"Aaron Sullivan Public Safety and Police Protection Bill"

Jan 2009
190
0
Bremerton, Wa
Proposed WA Semi-Auto Ban Blames Law-Abiding Gun Owners, Says CCRKBAProposed WA Semi-Auto Ban Blames Law-Abiding Gun Owners, Says CCRKBA

BELLEVUE, Wash., Dec. 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A proposal to ban so-called "assault weapons" in Washington State shifts the blame for recent violent crimes from the perpetrators to every law-abiding gun owner in the state, holding them and their firearms responsible for crimes they did not commit, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

"This is a proposal by three vehemently anti-gun rights state lawmakers who are exploiting two recent murders in an effort to push a political agenda they have had for several years,' said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. "One of those slayings, the murder of Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton, didn't even involve the specific kind of firearm they want banned."

State Senators Adam Kline (D-37th District) and Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36th District), and State Rep. Ross Hunter (D-48th District) will sponsor the legislation. They held a press conference this morning to announce their plans. The plan is supported by Washington CeaseFire, a small but radical gun prohibitionist group.

"Tens of thousands of Evergreen State citizens own the kind of semiautomatic sport-utility rifles and shotguns that these Democrat lawmakers want banned," Gottlieb observed. "Those citizens have committed no crimes. They utilize their rifles for hunting, target shooting and competition, recreational shooting, predator control and even home defense. For Kline, Kohl-Welles and Hunter to demonize them and their firearms smacks of hysteria and social bigotry.

"These are not military firearms," he continued. "Just because they are deceptively similar in appearance to military firearms is no reason to ban them. That's like putting someone in prison just because he looks like a criminal.

"Such a ban violates Washington State's constitutional right to bear arms provision," Gottlieb noted. "We expect gun owners to express their outrage, not only during the upcoming legislative session, but also at the polls next November."

With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA :: Homepage) is one of the nation's premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.


SOURCE Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms

WA lawmakers push to ban semi-automatic weapon sales
WA lawmakers push to ban semi-automatic weapon sales | NorthWest Cable News | Washington News



Washington lawmakers to propose "assault weapon" ban Gun Control: Washington lawmakers to propose "assault weapon" ban


Uphill battle to ban military-style assault weapons
Strange Bedfellows

December 17, 2009
Uphill battle to ban military-style assault weapons
Shooting deaths have prompted three state legislators to call for a ban on sale of military-style semi-automatic assault weapons. But sponsors expect a long uphill struggle to get it enacted.

"I predict this will be a multi-year endeavor," state Rep. Ross Hunter, D-Medina, said after supporters rallied at the Central Area Senior Center.

Hunter, a powerful House committee chair, was asked if the Legislature's lower chamber will even hold a hearing on the legislation. "I have no idea," Hunter replied, adding that he has not discussed the issue with House Speaker Frank Chopp.

State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Wells, D-Seattle, chairwoman of the Senate Labor, Commerce and Consumer Protection Committee, said that her committee will hear testimony on the legislation.

"I would predict it has the votes to get out of committee," Kohl-Wells said. "From there I do not have a prediction. It will be extremely challenging."

The legislation is named the Arron Sullivan Act, in honor of an 18-year-old youth fatally shot with an assault-style weapon last July in the Leschi neighborhood. Dr. Deborah Sullivan spoke to supporters on Thursday, three blocks from where the shooting took place.

"He was 18, but he was my baby: The kid that shot him was 19," Sullivan said. "Legally, they are adults, but they are still somebody's baby . . . We are the grown-ups and we are the ones who need to support our children."

The event Thursday was blocks from where Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton was assassinated on Halloween night. A .223-caliber semi-automatic rifle was used in the slaying.

"These guns are not meant for sporting means: They are meant to kill as many people as possible," said retired assistant Seattle police chief Harry Bailey. Bailey also spoke of last April's murder of three Pittsburgh police offices, killed with a military-style assault weapon.

Last year, Hunter was able to pass a bill restricting gun rights of those recently and involuntarily committed for mental illness. But these persons can still buy weapons -- no questions asked and no records kept -- at gun shows.

Bailey argued that gun rights should be restricted for three categories of persons: convicted felons, the mentally ill, and "our children."

Democrats currently hold power in Washington, D.C., and Washington state, and in lots of statehouses between the two Washingtons. Yet, a recent national Associated Press survey found a trend toward loosening of gun laws across the country.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer, D-Montana, is a populist-progressive who revved up the 2008 Democratic Convention. When asked about gun control, however, Schweitzer replies by listing the guns that he controls.

When Democrats lost 54 U.S. House seats in 1994, President Clinton blamed gun control for at least 30 of the losses -- including that of House Speaker Tom Foley, D-Wash., who was targeted by the National Rifle Association.

The Democrats in this decade have been notably gun control-shy.

State Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is an outspoken supporter of a ban on military-style assault weapons. "These weapons are not for hunting deer, they are not for skeet shooting, they are not for target shooting," he argued Thursday.

Kline had support from fellow Seattlites on Thursday, including a cameo appearance by Mayor-elect Mike McGinn.

In Olympia, however, he sits on the Judiciary committee with state Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, an outspoken advocate of gun rights.

Opponents were quick to draw a bead on the legislation, and its sponsors.

Alan Gottlieb, director of Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, described Kline, Kohl-Wells and Hunter as "vehemently anti-gun rights lawmakers who are exploiting two recent murders" to push their political agenda. He accused them of "hysteria and social bigotry."

"These are not military firearms," claimed Gottlieb. "Just because they are deceptively similar in appearance to military firearms is no reason to ban them. That's like putting someone in prison just because he looks like a criminal."

State Attorney General Rob McKenna held a news briefing earlier this week to present his agenda for the 2010 session of the Legislature. The proposals include legislation to stiffen "lemon laws" on sale of automobiles and laws to protect the vulnerable elderly and prevent child sexual exploitation.

Asked about a ban on military-style assault weapons, however, McKenna kept his head down. The attorney general predicted that the legislation will not get out of committee.

"If this bill is not even going to get a hearing, it is not worth a lot of energy," McKenna said.
 
Oct 2009
31
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Camas, WA
These types of things are a great reason to make sure we support the Pro-Gun person running against these three who are supporting the ban, they won't quit until they are voted out of office!
 
Dec 2009
44
0
Spokane Valley
You west side folks need to take it to em over there. We can write letters to the state senators all day but they do not listen to those who can't vote them out. Good luck fellas!
 

DC

Nov 2009
4
0
King County, Wash
I'm fine with writing letters, but I don't think that's enough. We should come up with something more. Let them know there's real opposition.

But what? :hmmmm2:
 
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