On March 18th, 1938. Nazis passed "The 1938 Regulations Against Jews' Possession of Weapons." This act Disarmed all "undesirables" of firearms, ammo, even knives.
8 months later Kristallnacht happened, new law goes into effect, Jews are shipped off to concentration camps.
~~~~~~~~~
HB 1240 is likely to pass. Washington state Democrat Party legislators have decided to start their adventure in deception.
Robert K. Merton stated, "the law of unintended consequences could create a perverse effect contrary to what was originally intended and ultimately making the problem worse."
Back in 2015, Pete Holmes, the then City Attorney, wrote about Seattle’s "inventive" new way to address violent crime. "In a Seattle summer marred by random gunfire, the City Council unanimously approved, and Mayor Ed Murray signed, the ordinance that, come January [2016], will levy a $25 tax on businesses for each firearm sold at retail within City limits to provide a sustained local revenue source for research and prevention programs. In addition, the City will impose a 2-cent tax for every round of .22 caliber ammunition sold and a 5-cent tax for every other round of ammunition sold.” Describing this so-called "common sense step designed to reduce gun violence," Holmes said, "This City acted to control its own destiny."
At the time the ordinance was passed, the City Budget Office estimated that the gun tax would generate revenue of "between $300,000 and $500,000 a year."
Seattle Police Department data on crime shows there were 3,830 violent crime incidents in 2015, of which 26 were homicides. Violent crime incidents have increased each year since, reaching 5,630 in 2022 (including 52 homicides).
The department’s most recent annual report reveals that Seattle’s overall violent crime rate reached a 15-year high in 2022, with homicides up by 24% and aggravated assaults (including shots fired and non-fatal shootings) "continu[ing] to be the highest reported in the last 10 years."
Analyzing the numbers for shootings and shots fired specifically, police data for 2015 indicates there were 54 "shots fired" incidents, 16 shootings (nonfatal) and no shooting fatalities. By 2022, this had climbed to 79 " shots fired" incidents, 34 non-fatal shootings, and six “fatal injury” shootings. So far, 2023 looks to be at least as violent, with 84 “shots fired” incidents, 15 non-fatal injury shootings, and four fatalities already, a scant three months into the year.
Residents who may have looked to console themselves with what, by now, was supposed to be a multi-million dollar stash of cash generated by the gun tax for prevention programs were in for another rude shock. According to one source, the first full year of gun tax collection yielded just $103,766, with $93,220 collected for 2017, $77,518 in 2018, and $85,352 in 2019 – a four-year total that failed to reach the midpoint, even, of the city’s predicted revenue for a single year.
To get the real financial impact of the gun tax, though, Seattle’s extreme overestimates have to be viewed in the larger context of actual lost revenues. At the time the gun tax was proposed, the proprietor of one of Seattle’s gun stores described what he called the city’s “grossly unsound” reasoning and revenue projections. Seattle, he added, had only two dedicated gun stores, plus a few big box sporting goods stores and pawnshops, but had "plenty more" located a short way out of the city. Rather than "just tighten the belt and hand over the money," consumers would shop elsewhere and "Seattle gun stores would simply go out of business."
The result? No gun tax income and the city would lose the sales tax, other revenue and jobs the businesses had been generating until then. In his case – because he moved his business to the suburbs outside Seattle when the gun tax was passed – Seattle lost close to $64,000 in sales taxes that his business paid in his new location in 2017.
Another large gun retailer, the owner of Seattle’s Outdoor Emporium, was interviewed in late 2016 and blamed the gun tax for his “$2 million hit” in lost sales, a 32% drop in his customer count, and an estimated $600,000 loss of potential sales tax due to his plummeting sales.
If these figures are accurate, Seattle accomplished the unbelievable financial equivalent of cutting off its nose to spite its face by collecting, in 2016, a little over $100K in gun tax revenue but losing at least seven times as much in sales tax dollars alone. Driving these figures even further into the red, in 2017 the city reportedly spent more on defending a failed lawsuit on the tax (over its refusal to disclose the 2016 revenue collected) than it obtained that year in total gun tax income.
It’s not just a case of the usual wonky progressive math. Civic politicians have hurt city taxpayers, to be sure, but taking "control" of the city’s destiny with this "inventive" ordinance has correlated with violent crime rates reaching record highs.
The same ordinance has created an uncompetitive business climate for gun retailers, so residents who need the means to protect themselves and their families from the burgeoning crime wave are forced to go outside Seattle.
Even apart from the gigantic question mark on how the gun tax revenues have been spent and to what end, it’s difficult to interpret these outcomes as anything other than a complete and dismal failure.
"Crime in Seattle continues to dip downward. Here’s a possible reason why: people responsible for the most low-level criminal activity aren’t on the streets. They are in jail."
In Jail! What!
"A recent status report from Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison on her High Utilizer Initiative shows that focused attention on the most active, repeat criminal defendants has paid dividends.
Comparing last month with February 2022, violent and property crimes decreased by 31%. While there’s no way to say exactly what factors contributed to that welcome news, those closest to street-level mayhem say the High Utilizers Initiative made a positive difference.
This underscores that public safety — repeatedly cited as Seattleites’ greatest civic concern — is not a hopeless morass that bedevils concerted efforts to tackle. It takes a coordinated approach and willingness to use all available tools to protect residents, employees and business owners.
Launched by the City Attorney’s Office last March, the High Utilizer Initiative is a partnership that includes the Seattle Police Department, King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and King County Jail.
It focused on individuals who had at least 12 misdemeanor referrals to the City Attorney’s Office within five years, and at least one in the last eight months. Each person was evaluated to determine their criminal history and impact on public safety. Social workers and others who knew the defendants were asked their input.
These individuals — also termed “prolific offenders” — are very familiar to cops, prosecutors, and public defenders. Store owners and residents know many by name. The most common crimes are theft and trespasses at businesses, most often to raise money to buy fentanyl and methamphetamine.
People facing misdemeanor charges — those with a maximum of one year in detention — are not generally booked into King County Jail under current policy. King County made an exception for high utilizers.
As a result, 142 of 168 high utilizers involved in the initiative this past year spent time in detention."
~~~~~~~~
The leftist fantasy that criminals are really nice guys we ought to listen to and coddle is fantasy and wrong.
The Impolite conclusion is If you want to cut crime, imprison the bad guys and leave everyone else alone.
Auxiliary Impolite conclusion: Taking away the innocent people's self-defense guns is violently stupid.
Democrats in legislature are trying to eliminate the requirement for police officers and other public safety officials to be able to read and write in English. SB 5274 seeks to "expand eligibility in certain civil service positions to allow lawful permanent residents to apply."
In the current version passed by the state senate on March 8, the English language requirement is removed. The amended version of the bill summary now reads, “Removes the requirement that applicants for certain civil service positions must be able to read and write in English.” The bill applies to applicants for the city’s police force, city firefighters and the Sheriff’s Office. Fish and wildlife officers are also included [Fox News].
Life or death can be come from understanding the officer's command. English is most common, therefore it is vital all officers be able to understand and speak English. Other languages are a useful bonus, but English is essential.
Voice your opinion to the legislature by clicking here https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/5274.
עצור או שאני יורה What are you going to do?
E2SHB 1143, titled AN
ACT Relating to enhancing requirements for the purchase or transfer of
firearms by requiring a permit to purchase firearms, firearms safety
training, and a 10-day waiting period, prohibiting firearms transfers
prior to completion
of a background check, and updating and creating consistency in
firearms transfer and background check procedures, has been scheduled for a public hearing by the Senate Committee on Law & Justice.
Date and Time: 03/23/2023 8:00AM (Subject to change by the Legislature.) Emailed remarks must be made before the meeting convenes.
The meeting will held in J.A. Cherberg Building, Senate Hearing Rm 4 and Virtual, Olympia, WA
Copy and email this if you like.
All of the conditions set forth in HB 1142 violate the same part of Washington's constitution.
The Washington State Constitutions states in Article 1, Section 24, "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." That is, you have the right to be armed to defend yourself or the state, but cannot form a personal army.
The WA Constitution is explicit. Our right to be armed is to defend self or state. This bill will severely impede the ability to self defense. How can the legislature justify forcing a person to wait 10 days when the need to be armed is acute. But criminals do not follow the law, so the legislation will not affect them.
HB 1142 will enable criminal predation against the unarmed citizen by impeding the citizen's right to become armed in self-defense. Neglecting the citizen's need to self-defense is consistent with the leftist agenda to expose the people to criminal violence -- the apparent goal of Democrat run cities like Seattle defunding their police force.
The requirement that firearms transfers
get a background check is another way of delaying the process of self-defense. Current law requires a gun merchant do a background check through the existing National Instant Check System. The NICS system is nearly instant, and has stopped a few bad cookies from getting guns. The system has also mistakenly prohibited some innocent citizens from being armed. That is a reason to improve the system, not expand the defective system's control.
Oppose HB 1142
Thank you
You can bulk email the Senate Committee on Law & Justice members. Here are the email addresses:
Manka.Dhingra@leg.wa.gov; patty.kuderer@leg.wa.gov; jamie.pedersen@leg.wa.gov; SALOMON_JE@leg.wa.gov; yasmin.trudeau@leg.wa.gov; javier.valdez@leg.wa.gov;
keith.wagoner@leg.wa.gov; lynda.wilson@leg.wa.gov; Nikki.Torres@leg.wa.gov; mike.padden@leg.wa.gov ; jim.mccune@leg.wa.gov
You can also send voting instructions to your own district Senator by clicking on https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/1143.
~~~~~~~~
Please oppose HB 1240
How can you restrict the law-abiding citizen's right to be armed as if that would reduce violent crime? Prohibition of free acquisition is an impediment to self-defense
The assertion that the "bill restricts sales [therefore] it will not make anyone less able to defend themselves" is corrupted reasoning. Stuff wears out. Replacement and repair is often required for adequate self-defense. The bills contains prohibition of new parts.
HB 1240 is clearly anti-constitutional and contains historical error. The Washington State Constitution, Art. 1, Sect. 24, recognizes the right of the citizen to bear arms in defense of self and state. No restriction on the type of arm is mentioned.
The HB 1240 implies the premise that our state constitution was framed before self-loading repeaters were developed is false.
The first self-loading machine gun was the Maxim gun, developed by British inventor Sir Hiram Maxim in 1884. (Wikipedia)
"The elected delegates assembled on July 4, 1889, in the Territorial Capitol Building in Olympia and labored through the summer to draft a constitution that would form the basis for all future Washington laws. On August 23, 1889, the convention concluded its work (Wikipedia)."
Good law cannot be based on a false premises and corrupted reasoning.
Good law can never be based on ginned-up fear-mongering.
Save yourself the embarrassment. Oppose HB 1240
~~~~~~~~
The Senate Law and Justice committee members:
Sen. Manka Dhingra <manka.dhingra@leg.wa.gov>; Sen. Yasmin Trudeau <yasmin.trudeau@leg.wa.gov>; Sen. Mike Padden <Mike.Padden@leg.wa.gov>; Sen. Patty Kuderer <patty.kuderer@leg.wa.gov>; Sen. Jim McCune <jim.mccune@leg.wa.gov>; Sen. Jamie Pedersen <jamie.pedersen@leg.wa.gov>; Sen. Jesse Salomon <jesse.salomon@leg.wa.gov>; Sen. Nikki Torres <Nikki.Torres@leg.wa.gov>; Sen. Javier Valdez <Javier.Valdez@leg.wa.gov>; Sen. Keith Wagoner <keith.wagoner@leg.wa.gov>; Sen. Andy Billig <andy.billig@leg.wa.gov>
~~~~~~~~
Fact Sheet: Guns Save Lives
A. Guns save more lives than they take; prevent more injuries than they inflict
* Guns used 2.5 million times a year in self-defense. Law-abiding citizens use guns to defend themselves against criminals as many as 2.5 million times every year — or about 6,850 times a day. [1] This means that each year, firearms are used more than 80 times more often to protect the lives of honest citizens than to take lives. [2]
* Of the 2.5 million times citizens use their guns to defend themselves every year, the overwhelming majority merely brandish their gun or fire a warning shot to scare off their attackers. Less than 8% of the time, a citizen will kill or wound his/her attacker.[3]
* As many as 200,000 women use a gun every year to defend themselves against sexual abuse.[4]
* Even anti-gun Clinton researchers concede that guns are used 1.5 million times annually for self-defense. According to the Clinton Justice Department, there are as many as 1.5 million cases of self-defense every year. The National Institute of Justice published this figure in 1997 as part of “Guns in America” — a study which was authored by noted anti-gun criminologists Philip Cook and Jens Ludwig.[5]
* Armed citizens kill more crooks than do the police. Citizens shoot and kill at least twice as many criminals as police do every year (1,527 to 606).[6] And readers of Newsweek learned that “only 2 percent of civilian shootings involved an innocent person mistakenly identified as a criminal. The ‘error rate’ for the police, however, was 11 percent, more than five times as high.”[7]
* Handguns are the weapon of choice for self-defense. Citizens use handguns to protect themselves over 1.9 million times a year. [8] Many of these self-defense handguns could be labeled as “Saturday Night Specials.”
B. Concealed carry laws help reduce crime
* Nationwide: one-half million self-defense uses. Every year, as many as one-half million citizens defend themselves with a firearm away from home. [9] * Concealed carry laws are dropping crime rates across the country. A comprehensive national study determined in 1996 that violent crime fell after states made it legal to carry concealed firearms. The results of the study showed:
* States which passed concealed carry laws reduced their murder rate by 8.5%, rapes by 5%, aggravated assaults by 7% and robbery by 3%; [10] and * If those states not having concealed carry laws had adopted such laws in 1992, then approximately 1,570 murders, 4,177 rapes, 60,000 aggravated assaults and over 11,000 robberies would have been avoided yearly.[11]
* Vermont: one of the safest five states in the country. In Vermont, citizens can carry a firearm without getting permission… without paying a fee… or without going through any kind of government-imposed waiting period. And yet for ten years in a row, Vermont has remained one of the top-five, safest states in the union — having three times received the “Safest State Award.”[12]
* Florida: concealed carry helps slash the murder rates in the state. In the fifteen years following the passage of Florida’s concealed carry law in 1987, over 800,000 permits to carry firearms were issued to people in the state. [13] FBI reports show that the homicide rate in Florida, which in 1987 was much higher than the national average, fell 52% during that 15-year period — thus putting the Florida rate below the national average. [14]
* Do firearms carry laws result in chaos? No. Consider the case of Florida. A citizen in the Sunshine State is far more likely to be attacked by an alligator than to be assaulted by a concealed carry holder.
1. During the first fifteen years that the Florida law was in effect, alligator attacks outpaced the number of crimes committed by carry holders by a 229 to 155 margin.
2. And even the 155 “crimes” committed by concealed carry permit holders are somewhat misleading as most of these infractions resulted from Floridians who accidentally carried their firearms into restricted areas, such as an airport. [15]
C. Criminals avoid armed citizens
* Kennesaw, GA. In 1982, this suburb of Atlanta passed a law requiring heads of households to keep at least one firearm in the house. The residential burglary rate subsequently dropped 89% in Kennesaw, compared to the modest 10.4% drop in Georgia as a whole. [16]
* Ten years later (1991), the residential burglary rate in Kennesaw was still 72% lower than it had been in 1981, before the law was passed. [17]
* Nationwide. Statistical comparisons with other countries show that burglars in the United States are far less apt to enter an occupied home than their foreign counterparts who live in countries where fewer civilians own firearms. Consider the following rates showing how often a homeowner is present when a burglar strikes:
* Homeowner occupancy rate in the gun control countries of Great Britain, Canada and Netherlands: 45% (average of the three countries); and, * Homeowner occupancy rate in the United States: 12.7%. [18] Rapes averted when women carry or use firearms for protection
* Orlando, FL. In 1966-67, the media highly publicized a safety course which taught Orlando women how to use guns. The result: Orlando’s rape rate dropped 88% in 1967, whereas the rape rate remained constant in the rest of Florida and the nation. [19]
* Nationwide. In 1979, the Carter Justice Department found that of more than 32,000 attempted rapes, 32% were actually committed. But when a woman was armed with a gun or knife, only 3% of the attempted rapes were actually successful. [20] Justice Department study:
* 3/5 of felons polled agreed that “a criminal is not going to mess around with a victim he knows is armed with a gun.” [21]
* 74% of felons polled agreed that “one reason burglars avoid houses when people are at home is that they fear being shot during the crime.”[22] * 57% of felons polled agreed that “criminals are more worried about meeting an armed victim than they are about running into the police.” [23]
[1] Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz, “Armed Resistance to Crime: The Prevalence and Nature of Self-Defense With a Gun,” 86 The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, Northwestern University School of Law, 1 (Fall 1995):164. Dr. Kleck is a professor in the school of criminology and criminal justice at Florida State University in Tallahassee. He has researched extensively and published several essays on the gun control issue. His book, Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America, has become a widely cited source in the gun control debate. In fact, this book earned Dr. Kleck the prestigious American Society of Criminology Michael J. Hindelang award for 1993. This award is given for the book published in the past two to three years that makes the most outstanding contribution to criminology. Even those who don’t like the conclusions Dr. Kleck reaches, cannot argue with his impeccable research and methodology. In “A Tribute to a View I Have Opposed,” Marvin E. Wolfgang writes that, “What troubles me is the article by Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz. The reason I am troubled is that they have provided an almost clear-cut case of methodologically sound research in support of something I have theoretically opposed for years, namely, the use of a gun in defense against a criminal perpetrator…. I have to admit my admiration for the care and caution expressed in this article and this research. Can it be true that about two million instances occur each year in which a gun was used as a defensive measure against crime? It is hard to believe. Yet, it is hard to challenge the data collected. We do not have contrary evidence.” Wolfgang, “A Tribute to a View I Have Opposed,” The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, at 188.
Wolfgang says there is no “contrary evidence.” Indeed, there are more than a dozen national polls — one of which was conducted by The Los Angeles Times — that have found figures comparable to the Kleck-Gertz study. Even the Clinton Justice Department (through the National Institute of Justice) found there were as many as 1.5 million defensive users of firearms every year. See National Institute of Justice, “Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms,” Research in Brief (May 1997).
As for Dr. Kleck, readers of his materials may be interested to know that he is a member of the ACLU, Amnesty International USA, and Common Cause. He is not and has never been a member of or contributor to any advocacy group on either side of the gun control debate.
[2] According to the National Safety Council, the total number of gun deaths (by accidents, suicides and homicides) account for less than 30,000 deaths per year. See Injury Facts, published yearly by the National Safety Council, Itasca, Illinois.
[3] Kleck and Gertz, “Armed Resistance to Crime,” at 173, 185.
[4]Kleck and Gertz, “Armed Resistance to Crime,” at 185.
[5]Philip J. Cook and Jens Ludwig, “Guns in America: National Survey on Private Ownership and Use of Firearms,” NIJ Research in Brief (May 1997); available at https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles/165476.pdf on the internet. The finding of 1.5 million yearly self-defense cases did not sit well with the anti-gun bias of the study’s authors, who attempted to explain why there could not possibly be one and a half million cases of self-defense every year. Nevertheless, the 1.5 million figure is consistent with a mountain of independent surveys showing similar figures. The sponsors of these studies — nearly a dozen — are quite varied, and include anti-gun organizations, news media organizations, governments and commercial polling firms. See also Kleck and Gertz, supra note 1, pp. 182-183.
[6]Kleck, Point Blank: Guns and Violence in America, (1991):111-116, 148.
[7]George F. Will, “Are We ‘a Nation of Cowards’?,” Newsweek (15 November 1993):93.
[8]Id. at 164, 185.
[9]Dr. Gary Kleck, interview with J. Neil Schulman, “Q and A: Guns, crime and self-defense,” The Orange County Register (19 September 1993). In the interview with Schulman, Dr. Kleck reports on findings from a national survey which he and Dr. Marc Gertz conducted in Spring, 1993 — a survey which findings were reported in Kleck and Gertz, “Armed Resistance to Crime.”
[10]One of the authors of the University of Chicago study reported on the study’s findings in John R. Lott, Jr., “More Guns, Less Violent Crime,” The Wall Street Journal (28 August 1996). See also John R. Lott, Jr. and David B. Mustard, “Crime, Deterrence, and Right-to-Carry Concealed Handguns,” University of Chicago (15 August 1996); and Lott, More Guns, Less Crime (1998, 2000).
[11]Lott and Mustard, “Crime, Deterrence, and Right-to-Carry Concealed Handguns.”
[12]Kathleen O’Leary Morgan, Scott Morgan and Neal Quitno, “Rankings of States in Most Dangerous/Safest State Awards 1994 to 2003,” Morgan Quitno Press (2004) at http://www.statestats.com/dang9403.htm. Morgan Quitno Press is an independent private research and publishing company which was founded in 1989. The company specializes in reference books and monthly reports that compare states and cities in several different subject areas. In the first 10 years in which they published their Safest State Award, Vermont has consistently remained one of the top five safest states.
[13]Memo by Jim Smith, Secretary of State, Florida Department of State, Division of Licensing, Concealed Weapons/Firearms License Statistical Report (October 1, 2002).
14Florida’s murder rate was 11.4 per 100,000 in 1987, but only 5.5 in 2002. Compare Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Crime in the United States,” Uniform Crime Reports, (1988): 7, 53; and FBI, (2003):19, 79.
[15]John R. Lott, Jr., “Right to carry would disprove horror stories,” Kansas City Star, (July 12, 2003).
[16]Gary Kleck, “Crime Control Through the Private Use of Armed Force,” Social Problems 35 (February 1988):15.
[17]Compare Kleck, “Crime Control,” at 15, and Chief Dwaine L. Wilson, City of Kennesaw Police Department, “Month to Month Statistics: 1991.” (Residential burglary rates from 1981-1991 are based on statistics for the months of March – October.)
[18]Kleck, Point Blank, at 140.
[19]Kleck, “Crime Control,” at 13.
[20]U.S. Department of Justice, Law Enforcement Assistance Administration, Rape Victimization in 26 American Cities (1979), p. 31.
[21]U.S., Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice, “The Armed Criminal in America: A Survey of Incarcerated Felons,” Research Report (July 1985): 27.
[22]Id.
[23]Id.
The legislature's own brief summary of HB 1240 is that it will:
Governor Inslee insists the legislature advance this bill to his desk. "It is something that I’ve believed in since 1994 when I voted to make this federal law," - Governor Jay Inslee.
It’s going to take a massive public outcry from us at the pro-freedom grassroots to defeat this gun ban. (Later, it will take a massive turn out at the polls to remove Jay Inslee from the governorship.)
We need to flood the Senate Law & Justice Committee committee members with pro-gun messages to drown out the rhetoric from Gun Control, Inc.
These are the committee members email addresses:
manka.dhingra@leg.wa.gov; yasmin.trudeau@leg.wa.gov; mike.padden@leg.wa.gov; patty.kuderer@leg.wa.gov; jim.mccune@leg.wa.gov; jamie.pedersen@leg.wa.gov; jesse.salomon@leg.wa.gov; nikki.torres@leg.wa.gov; Javier.Valdez@leg.wa.gov; keith.wagoner@leg.wa.gov; Lynda.Wilson@leg.wa.gov
Your email message can be as direct as "Please oppose on HB 1240. Gun bans make innocent people defenseless and more vulnerable to violent criminals.."
Please email today.
The conflict is reaching a fevered pitch. But we can still act on these two bits of bad news.
1. On March 14th, at 10:30AM, the House Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee will hold a public hearing for Senate Bill 5078, to allow anti-gun zealots to bankrupt the firearm industry with frivolous lawsuits. An executive session and vote will follow on March 17th. National Rifle Association members and Second Amendment supporters are encouraged to oppose SB 5078 by noting their position for the legislative record and with in-person, remote, or written testimony. Click here for more information on how to participate.
Please also contact committee members and ask them to OPPOSE SB 5078.
Senate Bill 5078 aims to undermine the PLCAA and subject licensed firearm manufacturers and sellers to frivolous lawsuits brought to recover damages for the criminal misuse of their products. Protecting the firearms industry, like other lawful industries, is necessary because our legal system generally does not punish anyone for the criminal actions of others. This bill simply seeks to sue the firearms industry out of existence in the state of Washington. The firearms industry supplies thousands of jobs in Washington and the excise tax on the sale and purchase of firearms, ammunition, and accessories produces millions of dollars for conservation in our state from Pittman-Robertson funds. This bill will eliminate thousands of jobs and deprive the state of millions of dollars annually. Without the firearms industry, Washingtonians will not have access to firearms and ammunition and the fundamental right to keep and bear arms.
SB 5078 is already scheduled for a work session on March 17th, where the Committee is expected to vote on the bill, so your immediate action and engagement in the public hearing is critical.
~~~~~~~~
2. Last night, the House voted 55-42-1 to pass House Bill 1240, a comprehensive gun ban bill, prior to the legislative deadline expiring. It now goes to the Senate for further consideration. National Rifle Association members and Second Amendment supporters are encouraged to oppose HB 1240 by clicking here to submit a comment.
Please also click the button below to contact your state senator and ask them to OPPOSE HB 1240.
House Bill 1240, a so-called “assault weapons ban,” is a comprehensive ban on the future transferring, importing, and manufacturing of many semi-automatic firearms that law-abiding citizens commonly-own for self-defense, competition, and recreation. It bans enumerated firearm models on a list, that includes shotguns, handguns and rifles. The ban includes semi-automatic rifles with an overall length of less than 30 inches, and any firearms with one or more proscribed features that exist on modern designs for making firearms more user-friendly, such as telescoping stocks meant to adjust the length of pull for users of different statures or wearing different clothing, muzzle brakes meant to reduce recoil, grips conducive to the natural angles of human wrists, and suppressors for hearing protection. In addition, it also bans spare parts and “combination[s] of parts” that can be used to assemble banned firearms, but on their own are simply pieces of plastic or metal.
~~~~~~~~
Reproduced from the National Rifle Association's emails.
Late last night, after midnight, the House voted 52-44 to pass
House Bill 1143, to impose a waiting period and training mandate for
acquiring firearms, with an amendment to drop the permit requirement in
earlier iterations of the bill. It will now move to the Senate. The NRA is working on our side and will continue to adamantly oppose HB 1143.
Please contact your state senator and ask them to OPPOSE HB 1143.
Use this National Rifle Association link to take action (no membership required).
House Bill 1143, as amended, denies law-abiding citizens their Second Amendment right to acquire firearms unless they present proof of completion of official, sanctioned firearms training within the past five years, which they must complete at their own expense.
HB 1143 also imposes an arbitrary ten-day delay on prospective gun owners taking possession of their firearms and makes this delay longer or indefinite if the state fails to complete background check during that time.
The Department of Licensing will also maintain a database (registry) of gun owners and their personal data, despite the agency having previously suffered a data breach affecting 650,000 citizens just last year.
You can use either the NRA link, or comment directly on this bill at the bill's Legislature comment page, https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/1143, or do both.
"The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired...." -- Washington State Constitution - Article 1, Section 24 Right To Bear Arms.
First the good news....
Thanks to your efforts, the anti-gun bills below are defeated. There
is a potential for procedural moves to revive these bills, but the National Rifle Association will remain vigilant and will notify you if any future action is needed.
House Bill 1144 failed to pass out of the policy committee and Senate Bill 5232 failed to pass out of the fiscal committee by the legislative deadline. These bills would have denied citizens their Second Amendment rights unless they met a training mandate, imposed an arbitrary delay on prospective gun owners taking possession of their firearms, and created a registry of gun owners.
House Bill 1178 failed to pass out of the policy committee by the legislative deadline. It would have repealed Washington’s preemption statute and revoked the Legislature’s own authority to be the primary authority regulating firearms. This would have allowed localities to pass their own anti-gun ordinances and create a confusing patchwork of gun laws.
Now the not-so-good news.... & why we must act before March 8th.
Three major anti-gun bills still remain active in the Legislature, while the others are likely defeated for the session.
Ownership restrictions
House Bill 1143 - Permit-to-Purchase, Mandatory Training, 10-day Waiting Period, Indefinite Transfer Delays, & Government Registry
HB 1143 denies
law-abiding citizens their Second Amendment right to acquire firearms
unless they obtain a government-issued permit. The permit is only valid
for five years and to obtain the permit, the state requires completion
of official, sanctioned firearms classroom and live fire training every
five years. The live fire training will make it impractical, if not
impossible for first-time firearm owners to complete the necessary
training. It also imposes an arbitrary ten-day delay on prospective gun
owners taking possession of their firearms and makes this delay longer
or indefinite if the state fails to complete background check during
that time. The state police will also maintain a database (registry) of
gun owners and their personal data.
On February 23rd, the House Appropriations Committee passed House Bill 1143, with a “null and void” amendment requiring that funding must be appropriated in the budget, or the bill will fail. Please contact your state representatives and ask them to OPPOSE HB 1143.
Semi-Automatic firearms ban:
House Bill 1240, a so-called “assault weapons ban,” is a comprehensive ban on the future transferring, importing, and manufacturing of many semi-automatic firearms that law-abiding citizens commonly-own for self-defense, competition, and recreation. It bans enumerated firearm models on a list, that include shotguns, handguns and rifles. The ban includes semi-automatic rifles with an overall length of less than 30 inches, and any firearms with one or more proscribed features that exist on modern designs for making firearms more user-friendly, such as telescoping stocks meant to adjust the length of pull for users of different statures or wearing different clothing, muzzle brakes meant to reduce recoil, grips conducive to the natural angles of human wrists, and suppressors for hearing protection. In addition, it also bans spare parts and “combination[s] of parts” that can be used to assemble banned firearms, but on their own are simply pieces of plastic or metal.
On January 30th, the House Civil Rights and Judiciary Committee passed House Bill 1240. Its companion, Senate Bill 5265, failed to pass out of a policy committee by the legislative deadline and is dead for the session. HB 1240 can only proceed if the full House passes it by March 8th. Please contact your state representatives and ask them to OPPOSE HB 1240.
Firearm industry liability for criminal acts:
Senate Bill 5078 aims to undermine the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) and
subject licensed firearm manufacturers and sellers to frivolous
lawsuits brought to recover damages for the criminal misuse of their
products. Protecting the firearms industry, like other lawful
industries, is necessary because our legal system generally does not
punish anyone for the criminal actions of others. This bill simply seeks
to sue the firearms industry out of existence in the state of
Washington. The firearms industry supplies thousands of jobs in
Washington and the excise tax on the sale and purchase of firearms,
ammunition, and accessories produces millions of dollars for
conservation in our state from Pittman-Robertson funds. This bill will
eliminate thousands of jobs and deprive the state of millions of dollars
annually. Without the firearms industry, Washingtonians will not have
access to firearms and ammunition and the fundamental right to keep and
bear arms.
On February 24th, the Senate Ways and Means Committee passed Senate Bill 5078,
after amending the bill to remove the private right of action, but
still allowing the Attorney General to bring these frivolous and flawed
lawsuits. House Bill 1130,
the House companion, is dead after failing to pass out of a policy
committee by the legislative deadline. SB 5078 is currently in the
Senate Rules Committee and can only proceed if the full Senate passes it
by March 8th. Please contact your state senator and ask them to OPPOSE SB 5078.
The National Rifle Association has a link you can click on to contact all your district lawmakers in order to ask them to OPPOSE these bills.
Taxing your property
SB 5486, Wealth & property tax is the camel's nose under the tent, the foot in the door, the hand in your pocket.... The Left's proposed wealth tax is a prelude to a general property tax on everything anyone owns.
Taxing property is specifically allowed by Washington state constitution, but this is an abuse. The state's constitution specifies "All taxes shall be uniform upon the same class of property within the
territorial limits of the authority levying the tax and shall be levied
and collected for public purposes only." Washington constitution Article VII, § 1 (Amendment 14)
Impolite is always against new taxation. Governments almost always make things worse, because governments can only apply compulsion to a situation when ingenuity is required.
Your input is solicited. Take your pick:
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Reducing your right to vote
SB 5082 is deceptively titled "Encouraging electoral participation and making ballots more meaningful by abolishing advisory votes." Advisory votes give the people more information about how the legislature spends our money, and gives us a chance to organizer a voice against waste. No wonder the elitist Left wants to squelch it.
What's bad is this has already passed out of the Senate on a party line vote (It was is heavily favored by the Democrats). We are trying to catch it before the House passes it to governor Inslee.
Take your stand. Select any the following:
Impolite is for democracy, which is the voice of the People. The more informed we are, and the more we can vote on public matters, the stronger our democracy will be.
What has gone wrong with the Democratic Party that they would favor SB 5082?
SB 5078 is a threat to self-defense in Washington state. It will add unfair risk and exposure for the lawful sellers of guns and ammunition.
The bad news is SB 5078 passed the state Senate. The bill will still need to pass in the House. Please take a stand against SB 5078. You can download the Substitute Senate Bill Report in pdf.
Here's is a sample message you can send to your representatives on the legislature's comment page:
SB 5078 has the obvious defect of holding to account for crime suppliers of self-defense weapons who did no crime. This violates the foundations of justice.
All firearms purchased from lawful dealers must be cleared through the federal government's National Instant Check system. The bill implies the FBI's procedures are inadequate. The dispute about public safety is between the state and the federal government. So why does this bill make the dealer responsible?
SB 5078 will have a chilling effect on the suppliers of self-defense weapons. It will interfere with the weapons of self-defense. That means there will be more victims of violent crime, more death, and more destruction of law and order.
Thus the bill will be found in violation of our constitutional guarantee in Article 1, section 24, which underwrites our right to armed in defense of self.
Please oppose SB 5078.
Make your comments to your representatives on the legislature's comment page (link)
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The difference between a citizen and a subject is that the citizen is freely able to be armed.
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You can bypass the state's comment system and directly email comments to the entire Washington state House . Here is a list of their email addresses.
peter.abbarno@leg.wa.gov; emily.alvarad@leg.wa.gov; andrew.barkis@leg.wa.gov; jessica.bateman@leg.wa.gov; stephanie.barnard@leg.wa.gov; april.berg@leg.wa.gov; steve.bergquist@leg.wa.gov; liz.berry@leg.wa.gov; dan.bronoske@leg.wa.gov; michelle.caldier@leg.wa.gov; lisa.callan@leg.wa.gov; kelly.chambers@leg.wa.gov; bruce.chandler@leg.wa.gov; mike.chapman@leg.wa.gov; greg.cheney@leg.wa.gov; frank.chopp@leg.wa.gov; leonard.christian@leg.wa.gov; april.connors@leg.wa.gov; chris.corry@leg.wa.gov; julio.cortes@leg.wa.gov; travis.couture@leg.wa.gov; lauren.davis@leg.wa.gov; tom.dent@leg.wa.gov; beth.doglio@leg.wa.gov; brandy.donaghy@leg.wa.gov; davina.duerr@leg.wa.gov; mary.dye@leg.wa.gov; debra.entenman@leg.wa.gov; carolyn.eslick@leg.wa.gov; darya.farivar@leg.wa.gov; jake.fey@leg.wa.gov; joe.fitzgibbon@leg.wa.gov; mary.fosse@leg.wa.gov; keith.goehner@leg.wa.gov; roger.goodman@leg.wa.gov; jenny.graham@leg.wa.gov; mia.gregerson@leg.wa.gov; dan.griffey@leg.wa.gov; david.hackney@leg.wa.gov; drew.hansen@leg.wa.gov; paul.harris@leg.wa.gov; spencer.hutchins@leg.wa.gov; cyndy.jacobsen@leg.wa.gov; laurie.jinkins@leg.wa.gov; mark.klicker@leg.wa.gov; shelley.kloba@leg.wa.gov; joel.kretz@leg.wa.gov; mari.leavitt@leg.wa.gov; debra.lekanoff@leg.wa.gov; sam.low@leg.wa.gov; nicole.macri@leg.wa.gov; jacquelin.maycumber@leg.wa.gov; stephanie.mcclintock@leg.wa.gov; joel.mcentire@leg.wa.gov; sharlett.mena@leg.wa.gov; melanie.morgan@leg.wa.gov; gina.mosbrucker@leg.wa.gov; ed.orcutt@leg.wa.gov; timm.ormsby@leg.wa.gov; lillian.ortiz-self@leg.wa.gov; tina.orwall@leg.wa.gov; dave.paul@leg.wa.gov; strom.peterson@leg.wa.gov; gerry.pollet@leg.wa.gov; alex.ramel@leg.wa.gov; bill.ramos@leg.wa.gov; julia.reed@leg.wa.gov; kristine.reeves@leg.wa.gov; marcus.riccelli@leg.wa.gov; eric.robertson@leg.wa.gov; skyler.rude@leg.wa.gov; alicia.rule@leg.wa.gov; cindy.ryu@leg.wa.gov; bryan.sandlin@leg.wa.gov; sharontomiko.santos@leg.wa.gov; joe.schmick@leg.wa.gov; suzanne.schmidt@leg.wa.gov; tana.senn@leg.wa.gov; clyde.shavers@leg.wa.gov; sharon.shewmake@leg.wa.gov; tarra.simmons@leg.wa.gov; vandana.slatter@leg.wa.gov; larry.springer@leg.wa.gov; chris.stearns@leg.wa.gov; mike.steele@leg.wa.gov; drew.stokesbary@leg.wa.gov; monica.stonier@leg.wa.gov; chipalo.street@leg.wa.gov; jamila.taylor@leg.wa.gov; my-linh.thai@leg.wa.gov; steve.tharinger@leg.wa.gov; javier.valdez@leg.wa.gov; joe.timmons@leg.wa.gov; mike.volz@leg.wa.gov; amy.walen@leg.wa.gov; jim.walsh@leg.wa.gov; kevin.waters@leg.wa.gov; jt.wilcox@leg.wa.gov; sharon.wylie@leg.wa.gov; alex.ybarra@leg.wa.gov
I've gotten emails back from several of the legislators this way, so I believe they pick up their own emails.
