Wash. Senate panel flexes muscle, blocks gun bills
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — A Senate committee led by firearm-friendly lawmakers blocked five gun control bills Friday, suggesting that this year's momentum related to weapons laws may not be enough to win passage.
Members of the Law and Justice Committee voted to reject a variety of proposals, including one that would have created a task force to study weapon violence and another that would have created a specific crime for people who leave out loaded guns for children to access. Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, expressed frustration after the hearing, saying the majority on the committee was stuck in "mindless, rigid refusal" that rejects even common sense ideas.
"They are in such rigid refusal, they just can't see it," Kline said.
Kline said he suspected that if the Connecticut school massacre hadn't happened recently, his proposal related to child access to guns would have passed unanimously.
Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, chairs the committee and decided not to hold public hearings on many of the gun proposals. Democrats moved to take votes on the measures ahead of Friday's deadline for policy bills, and Padden argued that the bills should be rejected because they didn't have a proper public debate.
"We haven't had a hearing to hear both sides on this," Padden said on Democratic Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles' proposal on child access to guns.
Kohl-Welles noted that her bill had 24 sponsors in the Senate, including two Republicans and Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom.
The state House is working on a plan to expand background checks, with the help of a Republican lawmaker who works as a police officer, providing perhaps the best hope for gun control supporters who have worked on such a bill for years. Padden said he wasn't sure whether that bill would get a hearing in his committee.
Sen. Pam Roach, a Republican lawmaker on the Law and Justice Committee, had spoken positively about the first bill considered — a plan that would allow law enforcement agencies to store weapons if people voluntarily surrender them for a period of time. But when it came time to vote, Roach paused before casting the deciding vote to reject the bill.
Roach then left the committee room for the remainder of the votes, leaving the bills to die on 3-3 ties. Roach did not immediately return a call seeking comment after the hearing.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.
New Gun-Violence Reduction Package Highlights Mental Health Parity
In a move aimed at ensuring that private health plans cover benefits for mental health treatments at the same levels they cover other medical care, President Obama last week announced his administration would issue guidance outlining how group health plans offering mental health services must cover them "at parity" with other health coverage they offer. The statutory authority to do so exists under the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act (MHPAEA) of 2008. "We are going to need to work on making access to mental health care as easy as access to a gun," President Obama said at the White House, where he announced the plan, which included 23 separate executive actions and proposed legislation. Subsequently, CMS issued a letter to state health officials and Medicaid directors providing "guidance on the applicability of the requirements under the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 to Medicaid non-managed care benchmark and benchmark-equivalent plans."
http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=ad65aabe-4793-4c3a-8df6-d6b592b4ba7b
Good work, Republicans! Now there's work to do in Oregon.
Oregonians, listen: The media reported earlier in the week that Ginny Burdick and the Soccer Moms were abandoning the assault weapon ban. THEY LIED. Only a couple of days after that, Burdick and Co. did just the opposite by advancing House Bill 3200, which exceeds the absurd. You are not allowed to have more than one semiautomatic weapon and the find is $250,000 and ten years, potentially for each extra. You will have 120 days to destroy them or hand them to the government.Â
http://www.leg.state.or.us/13reg/measpdf/hb3200.dir/hb3200.intro.pdf
"Creates crime of unlawful possession or transfer of assault weapon or large capacity magazine.Punishes by maximum penalty of 10 yearsâ imprisonment, $250,000 fine, or both.Requires current owners to dispose of or register assault weapons and large capacity magazines.Directs Department of State Police to conduct background checks and maintain registry of as-sault weapons and large capacity magazines.Declares emergency, effective on passage..."
THE DEMOCRATS LIED TO THE MEDIA AND THE PEOPLE OF OREGON, AND -EXPANDED- THE BAN THEY CLAIMED TO BE ABANDONING.Â
@Playanekes "Oregonians, listen: The media reported earlier in the week that Ginny Burdick and the Soccer Moms were abandoning the assault weapon ban. THEY LIED. Only a couple of days after that, Burdick and Co. did just the opposite by advancing House Bill 3200, which exceeds the absurd. You are not allowed to have more than one semiautomatic weapon and the find is $250,000 and ten years, potentially for each extra. You will have 120 days to destroy them or hand them to the government.Â
@Playanekes "HOLY CRUD!!!
I'm in WA state but often this insanity spreads.. I have my eyes on you WA lawmakers!Â
@Playanekes with this being a true fact, I say Oregon, you have other issues then Gays wanting a wedding cake..You have a government that broke you trust. so what are You going to do about it when they lie? If I were you guys I would be afraid, very afraid...
@Playanekes In short this is an act of treason and cowardliness.
in short, it is an act of War on your rights. if you jsut sit there and take the abuse, then you asked for what you will get.
@Playanekes @lee986321 And IF it comes to that, stop on by my place.. We've got 3 reloading benches set up & ready to go..
BYOB- Bring your own brass! :P
@lee986321 You're damned right, Lee. None of my guns are on Burdick's list but I will NEVER stand by while my friends and relatives--many of them are war veterans--are told by deceitful and hypocritical women who never even registered for Selective Service that they're going to be felons if the don't give the Police State their guns.
Oh, hell no. America will look like the streets of Iraq before that happens.
No surprise that Sen. Kline is a democrat from Seattle. Â He and his kind don't believe in the American way. Â
Kudos to the Senate Committee for doing the right thing. We don't need more laws. Just better enforcement of what's already there. And we need to keep and bear up the 2nd Ammendment.
Here's a novel thought - let's enforce and prosecute the laws already on the books before we pass more. Â What has me flummoxed is that people think criminals will follow new laws, when they ignore laws that currently exist. Â Let's go after the bad guys, and prosecute them to the full extent of the law. Â Take that simple step and I think change will begin....
Senator Adam Kline is such a "mindless, rigid" Â liberal that he is unable to see" common sense ideas."Â Fortunately, he is in the minority in Washington.
Gonna Gitterdone with my faultless little gun...sigh.
@CramRalphden You should put that on a bumper sticker and market it to the pacifist hippies who expect the cops to be there with guns to protect them every time they have a problem, so they can live to call the cops trigger-happy pigs and racists.
You could probably sell them at the Country Fair.
"They are in such rigid refusal, they just can't see it," Kline said.
It's been my experience that those who shout "tolerance" and "coexist" are the most likely to be closed-minded... Â I'll bet Kline is in that camp.
double ditto "CWPHolder"...protect yourself so U can potentially can protect others. I'd go so far as to contact State Police in that State also!
Meanwhile, down in Salem...
http://www.oregonfirearms.org/massive-gun-ban-introduced
@HenryBowman
My friends and I will be throwing our organized support, for the first time ever, entirely into the Republican party to get these communist Unconstitutional jackboots out of office. The Democrats lied to us last week, and it's time to hold them ALL accountable.  As far as I'm concerned, they have already fired the first shot.
The picture looked like a screen shot of a video game lol.
Justice Committee voted to reject a variety of proposals, including one that would have created a specific crime for people who leave out loaded guns for children to access.??
@uknow2 My dad left his loaded gun in glove compartment or table or anywhere else in own property and out of public sight but not us kids.  Just like his keys wallet and hat. But then again he  was  real dad and parent and spent time teaching safety and discipline, right from wrong, what not to touch etc.  I  guess you takes a village entitlement whos your daddy big gov. redistributionist types hate the memory of that kind of liberty and love.  You are more interested in now old man dying so government inheritance double  tax can fund union teachers to teach kids who have two mommies.
Awesome!
these guys need to get jobs.
@GNTLwarrior "honest" jobs.
Bring a gun into the state building and you should be arrested and gun taken away.. That's what I say !
@dougrpdx Urban liberals don't really give a damn about the Constitution or Law.  They arrest people (and occasionally shoot them) for not doing what urban liberals say.
You should be arrested and taken away. That's what I say.
Having said that: HEY, AR-15 OWNERS: CAN WE AGREE THAT BRINGING SEMIAUTOMATIC WEAPONS INTO CAPITOL BUILDINGS IS LEGAL, BUT EXCEPTIONALLY INSENSITIVE TO THE -REST- OF THE NON-ANTI-GUN POPULATION? Â
I HATE that photo of the guy with his AR-15 casually slung and pointed at the other person's hip. That's ridiculous and unacceptable and some other gun owner should have called him on it. Do that crap in the Marine Corps and you'll be PTing in your own vomit.
@dougrpdx Arrest them for what? Did they violate somebody's rights? Were they disturbing the peace?
@dougrpdx They couldn't be arrested, it'd be illegal...
""They are in such rigid refusal, they just can't see it," Kline said."
Like so many these days, if you don't agree with their agenda or point of view it is approached with some form of inadequacy, lack of vision or ignorance.  Â
Kline, your statement is of pure arrogance. Â Â
"firearm-friendly lawmakers" What the heck is wrong with your KATU? You are sounding like KGW now. No, it should read, Constitutional Friendly lawmakers.
Permits - we don't need no stinking permits
where's all the anti gun folk? I wanted to laugh at their rediculous coments
Kind of off topic: I'm planning a road trip to Montana.I have a Washington County permit.Can anyone tell me if I can conceal carry when I'm driving through Washington and Idaho and Montana for the week that I'm staying there? I've been trying to look for definitive answer online with not a whole lot of luck.
Check the NRA website, or check websites for Washington, Idaho and Montana. I'm sure those would help you get information on weapons laws and where you can carry them.
@noneofyourbizzness There is a smartphone app called "Right2Bear" that could be worth checking out.
Washington (Vancouver) is pretty easy to ask for a permit. I am Oregonian, when I applied for the WA permit, they didn't even ask why I needed their permit. As long as I passed back ground check, they sent me a 6 year carry permit, even cheaper than OR's.
@noneofyourbizzness Here ya go:
http://www.atg.wa.gov/concealedweapons/reciprocity.aspx
http://www.ag.idaho.gov/concealedWeapons/concealedWeapons_index.html#Does%20Idaho%20have%20reciprocity%20agreements%20with%20any%20other%20states%20If%20so%20what%20states
https://doj.mt.gov/enforcement/concealed-weapons/
Washington: NO
Idaho: YES
Montana: YES
@HuskyKMA When I'm driving through Washington,can I carry ammo in my trunk along with my guns as long as the guns are unloaded and in their cases?
@noneofyourbizzness @HuskyKMA YES, but what cwpholder is saying is true: I hate to see you go to jail because I gave you bad advice that trips you up on some Nanny State liberal law designed to take your guns, money and freedom.
If the guns are unloaded and in their cases and the ammunition is separate and you're not transporting heroin or hostages or drag-racing, no cop is going to care. That's how it -actually- works.
To be safe, remove the bolt so that the weapon can't be quickly loaded and fired. If you end up in court, it's obvious you're trying to do the right thing.
@noneofyourbizzness @HuskyKMA Yes you can as long as the firearms are unloaded . Here is the statute:Â
RCW 9.41.050
@noneofyourbizzness @HuskyKMA I'm not trying to be rude but I am gonna be blunt for your own good...
You need to get familiar with the laws in your state and those in which you plan to travel, if you're carrying. Whether concealed or not you are begging for trouble if you don't research those laws.
Whenever I plan a trip, I google that state's firearm laws and read them, there's plenty of concealed carry sites that are a huge help as well.Â
But seriously! Educate yourself.. The police are not going to tell you what your rights are so you better know them. Ignorance is no excuse for the law and you could get in big trouble.Â
That said- have a safe & fun trip.Â
@HuskyKMA Thank you.
@noneofyourbizzness@HuskyKMAIn case you travel other states...
http://www.handgunlaw.us/documents/USRVCarCarry.pdf
@noneofyourbizzness Research yourself.  Why you trust anybody.
@Ken Beck Because I seem to get different answers online and I know there will always be people who have a lot of knowledge on different subjects regarding guns and gun laws.
Way to go Washington lawmakers. Finally, some politicians show a little bit of common sense.
Sounds to me like a simple case of the politicians voting in line with the will of the people.
@Siwash Right...? What a concept...
@Siwash Isn't that what they're supposed to be doing?
@scoreboard @Siwash Yes it is, too bad it does not always happen that way.
If only this could happen in Oregon...
@WebFootSTi Not with Der Kitzhowper...
@WebFootSTi Very likely could. We are more gun friendly than Washington.