State Gun Control Legislation

Misstep in gun bill could defeat the effort [seattletimes.com]

Washington lawmakers have pulled a contentious provision from a gun-control bill posted on the state’s legislative tracking website, after calling a section that gave law enforcement authority to enter homes and check for proper weapons storage a “mistake.”

Democrat bill sponsors, facing widespread outcry, told The Seattle Times they didn’t fully vet the eight-page bill before introducing it last week and that the home-inspection allowance was a simple oversight.

“I made a mistake,” Sen. Adam Kline said, according to The Seattle Times. “I frankly should have vetted this more closely.”

And main bill sponsor, Sen. Ed Murray, said: “I have to admit that shouldn’t be in there,” according to The Seattle Times.

The original version of the bill containing the disputed language is no longer available on the state’s website. The Seattle Times, however, maintains a copy for view on its site.

Gun bill giving sheriff right to inspect homes pulled by Washington lawmakers

They don't even read the bills that they shove through.....

The problem is, they hadn't broken it down into the several bills necessary to achieve their goals yet. They got impatient, and cocky... They forgot they need to whittle our freedoms away in piecemeal.

That's exactly correct. I've corresponded with one of the sponsors of this bill and that describes him exactly. He is a very cocky jerk. His goal was to poke a stick in the eye of the law-abiding gun owner and NRA members, who he despises. The sponsors thought they had a slam-dunk with the political climate the way it currently is, so much so that he didn't even need to read the bill prior to submitting it. The problem is that their amended version that they will re-submit will be almost as bad, but minus the "inspection" clause. They'll come up with a work-around on that one.

I'm honestly a bit shocked that this sort of thing even has a shot in passing. Granted it's been about 20 years or so since I've lived in WA, but I recall it as a firearms friendly state... I always believed the crime rate was low due to half the state or so packing.

I'm guessing it's going to get worse before it gets better. I don't envy law enforcement in being placed in the position it is likely to find itself in, being essentially at war with the populace. I guess we'll find out who the oath keepers are soon enough.

They don't even read the bills that they shove through.....

The irrational fear point was in reference to your question about whether they were coming to your state next. Do you honestly believe that the Missouri legislature has any reasonable chance of passing this into law and having the governor sign it?

“They always say, we’ll never go house to house to take your guns away. But then you see this, and you have to wonder.”

That’s no gun-rights absolutist talking, but Lance Palmer, a Seattle trial lawyer and self-described liberal who brought the troubling Senate Bill 5737 to my attention. It’s the long-awaited assault-weapons ban, introduced last week by three Seattle Democrats.

Responding to the Newtown school massacre, the bill would ban the sale of semi-automatic weapons that use detachable ammunition magazines. Clips that contain more than 10 rounds would be illegal.

But then, with respect to the thousands of weapons like that already owned by Washington residents, the bill says this:

“In order to continue to possess an assault weapon that was legally possessed on the effective date of this section, the person possessing shall … safely and securely store the assault weapon. The sheriff of the county may, no more than once per year, conduct an inspection to ensure compliance with this subsection.”

In other words, come into homes without a warrant to poke around. Failure to comply could get you up to a year in jail.

Oh, trust me...they read it......

I spoke to two of the sponsors. One, Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, a lawyer who typically is hyper-attuned to civil-liberties issues, said he did not know the bill authorized police searches because he had not read it closely before signing on.

Oh, trust me...they read it......

Oh, trust me...they read it......

Actually, not irrational...I live in Oregon, and just north of me [seattletimes.com]:



Notice something else we see here - elected officials not reading bills they vote on, or even sponsor as in this case. This is scary shit...we saw it clearly with Obamacare and that "have to pass it to know what's in it" nonsense from the Democrats there.

Edit - seems someone just above linked this same article...

A thunderous round of applause and a standing ovation greeted the news Wednesday night that a proposed town bylaw to restrict some assault weapons was going to be officially withdrawn.

The man who originally proposed it told the crowd the debate had not gone as he had hoped.

Vice Chairman of the Board of Selectmen Robert Jeffries said, “This was meant to be a discussion within the town of Westford, a community discussion that’s gotten way, way beyond that. We’re not really getting the discussion we want.”

After the meeting, Jeffries added that he had hoped he and his town would not be alone in an effort to restrict assault weapons and high-capacity firearms from the town.

“I thought there would be a [negative] reaction,” Jeffries said. “But I also thought maybe some other towns in Massachusetts might have also tried something similar and none of them did. So it left us isolated as the only ones.”

Clearly stonings, need to make a comeback.