Legislative buildings.
A useful feature of the program allows you to create an account that stores your sign-in information and history. Accounts are only accessible by using a web-enabled device, and are not available at the kiosks. Accounts are optional.
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