WA silencer bill (5112) vote may be close.

[RAnb]

One of our friends on the Subguns board says he got a message from Joe Waldron (WA Arms Collectors) saying that the Senate vote will not be the landslide it was in the House. He thinks the vote will be next week. Link to Subguns thread. WA state SB5112 update write your senators!!

All it takes is an e-mail to remind them. Find your Senator here; Find Your Legislator

List of Senator e-mail addresses here; https://dlr.leg.wa.gov/MemberEmail/D...aspx?Chamber=S Even if you wrote them last month, it is a good idea to write to them again. We have the whole weekend to write to every one of these people. This is the best chance we'll ever have to change the law, so let's not blow it.

Write up a nice short e-mail telling them why you feel they should vote yes on bill 5112 and send it to as many as you can. You can remind them that no one showed in Olympia during the Judiciary hearings to oppose the bills, that there is very little crime associated with suppressors and the police want this bill to pass.

The Washington Council of Police and Sheriffs (WACOPS) sent a representative to both Judiciary hearings and enthusiastically supported the bills. The police need this bill passed as the law currently forbids suppressor use by the police and military in WA State. Here is a link to their letter supporting the bill. http://s171.photobucket.com/albums/u...COPSletter.jpg

Cease Fire Washington is taking a neutral stance on the silencer use bill. Unfortunately I was not able to get this in writing from them. You can ask them to contact Michael Wolfe if they want his opinion on the issue.

Better that you send your e-mails to each Senator individually. Put all of the Senators on one e-mail and it might head for their spam directory instead of the in-box. Thanks.

Randy

[hknut]

I shall write them an e-mail tomorrow. I am lucky as my son paiged for Swecker when he was in school. I have pic's of my son shooting suppressors on camping family camping trips in Ore when he was 12.
Thanks again Randy for all your hard work on this issue. I wish you could have been at the Senate hearing for us to meet.

[RAnb]

Senate bill 5112 appears to be stuck in the Rules committee. The Rules committee never publishes an agenda so we will not know when it goes for a vote until the bill status is updated as passed or failed on the Senate floor

If you want to use silencers in WA, please write to the Rules committee chairman, Lt Governor Owen. Sending e-mail to the rest of the committee would not hurt either.

Bill 5112 http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summ...5112&year=2011

Rules committee membership http://www.leg.wa.gov/Senate/Committ...bersStaff.aspx

Lt Governor Owen http://ltgov.wa.gov/ and his e-mail address [email protected]

Ranb

[hknut]

I got the following responce from Senator Swecker.

Mr. La Course,



Thank you for writing to me about SB 5112, a bill that would legalize the use of firearm sound suppressors in Washington State. I am glad to hear that you and your son are still involved in the political process. As a strong supporter of second amendment rights and hunting, I fully support the use of firearm sound suppressors.



You also may be interested in the following story about my son, Joel, who had a close encounter with a grizzly on a recent hunting trip!



http://www.kirotv.com/news/26546192/detail.html



Again, thank you for contacting me about this issue. It is a very busy time in the Senate right now, and we will be hearing many bills before an important deadline tomorrow (Monday). This bill has passed out of the Judiciary Committee, and hopefully, it will be allowed a vote on the Floor of the Senate. I will not have an opportunity to vote on SB 5112 until that time. When I do get the chance, you can be sure that I will support it.



Regards,




20th Legislative District

103 Irv Newhouse Building

PO Box 40420

Olympia, WA. 98504-0420
( Office: (360) 786.7638

Fax: (360) 786.7819

* [email protected]

[RAnb]

Bill 5112 (allow silencer use) is stuck in committee and going to die unless it is pulled from the Rules committee for a third reading (vote on the Senate floor) by March 7th. I cannot emphasis enough the importance that all WA residents interested in silencer use must call their Senator and members of the Rules committee on the phone to urge them to pull bill 5112 from the calendar for a third reading.

Rules committee members http://www.leg.wa.gov/Senate/Committ...bersStaff.aspx

The last Rules committee hearing consisted of a “package pull” of bills that had no opposition and were expected to pass with little or no debate. I do not know why Bill 5112 was not included in the package pull since it had no opposition in the Senate Judiciary hearing, was not debated at all at the Judiciary executive hearing and was unanimously sent along with a do pass recommendation. I am not aware of any opposition to the bill 5112, and only 4 Representatives voted against the companion bill in the House. One of the Senate aides I spoke to said there was some opposition to the bill, but she would not be specific.

The price of a dozen two minute long distance phone calls is a small one to pay to enjoy the use of silencers in WA. We have until March 7th to get bill 5112 a vote on the Senate floor. If you can, call as many of the Rules committee members as you can. The most important ones to call are the chairman, vice-chairman and the Democrats.

One of their aides will answer the phone when you call, not the Senator. When I call, I tell them my name and city/state and that I am calling to express my support of bill 5112. The aide will probably suggest that you contact your Senator and the bill sponsors, but tell them you have already done so and want to know why bill 5112 has not been pulled from the calendar any sent to the floor for a vote. Ask them if their Senator intends to allow to pull the bill from the calendar and send it to the floor. If they do not say yes, press them for a reason why. Ask them who is opposed to the bill and why. End your conversation with a request that they pass along your concerns to the Senator.

Chances are you will have to leave a message if you call the chairman (the Lt Gov) or vice chairman. If you are not able to get through to the vice-chairman, keep calling until you do. Some of the aides will be in a rush to finish the call, others will want to talk. The Republicans will probably blame the Democrats for holding things up. If they do, ask them what they will do to help pull the bill from the calendar. Good luck and keep dialing.

Randy

[hknut]

Lets see how many phone calls I can squeeze in tomorrow.

[RAnb]

I have called every Rules committee member. None of the Senators answered the phone. None of the aides would make an appointment to speak to their Senator on the phone with me. Senator Prentice's phone was not answered, I left several messages which will probably be ignored along with the e-mails I sent to her.

None of the aides gave me any reason to believe that any Senator on the Rules committee would pull bill 5112; this leads me to believe that they will let it die in committee. Senator Schoesler is a bill 5112 sponsor and a Rules committee member. There is no reason he can not pull bill 5112 and get it a second and third reading.

It is all too common that a sponsor will jump on the bandwagon to sponsor a bill, but not make any credible attempt to get it passed. I watched sponsors sit on their butts for years with other silencer use bills; it is rather sad to read their e-mails telling me how powerless they are. How did these wimps get elected in the first place?

Ranb

[Tuna2o3]

as of march 2nd the bill was sent to the floor for a second reading

[Doc Maker]

Placed in the X file. Removed from all agendas and calendars.

[hknut]

It went to the Senate Caucus today?

[dwcnmv]

Just checking in. Anyone have any updated information on this?

[RAnb]

Senator Eide is the current obstacle to bill 1016 getting a vote on the Senate floor. As the Majority Floor Leader, she is the one that decides which bills on the 2nd/3rd reading calendar get a vote on the floor.

I have been trying to make an appointment to speak to Senator Eide about bill 1016, but her aide says the Senator only has time for her constituents in District 30 (Federal Way and Lakeland area). I am in Belfair, so am not worthy of her time this week and next.

Bill 1016 is on the 2nd/3rd reading calendar. Click here; http://www.leg.wa.gov/legislature/pages/calendar.aspx then click on “calendars” then on “senate floor activity report” then on “regular calendar” to see the bills that are scheduled to be voted on (possibly) by the Senate. The dates on the right are the bills that were already voted on.

There may be reasons why Eide might not allow debate on bill 1016. Maybe she plans to allow a third reading, but her aides will not reveal what her plans are. As you can see, all of the bills that got a third reading are passing so far. Some of them have less opposition than bill 1016, but three of them do not. Bill 1016 passed the House 88 to 4. Three other bills on the calendar did not do as well. HB1357 was 65/31, HB1489 was 58/39 and HB1846 was 80/16. I have contacted every Senator about HB 1016 at least once since the session began. While I did not hear back from most of them, most of those who replied did not indicate having any objections to the suppressor bill. Only two Senators (Kline and Roach) said they had reservations about silencer use, but both recommended that is be passed. None of the Senate aides I spoke to told me that they knew of any objections by their Senators to the bill. So unless Senator Eide has any personal objection to the bill or someone is pressuring her to make it die, she should allow it a vote on the Senate floor.

Someone from District 30 needs to contact her office at (360) 786-7658 and request an appointment to speak to her on the phone or in person. Be familiar with the bill and why it is important that it passes. Stress that it has died (as bill 1604) in the last several sessions, passed with very little opposition in the House, will benefit shooters and home owners near rifle ranges, will not cause crime and will eliminate a victimless crime from the Washington statutes.

If anyone is able to score some time with her, please let us now. I am available anytime at (360) 440-5889 if you want to discuss the bill prior to speaking to Senator Eide.

It is also a good idea to call your own Senator and Representatives and request that they lean on Brown and Eide to get 1016 on the floor.


Randy

[RAnb]

Bill 1016 passed the Senate this morning.

Next the Governor signs it or allows it to become law without her signature. She is very unlikely to veto is as is passed 88-4 and 47-0 and is therefore "veto proof". If she does veto it, then it goes back to the legislature for an over ride of the veto.

The law goes into effect 90 days after the session ends. The last day of the session is April 24, so we can use our silencers legally Saturday July 23, 2011.

Ranb

[hknut]

Thanks for all your hard work on this Randy. Have you got the SBR/SBS work started yet?

[RAnb]

Not yet. I have to find out what legislator is willing to submit a new bill next session. Maybe Blake is a good one to ask.

Ranb

[fireman1291]

CONGRATS!