Washington sound suppressor law, Help out people,,,

trukreltrog

New member
Washingtonian's, step up to the plate. This may be your best shot at getting your goofy laws changed,,,


Originally Posted By: "ranb"I just got off the phone with Representative Pedersen's aide. She says that bill 1016 will get a hearing in committee. This is farther than any silencer bill has gone before; the rest died without a hearing.

The hearing has not been scheduled yet; the session starts on 1/10/2011. The committee schedules should be out by next week some time. I plan on attending as long as it is takes place next week. I will be out of the state working from January 18 till the end of the month.

Unless there are other gun control bills scheduled for a hearing, it is not likely that 200 plus people will show up to observe or testify at the hearing as I saw a few years ago. If you plan on going, get there at least an hour before it is scheduled to start and sign up. Those that sign up are asked if they are pro or con on the bills being heard. Those that want to speak to the committee indicate so. From what I understand, it is first come first serve for those who want to speak. People get about 5 minutes to present their views. The last time I went to a Senate hearing on gun control bills, only about 10% of those showing up were for the bills (various bans), but they choose an equal number to speak on each side, pro and con.

I hope that those people speaking for both sides only stick to the facts and do not use emotional arguments. If I am not able to attend, I would like to speak to anyone here that is planning to go. I can supply data on the low number of silencer related crimes and letters from the WASPC and WACOPS on their positions. I can also prepare a fact sheet to give to the committee members.

I have been hearing that the bill is expected to pass the House, but we need to keep pushing. I have been writing more to Senators and also sent the Governor a letter. A member of Gregoire's staff when she was the AG tried to convince me that silencers were illegal in the entire USA. I hope to convince her that they are useful enough to be legal to use.

Ranb



http://www.silencertalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=66319

Contact info:

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=1604&year=2009

http://www.leg.wa.gov/house/representatives/Pages/pedersen.aspx
 
I'm going to write some letters this weekend. Thanks for the heads up. I had no idea. Pretty dumb how the law is currently written here. Kind of like motorcycle insurance. No insurance is required by law until moment of impact
confused.gif
. Hopefully we can get this through.
 
Public hearing, make your voice heard.


Quote: Originally Posted By: "ranb"Judiciary
1/26/11 1:30 pm
Senate Full Committee
Senate Hearing Rm 1
J.A. Cherberg Building
Olympia, WA

Public Hearing:
1.SB 5112 - Changing restrictions on firearm noise suppressors.
2.SB 5115 - Concerning private transfer fee obligations. (Hearing is on the Proposed Substitute.)
3.SB 5170 - Increasing the number of judges to be elected in Grant county.

Everyone needs to be at this one if you can. We need industry representatives, silencer owners and people who want to use silencers.

Ranb


http://www.silencertalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=66930
 
Quote: Originally Posted By: "ranb"Bill 5112 was heard by the Senate Judiciary Executive Committee this morning. There was no debate. The decision was a unanimous "do pass" recommendation. It goes to the Rules Committee next.

Ranb


Sounds promising,,,
 
Quote: Originally Posted By: "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
 
I just updated the silencertalk post with some questions for manufacturers and some angles we can work into our letters.

I have to admit I missed this development even though I am very interested in its success.
 
Quote: Originally Posted By: "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
 
email sent!

Washintonians, send the email to remind our reps to get the bill out of the senate rules committee. We need to push this through.
 
I got some replies from my reps, but nothing from my senator yet. Maybe they do monitor emails? Even though it is likely an assistant, it would appear the message is getting through.
 
Update - got an email back from my senator's asst:

"We are keeping an eye on this. It is still in the Rules committee. Thanks for bringing it to our attention. I have passed your comments along to the senator."

Anybody else have any luck?
 
The bill did move today! Now it is on for a second reading. This is progress.

That said, the time is now to send you state senator an email, phone call, and/or letter.

What say the rest of you Washintonians?
 
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I was in at a local gun shop today that sells supressors (that we can own, but can't currently use) and asked about the supressor legislation. He told me that it had passed and that our governor had until July 1st to veto it. She apparently claims she will not, but time will tell. Anyone else that can validate this? If so, might be time to send some respectful letters, calls, and emails in her direction letting her know about all the support for the bill from citizens, rifle ranges, law enforcement, etc.
 
I hope your local gun shop owner is correct but as it looks on the Senate web page for this legislation .........

......... it has still a ways to go in the Senate.

It passed the House by an outstanding margin ..... 88 to 4 and that may be what that shop owner mistook total passage for?

According the Senate, it looks promising but it was in the Judiciary Committee today.

Three 44s
 
Originally Posted By: RanbWrite (letters and e-mail) and call the Rules committee members as often as you can.
smile.gif
. Democrats first as they are the ones deciding what bills get attention. When you call or write, it is important to ask them that they "pull bill 1016 from the calendar". They (or their aide) may tell you to contact your own Senator or one of the four sponsors. Tell them you already have and you want to know if they will pull the bill. It is not enough that they “support” the bill or are “concerned” about it. They got to pull it from the calendar so it does not die again.

The silencer bill is getting much less attention than most other bills on the calendar in the Rules committee simply because few gun owners are bothering to call. There is no substitute for actually writing a letter or making a phone call. It is a very simple thing to do, so the Senators know if they are not getting many calls about a bill, then few people actually give a [beeep] about it. It is that simple. That is why the silencer use bill has died year after year. It will die again unless we give a f--- this time.

Ranb
 
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