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New WA SBR bill is here: WRITE YOUR REPS


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SB 5956 is out in WA state and would legalize SBRs, applicable to all the usual NFA rules.

 

Write your rep NOW and ask them to sponsor this bill. The suppressor bill went through with virually no opposition, there's no reason why an SBR bill shouldn't do the same.

 

Take five minutes out of your day to write your rep.

 

Bill info: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5956&year=2013

 

WA rep finder: http://app.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/

Edited by mancat
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My particular representatives could never be persuaded. They are the sort who would propose AWB. I'd rather this slid by without catching much of their attention.

 

It would be difficult to speak to them civilly.

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Are any of you giving reasons to your reps why they should support this? I'm curious what they might be. Just that other states allow it doesn't seem convincing enough. I want to outline all reasons why this is a good idea to a legislator who probably doesn't care about guns and I don't want to leave anything out.

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You can look at this sample letter from Randy Bragge (ranb) over on Waguns.org though he asks not to copy it directly:

 

 

 

Senator XXXXX,

 

I am writing to call your attention to Senate Bill 5956; a bill to ease restrictions on short barreled rifles (SBR). This bill is the Senate version of House Bill 1561 submitted by Representative Blake during the end of the 2011 session. House Judiciary Chairman Pedersen declined to give HB 1561 a hearing during the 2013 session due to the current political climate but indicated he would probably give a Senate SBR bill such as SB 5956 a hearing in the 2014 session if it reaches the House.

 

This bill has broad support. 14 of the 32 HB 1561 sponsors are Democrats and 7 of 13 members of the House Judiciary Committee are co-sponsors. WACOP’s is supporting the bill and the WASPC is taking a neutral position.

 

Short barreled rifles were unrestricted in Washington until passage of bill 2319-1994. The legislative intent of this bill did not give any reason why these firearms needed additional restrictions, but as of July 1, 1994 the only WA residents allowed to own SBR’s are those of us who were grandfathered in.

 

Judge Appelwick was a State Representative and one of the bill authors back in 1994. He was asked why the legislature needed to ban these firearms. He stated in part that; “We undertook a review of existing firearms regulations and attempted two things: a cleanup/update of the statutes and some modest additional regulations to dampen the cries for major restrictions.” and “In 1994 there was no objection to restrictions on short-barreled weapons like sawed off shotguns, and apparently there has not been any since. No one saw a purpose for them.” It appears that the only reason these firearms were banned was for some sort of feel good measure.

 

Public disclosure requests were submitted to each county in the State to determine what kinds of problems we have with these firearms. It appears that illegally possessed SBR’s are very rarely associated with any violent crime; at most a few were simply possessed in violation of RCW 9.41.190. There is no evidence that any registered, legally possessed SBR was ever used in a violent crime in our state. These firearms are every bit as suitable for use by sportsman and recreational shooters as their full sized counterparts. There is no rational reason for them to remain so restricted.

 

Our police will also benefit by passage of the bill. While police officers are allowed to possess SBR’s while on duty, they cannot purchase one for use as a duty firearm or train with them outside of a duty environment.

 

Federal law requires that an individual wanting to own an SBR obtain BATFE authorization prior to purchase and pay a $200 tax. House Bill 1561 would simply bring state law into line with federal law. Unregistered contraband SBR’s would remain illegal in Washington as they are everywhere else in the United States.

 

I would like to know if you have any reservations about these types of firearms. Would you be willing to co-sponsor the bill with Senator Hatfield? I would like to discuss this bill with you further if possible. Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

Respectfully,

Your Name

Edited by mancat
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Email the antis something like the following..

 

Please support Senate Bill 5956 which will require the mandatory registration of short barreled rifles, such ask AK-47s and AR-15s. Close the loop hole that prevents these from being registered!!

 

:D

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Email the antis something like the following..

 

Please support Senate Bill 5956 which will require the mandatory registration of short barreled rifles, such ask AK-47s and AR-15s. Close the loop hole that prevents these from being registered!!

 

biggrin.png

they are unlikely to actually read the bill anyway

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You can look at this sample letter from Randy Bragge (ranb) over on Waguns.org though he asks not to copy it directly:

 

 

 

Senator XXXXX,

 

I am writing to call your attention to Senate Bill 5956; a bill to ease restrictions on short barreled rifles (SBR). This bill is the Senate version of House Bill 1561 submitted by Representative Blake during the end of the 2011 session. House Judiciary Chairman Pedersen declined to give HB 1561 a hearing during the 2013 session due to the current political climate but indicated he would probably give a Senate SBR bill such as SB 5956 a hearing in the 2014 session if it reaches the House.

 

This bill has broad support. 14 of the 32 HB 1561 sponsors are Democrats and 7 of 13 members of the House Judiciary Committee are co-sponsors. WACOP’s is supporting the bill and the WASPC is taking a neutral position.

 

Short barreled rifles were unrestricted in Washington until passage of bill 2319-1994. The legislative intent of this bill did not give any reason why these firearms needed additional restrictions, but as of July 1, 1994 the only WA residents allowed to own SBR’s are those of us who were grandfathered in.

 

Judge Appelwick was a State Representative and one of the bill authors back in 1994. He was asked why the legislature needed to ban these firearms. He stated in part that; “We undertook a review of existing firearms regulations and attempted two things: a cleanup/update of the statutes and some modest additional regulations to dampen the cries for major restrictions.” and “In 1994 there was no objection to restrictions on short-barreled weapons like sawed off shotguns, and apparently there has not been any since. No one saw a purpose for them.” It appears that the only reason these firearms were banned was for some sort of feel good measure.

 

Public disclosure requests were submitted to each county in the State to determine what kinds of problems we have with these firearms. It appears that illegally possessed SBR’s are very rarely associated with any violent crime; at most a few were simply possessed in violation of RCW 9.41.190. There is no evidence that any registered, legally possessed SBR was ever used in a violent crime in our state. These firearms are every bit as suitable for use by sportsman and recreational shooters as their full sized counterparts. There is no rational reason for them to remain so restricted.

 

Our police will also benefit by passage of the bill. While police officers are allowed to possess SBR’s while on duty, they cannot purchase one for use as a duty firearm or train with them outside of a duty environment.

 

Federal law requires that an individual wanting to own an SBR obtain BATFE authorization prior to purchase and pay a $200 tax. House Bill 1561 would simply bring state law into line with federal law. Unregistered contraband SBR’s would remain illegal in Washington as they are everywhere else in the United States.

 

I would like to know if you have any reservations about these types of firearms. Would you be willing to co-sponsor the bill with Senator Hatfield? I would like to discuss this bill with you further if possible. Please let me know if you have any questions.

 

Respectfully,

Your Name

 

Thanks, I'll start with something like that. I think it's also worth pointing out to a politician that NFA guns are not a significant part of the gun debate and in fact carry the very restrictions that anti-gun groups would impose on all weapons if they could.

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  • 2 months later...

It made it through the 3rd reading yesterday and passed the Senate, which as I understand it means it should go to the House for a vote: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5956&year=2013

 

Interesting to note that the House version covers both SBRs and SBSs: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=2475&year=2014

 

[edited for clarity, then added House version]

Edited by protected static
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It made it through the 3rd reading yesterday and passed the Senate, which as I understand it means it should go to the House for a vote: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=5956&year=2013

 

Interesting to note that the House version covers both SBRs and SBSs: http://apps.leg.wa.gov/billinfo/summary.aspx?bill=2475&year=2014

 

[edited for clarity, then added House version]

It's dead. I'll give more info in a few hours

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Here is the reply that I got back today. It sounds like next year is still a possibility.

 

 

Dear xxxxxx,

 

Thank you for taking the time to write in and share your support for HB 2475. I am a co-sponsor of this bill. Unfortunately the Chair of the House Judiciary Committee did not give this bill a public hearing or vote in committee, and we have passed the cutoff date for bills to be voted on meaning this bill is dead for this year. I appreciate you lending your voice to this process.

 

Drew MacEwen

State Representative

35th Legislative District
434 John L. O'Brien Bldg
PO Box 40600 Olympia, WA 98504-0600
(360) 786-7902

Edited by DogMan
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I just got a WALEG Committee Agenda Update, SB 5956 is scheduled for a public hearing on 2/26 at 3:30 pm. The executive hearing for other bills is scheduled at the same time. In the past I've seen an executive hearing for a bill done right after a public hearing, so it is possible for the bill to get a pass recommendation on the 26th. Thank you Representative Blake.

If you can be there, please do so. If anyone wants to carpool to Olympia from the Belfair Bremerton area, I can take two people with me.

Randy Bragge
(360) 440-5889
 
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I'm not sure why Overstreet and the others reintroduced the old HB 2099-2012 (SBR/SBS) instead of just getting onboard with Blake to push the SBR only bill which used to be 2098-2012.  During 2011-2012 Blake and others sponsored 2098 (SBR only) and 2099(SBR/SBS).  2098 was intended to be a fall back in case 2099 was too much for the House Judiciary Chair to stomach.  In the end it was too much and when 2013 came around and the bills had to be re-introduced, the new SBR only bill (1561) got all the support; as in 32 sponsors. most of whom were Democrats until this year.

 

While I would have preferred to have one bill with both SBR and SBS to reduce the amount of work needed (letters, face to face meetings, hearings) I'm happy to see the SBR bill getting so much support and making its way through the legislature.  As far as I know Blake and company will be up for sponsoring an SBS bill in 2015.  It will probably take another three years of work due to the bad rap sawed off shotguns have and the fact that dozens of contraband SBS are seized by the police each year.  But I'm willing to do it all over again just to have the chance to chop down my Mossberg 500 without moving to another state.

 

Randy

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SB 5956 is dead. Jinkins will not schedule it for an executive hearing prior to 2/28. Thirteen of us (all pro) showed for the hearing and for the most part it went well. Afterwards one of the other committee members told us there was a chance the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Chopp) might pull the bill for a vote on the House floor, but it is a very slim one.

I'm not sure what course of action to take prior to next session; got months to think about it. All I know is we did a damn good job; we just need to figure out how to get Jinkins to support the bill. Jinkins was not able to move other gun bills like I-594 and the safe storage bill out of committee. I-594 sucked so of course it went nowhere; the safe storage bill seemed ok, not sure why it died.

Randy

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  • 2 weeks later...

It seems that it was not actually dead yet.  The bill was pulled to the House and passed 95-3.  It is on the way to the Inslee for his signature which is likely to happen.  The law takes affecct 90 after the session; about June 11th.

 

Randy

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  • 4 weeks later...

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