U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky Wants to Ban All Guns

Gun ban zealot politician, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky, a Democrat from Illinois, admits that the ultimate goal of the onerous gun ban zealot political faction is the unconstitutional, complete ban and confiscation of all firearms, including rifles and handguns, in the possession of civilian U.S. citizens. In an interview at a recent rally Schakowsky said:

"We’re on a roll now,"

She went on to say,

"I think we’ve got to take the - you know, we’re gonna push as hard as we can and as far as we can."

Reporter Jason Mattera asked her, "So the 'assault weapons' ban is just the beginning?"

Schakowsky then replied, "Oh absolutely. I mean, I’m against handguns (too). We have, in Illinois, the Council Against Handgun... something.  Yeah, I’m a member of that. So, absolutely."

Schakowsky was referring to the draconian Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence, whose name slipped her mind, an organization that is partly responsible for the nearly all out unconstitutional ban on handguns in Chicago, where despite the ban, Chicago experiences an epidemic of handgun murders. The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Chicago’s handgun ban, in the case McDonald v. Chicago, ruling that it is unconstitutional. 

The gun ban zealot faction’s plan is and has been for at least the past thirty years, an unconstitutional, total ban and all out confiscation of all civilian firearms at least since Dianne Feinstein said, "If I could have gotten fifty-one votes, in the Senate of the United States, for an outright ban, picking up every one of them, Mr. and Mrs. America, turn ‘em all in, I would have done it ", twenty years ago. 

(Illinois Council Against Handgun Violence)
http://www.ichv.org/

(complete text of McDonald v. Chicago ruling)
http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/mcdonald-v-chicago.html

Colorado's Magpul Industries Is Making Plans to Leave Colorado

In response to Colorado's likely impending ban on standard capacity ammunition magazines, Colorado's esteemed Magpul Industries has published the following statement:

Colorado Customers: We want to get as many PMAGS into the hands of Coloradans as possible, but we do not have a retail storefront capability at our facilities in Erie and are just not equipped to offer direct in-person sales there. All “Boulder Airlift” purchases are being fulfilled via our online ordering system for fastest delivery. Full details are at:

http://www.magpul.com/colorado

We apologize for any confusion we may have created or implied. We are looking at the possibility of working with our Colorado retail partners to do a direct retail presence at various locations at a later date, but for now, the online ordering is the best way to get your “Airlift”.

Among the details of the Boulder Airlift is that Magpul is selling five packs of its 30 round PMAG brand AR-15 ammunition magazines to Colorado residents at dealer cost, plus $5.00 shipping for the set. Here is a photo from a customer who received his five pack:

Magpul has also stated that it is already working on setting up a manufacturing facility in a different state, so that it can continue manufacturing its very popular ammunition magazines. Its ammunition magazines are very popular because they are made from an extremely high strength polymer, have renowned reliability, and because they include a window on the side that provides a visual indication of the number of rounds in the magazine. Magpul is also a major supplier of ammunition magazines, firearm accessories and firearm parts to the U.S. military. The Magpul flipup backup iron sights for AR-15s set the industry standard.

Magpul Industries has stated that it plans to move entirely out of Colorado if that state’s gun restriction, and ammunition magazine ban, bills become enacted statutes.

Hypocritical Gun Ban Zealot Gabby Giffords, her AR-15 Rifle, and her Glock Pistol

The exploitationist gun ban zealot political faction in America has been parading Gabby Giffords across the country as their poster child for America’s violence problems. Recovering from a gun shot wound to her brain has sadly left Giffords with aphasia and other obvious cognitive disabilities, as well as physical ones. Egregiously though, the gun ban zealots have exploited the sympathy she generates as they have her parrot brief, canned, completely simpleminded, statements in support of every form of gun ban and gun restriction statute being proposed everywhere around the country. What the gun ban zealot political faction is doing with Giffords, and what Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly are shamelessly allowing to occur, defrauds the past actions of both Giffords and her husband.

Gabrielle Giffords Brandishing her AR-15

Prior to the tragedy that left Giffords permanently disabled from a cranial gun shot wound, Giffords often bragged publicly that she is the owner of a compact Glock pistol and considered herself a "good shot". Her Glock pistol of course uses the same standard capacity magazines of fifteen or more rounds of ammunition that she is now urging the federal government and state governments throughout the U.S. to ban. Her statements have also implied that she would like to see modern sports rifles banned in accordance with the draconian Senate Bill S. 150, written by the staff of and sponsored by the U.S. Senator from California, Dianne Feinstein. However, Giffords has also been the owner of an AR-15 rifle for years as well, the very type of rifle she wants banned. On Thursday March 15, 2013, a photograph of Gabby Giffords was leaked to various news media, of Giffords prior to being injured, of her brandishing her AR-15 rifle at a shooting range in her home state of Arizona. Her AR-15 rifle was even loaded with the type of thirty (30) round ammunition magazine she now wants banned. The AR-15 rifle that Giffords already owns, and her currently owned ammunition magazines, would be grandfathered by the proposed gun ban statutes she now supports though, creating a case of, she has hers, but she doesn't want anyone else to have theirs. 

Giffords shooting a Kalashnikov type rifle in 2010

The AR-15 type rifle is the most popular type of rifle purchased and owned by civilian U.S. citizens. Giffords owns one, but hypocritically doesn’t want the rest of America to be able to own one. Such hypocrisy is rampant among gun ban zealot politicians. Another example is the infamous Dianne Feinstein, who is evangelizing a renewed ban on all modern firearms, a ban that would make the vast majority of modern firearms currently owned by law abiding U.S. citizens illegal under federal law. Feinstein however, is well known to carry a concealed .38 caliber revolver. Feinstein’s crusade is an obviously disturbed, psychologically pathological, response to the fatal shooting she personally witnessed over thirty years ago. That shooting was committed with a revolver just like the one Feinstein herself uses for concealed carry. The shooting she witnessed was not committed with one of the modern sports rifles or modern design pistols that Feinstein adamantly, and unconstitutionally, wants banned throughout the United States.

Husband Mark Kelly recently buying a second AR-15

Meanwhile, and astonishingly, Gabby Giffords’ husband Mark Kelly was caught on camera buying his own AR-15 rifle in Arizona in March 2013. After the story and supporting photographs went rival, he and his public relations people tried to spin it, but nothing his public relations people have said has the least bit of credibility. Given the current run on firearms of all types, goodness only knows how Mark Kelly found a licensed retail firearms store anywhere in America right now with an AR-15 rifle in stock, but he managed to find one in Arizona. The rest of America has been in a panic, buying every firearm, ammunition magazine, and all the ammunition available, out of abject fear that the federal government may actually succeed in banning many types of firearms, ammunition magazines, and doing something like heavily taxing ammunition. It is no wonder there is such panicked firearm buying in America, where even the gun ban zealots themselves are stocking up on the very firearms that are trying to ban.

Speech by the NRA's Wayne LaPierre to the CPAC Conference, March 15, 2013

This is the complete text of the speech given by NRA Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre to the CPAC conference on Friday March 15, 2013.

It’s great to be here today, among so many friends, and I appreciate your warm welcome. As you might imagine, I don’t get invited to many parties in this town. That’s okay. I came to Washington when I was about your age, but I didn’t come here to be popular. I came here to stand for what I believe is true.

The political elites may not like it. The liberal media can keep hating on me. But I’m still standing, unapologetic and unflinching in defense of our individual freedom. They can call me crazy and whatever else they want, but NRA’s nearly 5 million members and America’s 100 million gun owners will not back down — not now, not ever.

The Second Amendment is not just words on parchment. It’s not some frivolous suggestion from our Founding Fathers to be interpreted by whim. It lies at the heart of what this country was founded upon. Our Founding Fathers knew that without Second Amendment freedom, all of our freedoms could be in jeopardy.

Our individual liberty is the very essence of America. It is what makes America unique. If you aren’t free to protect yourself, when government puts its thumb on that freedom, then you aren’t free at all.

But they insult, denigrate and call us crazy for holding fast to that belief. In their distorted view of the world, they are smarter than we are. They are special and more worthy than we are. They know better than we do and if we dare disagree, they scorn us, demonize us and they'll try to shut us up. We will not be demonized, we will not be silent.

It’s time for us to take a sane look at the insanity that has consumed all too much of the media and the political class in this town. They wag a condemning finger at the NRA. They call US crazy. But no one — no other organization in the world — has spent more millions, over more decades, to keep Americans safe. Our firearms safety training programs, law enforcement training, women’s training, hunter education and our child accident prevention programs are second to none.

While gun ownership is at an all-time high, we’ve brought accidents with firearms to an all-time low. Each year, we teach millions of law abiding people how to use, store, and defend themselves with, firearms.

We’ve been training America’s military and law enforcement officers since NRA’s founding, way back in 1871. And they call us crazy? They say we’re the problem?

In December, I advocated nothing more than surrounding our schoolchildren with the same level of protection as our jewelry stores and sports stadiums — armed protection. The vast majority of Americans agree, and favor a trained, armed, police or security officers in every school. In a survey of all 50 states, nearly 90 percent of teachers and administrators said an armed officer would make their schools safer.

There is not a mom or a dad anywhere who wouldn’t feel better seeing a police car in the parking lot when they drop their kids off at school. But the powerful elites, who will always have their own security, called our proposal absurd. You know what’s really absurd? Not protecting our children at school.

Thousands of our schools today remain as vulnerable as ever to the evil intentions of a madman. While Janet Napolitano’s Department of Homeland Security offers this from its website:

“If you are caught out in the open and cannot conceal yourself or take cover, you might consider trying to overpower the shooter with whatever means are available,” a narrator says, while the video shows an office worker pulling a pair of scissors out of a drawer.

Scissors? That’s their answer?

Let’s get this straight. To protect our children at school, we recommend a trained professional with a gun. They recommend scissors. And they say we’re crazy?

That’s sheer madness. Here’s what the political elites offer instead — a placebo called “universal” background checks. Yep, that’s their big idea. A background check. A check that will always be far from universal, will never make our schools or streets safer, and will only serve as universal registration of lawful gun owners. It's the real goal they’ve been pushing for decades.

Criminals won’t participate and the records of the mentally ill will never ever be part of the check. With all the HIPAA laws and patient privacy issues, the monsters at Tucson, Aurora, Newtown — those names will never be in the system. And those killers really are crazy!

The very advocates and politicians behind this new universal scheme have fought — behind the scenes, for two decades — to prevent mental health records from being added to the check system. Their check only includes good, law-abiding people like you and me. That’s what they’re after — the names of good, decent, people, all over this great country, who happen to own a firearm, to go into a federal database for universal registration of every lawful gun owner in America.

That’s their answer to criminal violence? Criminalize 100 million law-abiding gun owners in a private transfer? Build a list of all the good people? As if that would somehow make us safer from violent criminals and homicidal maniacs? That’s their answer? Are they insane?

What’s the point of registering lawful gun owners anyway? So newspapers can print those names and addresses for gangs and criminals to access? So that list can be hacked by foreign entities like the Chinese, who recently hacked Pentagon computers? So that the list can be handed over to the Mexican government that, oh by the way, has already requested it.

In the end, there are only two reasons for government to create that federal registry of gun owners — to tax them and to take them.

No gun owner, no rational thinking American, believes that will have any effect on violent criminals and they’re right. It won’t make anyone safer anywhere.

It is troubling and saddening how quickly this debate has deteriorated from what would truly help make people safer to what has proven to be the decades-old agenda of those bent on destroying the Second Amendment. They’ve offered nothing new, nothing helpful in making our schools, our streets, or one child safer.

Senator Dianne Feinstein admitted that she had her gun ban bill ready to go A YEAR AGO, tucked away in a drawer, just waiting for the right opportunity. Really? Waiting for unspeakable tragedy to push her political agenda? Is there any wonder why most Americans don’t trust Congress?

They are simply not serious about making our kids or our country safer. If they were serious, they’d arrest, they'd prosecute, and imprison felons with guns, gangs with guns and drug dealers with guns — as many as they could find. That's what they'd do. And that's what the American public wants, but they don’t do that. What they do instead, is that they let them go free.

Let’s talk about this thing called sequestration. Now, I run the NRA, not an economic think-tank. But I watch the news and I see that, instead of rational belt-tightening, the first thing the government thinks to do, according to law enforcement officials, is let thousands of criminal illegals out of jail.

You know what, normal people all over this country think that’s crazy. It’s as if sanity, itself, has been sequestered in Washington.

We have all these gun laws, with stiff prison time, except the entire criminal justice system says, “We’re not going to do that.”

If federal prosecutors say “just kidding,” normal, law-abiding, people all over this country think that’s crazy.

And nowhere does that apply more than in Chicago. Just listen to this. Federal firearms prosecutions for 2012 dropped by almost 30 percent from their peak in 2004. Federal firearms prosecutions in Chicago dropped 45 percent from 2010 to 2012. President Obama’s hometown ranks dead last in firearms prosecutions — 90th out of 90 federal jurisdictions.

Out of 76,000 prohibited persons flagged by the instant check system, only 13 — 13 — were successfully prosecuted nationwide. Vice President Biden, and you hear him say it, he said they don’t have time to prosecute those people. Excuse me? Don’t have time to prosecute prohibited people trying to illegally get a gun?

But, the vice president does have time, though, to offer advice to women threatened by an intruder. I’m going to quote him directly.

“Just walk out … walk out and put that double-barrel shotgun and fire two blasts outside the house.”

The vice president of the United States actually told women facing an attack to just empty their shotguns into the air. Honestly, have they lost their minds over at the White House? No doubt violent predators would love to face a woman armed with a shotgun that’s empty.

Well, Mr. Vice President, for four decades you’ve enjoyed the armed protection of Capitol Police and Secret Service officers, all while trying to destroy the Second Amendment rights of the rest of us. So when it comes to that right, sir, you keep your advice — we’ll keep our guns.

I see a lot of young women here today. Here’s some more advice from political elites who know what’s best for you: Some members of the Colorado State Legislature think women are too emotional to deal with a violent attack. Senator Jessie Ulibarri said that, instead of using a firearm, you would be better off using “ballpoint pens” to stab an attacker when he stops to reload. A ballpoint pen?

At the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs, officials recommend that women defend themselves against a rapist with, “passive resistance.” Passive resistance? The one thing a violent rapist deserves to face is a good woman with a gun!

They call me crazy, yet the people doing the finger-pointing are saying things that are absolutely bizarre.

I can’t help but think that as Americans, we all want the same thing. We know our mental health system is in shambles. We all want it fixed. We want criminals with guns prosecuted and incarcerated. We want the federal gun laws on the books right now enforced against felons with guns, drug dealers with guns, and gangs with guns. If they would just do that, those violent criminals wouldn’t be on their way to the next crime. They’d be in prison.

We want our children to be safe and protected. That’s why we proposed trained police and security officers in every school. There’s not a mom or dad in America who wants to leave their children unprotected.

If the Washington elites really wanted the same thing, they would stop trying to demonize law-abiding gun owners. They would stop trying to convince the American people that all gun owners are potential criminals in waiting. And they would actually implement programs that addressed our problems in a real and meaningful way.

Put police and trained armed security in every school. Enforce the federal gun laws on the books right now. Interdict and incarcerate violent criminals before they get to the next crime scene. Rebuild our broken mental health system. Help the mentally ill by getting them off our streets and into treatment. And for God’s sake,leave the rest of us alone!

The political class and media class just don’t get it. In a lot of ways, they’ve lost track of what this great nation is supposed to be about.

It’s supposed to be about US and people like us, all over this country.

It’s always been about “we the people,” not the political class, all the way back to our founding.

Here’s what I’m talking about.

[A Video Was Displayed]

We are the people. This is our country.

This is a fight for our freedom, the freedom that separates us from every other nation on earth. That freedom makes us stronger than other countries. It makes us better than other countries.

That freedom is now on the line, now and in 2014 and 2016 and in every election and every political fight in your lifetime. That is what Standing and Fighting and defending freedom is all about.

When I first came to Washington so many years ago, I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to stand for something. This is not an easy place to remain true to your principles. It’s easy to want to be liked and praised. It’s easy to be swept up in the warped reality that, all too often, is this town.

You, each one of you here today, are here because you want to make your own difference, take your own stand. Plant your feet firmly in the foundation of freedom, don’t be swayed by the winds of political insanity, and no matter what, let the elitists who scorn you say, let them be damned.

Fill your heart with pride. Clear your eyes with conviction. This is your time to Stand and Fight — now and in the next election and the one after that. Now and for the rest of your life. Always stand and always fight for freedom!

U.S. Senator Schumer's Bill - S. 374. RS - Universal Background Checks for Firearm Sales, Advanced to the Full Senate by the Judiciary Committee

The news media is reporting that a federal “universal background checks” for private firearms sales/purchases bill has been passed out of the Senate Judiciary Committee on a straight party line vote. The bill is sponsored by U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, a Democrat who represents New York. The full text of the bill as it was revised by the committee is available on this site on its own page. There is a link to the full text of the bill at the end of this article. The bill number is S. 374 .RS, meaning that it is a revised version of the bill as originally introduced in the Senate. This bill, a few others that address related attempts to restrict civilian gun ownership at the federal level, and Dianne Feinsteins’s updated so called “assault weapons ban” bill represent the latest fronts in the heated political battle to stop the opportunistic gun ban zealot political faction as they try to exploit the mass shooting tragedy that occurred in Sandy Hook, Connecticut on December 14, 2012. 

Senator Schumer's gun sales restriction bill, requires that every firearm be taken to an FFL licensed firearms dealer who would then act as a form of bailment transferor of the firearm to the buyer, called a “transferee” in the language of the bill and existing federal firearm statutory law (see 18 U.S.C. § 922). According to the exact language of the bill, pursuant to the bill,  a firearm seller would be required to physically deliver the firearm to be sold to a licensed FFL dealer (gun shop person) who then perform the NICS so called instant background check on the buyer (they aren’t always so instant), who then does all the paperwork ( using ATF form 4473), and must follow all the statutory rules as though the gun shop were selling the firearm itself. Here is the exact text from the bill that describes this procedure:

(t)(1) Beginning on the date that is 180 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, it shall be unlawful for any person who is not licensed under this chapter to transfer a firearm to any other person who is not licensed under this chapter, unless a licensed importer, licensed manufacturer, or licensed dealer has first taken possession of the firearm for the purpose of complying with subsection (s). Upon taking possession of the firearm, the licensee shall comply with all requirements of this chapter as if the licensee were transferring the firearm from the licensee's inventory to the unlicensed transferee.

Schumer's bill involves a fee to be charged by the FFL dealer. The bill also requires recordation of the sale/transfer to be maintained by the ATF. The relevant portion of the bill states, as follows:

(4)(A) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, the Attorney General may implement this subsection with regulations.

    `(B) Regulations promulgated under this paragraph--

        `(i) shall include a provision setting a maximum fee that may be charged by licensees for services provided in accordance with paragraph (1); and

        `(ii) shall include a provision requiring a record of transaction of any transfer that occurred between an unlicensed transferor and unlicensed transferee accordance with paragraph (1).'.

Unfortunately, Schumer's bill does not set a fixed maximum fee for the transfer service, so the fee could be any amount set by the "Attorney General". 

The bill also makes it a federal crime not to report a stolen firearm within 24 hours of discovering it stolen, as described in the following text:

(a) In General- Section 922 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by adding at the end--

    `(aa) It shall be unlawful for any person who lawfully possesses or owns a firearm that has been shipped or transported in, or has been possessed in or affecting, interstate or foreign commerce, to fail to report the theft or loss of the firearm, within 24 hours after the person discovers the theft or loss, to the Attorney General and to the appropriate local authorities.'.

    (b) Penalty- Section 924(a)(1) of title 18, United States Code, is amended by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting the following:

        `(B) knowingly violates subsection (a)(4), (f), (k), (q), or (aa) of section 922;'.

While this bill is onerous, it would be less onerous if it included exemptions for private firearm sellers and buyers who possess a state issued conceal pistol license (sometimes called a concealed carry permit, and other similar terms, in various U.S. states,), from being subject to additional background checks. That this bill does not include such a provision seems like evidence that the bill is more focused creating a federal record of private firearms transactions and the particulars of firearms as they change ownership, including their make, model, and serial number as required in ATF form 4473, than it is about making certain that all firearm buyers are eligible to own a firearm pursuant to state and federal law. An additional tacit implication of this bill is that it would require operators of gun shows to setup systems for FFL dealers at gun shows to handle all firearm transactions made during the show.

This bill and others like it aren’t going to prevent prohibited people, such as felons, from illegally trading in firearms on the black market, as they do already. Just as the federal government’s war on drugs has only incited the existence of a hug, violent drug black market in America, no statute like Senator Schumer’s, at either the state or federal level, is going to prevent or deter felons and other prohibited people from maintaining a black market, illegal gun trade. All this bill will do is place unnecessary burdens and expenses on law abiding gun owners trying to do the right thing, under threat of federal prosecution for failure to follow such onerous procedures precisely, while felons and prohibited people will ignore it entirely. The gun ban zealot faction purports to be interested in preventing or deterring mass shooting massacres, but neither this bill, nor any other gun restriction and/or ban bill they propose will do any such thing. 

(complete text of bill S. 374. RS)

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/s374rs.html

(current section of federal firearms statutes, 18 U.S.C. § 922)
http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/922

(ATF form 4473 - retail gun purchase)
http://www.atf.gov/forms/download/atf-f-4473-1.pdf

Washington Legislature Defeats HB 1588, Requiring Background Checks on Private Firearms Sales

I was announced Tuesday evening March 12, 2013 that despite intense caucusing and negotiating among state Representatives until after 8:00 PM in Olympia, WA, Washington State HB 1588, the firearm sales background checks bill, has been defeated in the legislature's House of Representatives. This is a great win for constitutional firearms rights and law abiding gun owners all over the great state of Washington! 

Washington State Legislature, Olympia, WA

Thanks to everyone who sent emails to legislators and who got on the telephone to talk to the legislators' legislative assistants. I spent time conversing with legislative assistants in the afternoon before the caucusing began. Many of the legislative assistants I spoke with were very interested and even seemed to be taking notes as I described the bill's problems to them. It appears that the efforts of thousands of people doing the same thing have paid off. Our well reasoned explanations and arguments appear to have helped win the day for Washington State law abiding gun owners.

Next we'll have to refocus on the U.S. Congress with the same kind of email and telephone campaign that helped to defeat HB 1588. The U.S. Congress looks to be a much more difficult obstacle course, even if Dianne Feinstein's gun ban bill isn't going any where. There are numerous other bills under consideration there, and the people behind them, like Senator Chuck Schumer, throw a lot of weight around in Washington, D.C., where the political forces are far more outsized than in the state legislature. It seems like defending civilian firearm rights here in America is going to be one of the highest focus political issues of the next few years. 

Firearm rights supporters all over the country must continue working the issues with elected officials though, because a failure to stop the gun ban and gun restriction bill under consideration in the U.S. Congress could have catastrophic consequences for law abiding gun owners all over the country. 

The Washington State House of Representatives Has Passed a Bill to Create a State Registry of Serious Firearm Crime Offenders

On Tuesday March 21, 2013, the Washington State House of Representatives passed a bill that would create a state registry of serious firearm law violators. The bill would add statutory law that would create a state registry of people who have committed serious gun crimes that would be similar to the state sex offender registry in many ways. The firearms offender registry would not be a public list like the sex offender registry though. The bill would still need to pass the state Senate in order to become law. The Bill is:

Washington State Legislature

SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1612

In the bill, the concept of "firearm offender" appears to apply only to violent or serious crimes committed with a firearm, not to minor misdemeanor offenses not related to violent crime that may violate a portion of RCW Chapter 9.41, for example. The definition does however include theft of a firearm pursuant to -  RCW 9A.56.300, a Class B felony, meaning that it is a very serious crime. The relevant portion of the statutory amendment to RCW 9.41.010 that the bill creates states:

(8) "Firearm offender" means a person who has previously been convicted or found not guilty by reason of insanity in this state of any firearm offense. A person is not a firearm offender under this chapter if any and all qualifying offenses have been the subject of an expungement, pardon, annulment, certificate, or rehabilitation, or other equivalent procedure based on a finding of the rehabilitation of the person convicted or a pardon, annulment, or other equivalent procedure based on a finding of innocence.
(9) "Firearm offense" means:
     (a) Any felony offense that is a violation of chapter 9.41 RCW;
     (b) A violation of RCW 9A.36.045;
     (c) A violation of RCW 9A.56.300;
     (d) A violation of RCW 9A.56.310;
     (e) Any felony offense if the offender was armed with a firearm in the commission of the offense.

The bill requires the criminal offenders described in the definition above to register with the state in a manner that is similar to the requirements placed upon registered sex offenders. The registry period is does last for a lifetime though, the firearms offender registry only requires the people on it to remain on it for four years after their release from prison. Like the sex offender registry though, the bill also creates a crime of failure to register. The apparent intent of the bill is to closely track and monitor people who have committed serious crimes with firearms after they have been released from prison. Below is the complete text of the bill, hopefully in the form that passed the state House of Representatives. 

---

By House Judiciary (originally sponsored by Representatives Hope, Pedersen, Hayes, Buys, Dahlquist, Hargrove, O'Ban, Holy, Goodman, Fagan, Smith, Magendanz, Orcutt, Klippert, Kretz, Warnick, Roberts, Moscoso, Ryu, and Bergquist)
READ FIRST TIME 02/22/13.


     AN ACT Relating to firearm offenders; amending RCW 42.56.240; reenacting and amending RCW 9.41.010; adding new sections to chapter 9.41 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.43 RCW; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1   RCW 42.56.240 and 2012 c 88 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     The following investigative, law enforcement, and crime victim information is exempt from public inspection and copying under this chapter:
     (1) Specific intelligence information and specific investigative records compiled by investigative, law enforcement, and penology agencies, and state agencies vested with the responsibility to discipline members of any profession, the nondisclosure of which is essential to effective law enforcement or for the protection of any person's right to privacy;
     (2) Information revealing the identity of persons who are witnesses to or victims of crime or who file complaints with investigative, law enforcement, or penology agencies, other than the commission, if disclosure would endanger any person's life, physical safety, or property. If at the time a complaint is filed the complainant, victim, or witness indicates a desire for disclosure or nondisclosure, such desire shall govern. However, all complaints filed with the commission about any elected official or candidate for public office must be made in writing and signed by the complainant under oath;
     (3) Any records of investigative reports prepared by any state, county, municipal, or other law enforcement agency pertaining to sex offenses contained in chapter 9A.44 RCW or sexually violent offenses as defined in RCW 71.09.020, which have been transferred to the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs for permanent electronic retention and retrieval pursuant to RCW 40.14.070(2)(b);
     (4) License applications under RCW 9.41.070; copies of license applications or information on the applications may be released to law enforcement or corrections agencies;
     (5) Information revealing the identity of child victims of sexual assault who are under age eighteen. Identifying information means the child victim's name, address, location, photograph, and in cases in which the child victim is a relative or stepchild of the alleged perpetrator, identification of the relationship between the child and the alleged perpetrator;
     (6) The statewide gang database referenced in RCW 43.43.762;
     (7) Data from the electronic sales tracking system established in RCW 69.43.165;
     (8) Information submitted to the statewide unified sex offender notification and registration program under RCW 36.28A.040(6) by a person for the purpose of receiving notification regarding a registered sex offender, including the person's name, residential address, and e-mail address; and
     (9) Personally identifying information collected by law enforcement agencies pursuant to local security alarm system programs and vacation crime watch programs. Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted so as to prohibit the legal owner of a residence or business from accessing information regarding his or her residence or business; and
     (10) The central registry of firearm offenders established in section 6 of this act.
Sec. 2   RCW 9.41.010 and 2009 c 216 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.
     (1) "Antique firearm" means a firearm or replica of a firearm not designed or redesigned for using rim fire or conventional center fire ignition with fixed ammunition and manufactured in or before 1898, including any matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system and also any firearm using fixed ammunition manufactured in or before 1898, for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade.
     (2) "Barrel length" means the distance from the bolt face of a closed action down the length of the axis of the bore to the crown of the muzzle, or in the case of a barrel with attachments to the end of any legal device permanently attached to the end of the muzzle.
     (3) "Crime of violence" means:
     (a) Any of the following felonies, as now existing or hereafter amended: Any felony defined under any law as a class A felony or an attempt to commit a class A felony, criminal solicitation of or criminal conspiracy to commit a class A felony, manslaughter in the first degree, manslaughter in the second degree, indecent liberties if committed by forcible compulsion, kidnapping in the second degree, arson in the second degree, assault in the second degree, assault of a child in the second degree, extortion in the first degree, burglary in the second degree, residential burglary, and robbery in the second degree;
     (b) Any conviction for a felony offense in effect at any time prior to June 6, 1996, which is comparable to a felony classified as a crime of violence in (a) of this subsection; and
     (c) Any federal or out-of-state conviction for an offense comparable to a felony classified as a crime of violence under (a) or (b) of this subsection.
     (4) "Dealer" means a person engaged in the business of selling firearms at wholesale or retail who has, or is required to have, a federal firearms license under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 923(a). A person who does not have, and is not required to have, a federal firearms license under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 923(a), is not a dealer if that person makes only occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or sells all or part of his or her personal collection of firearms.
     (5) "Family or household member" means "family" or "household member" as used in RCW 10.99.020.
     (6) "Felony" means any felony offense under the laws of this state or any federal or out-of-state offense comparable to a felony offense under the laws of this state.
     (7) "Firearm" means a weapon or device from which a projectile or projectiles may be fired by an explosive such as gunpowder.
     (8) "Firearm offender" means a person who has previously been convicted or found not guilty by reason of insanity in this state of any firearm offense. A person is not a firearm offender under this chapter if any and all qualifying offenses have been the subject of an expungement, pardon, annulment, certificate, or rehabilitation, or other equivalent procedure based on a finding of the rehabilitation of the person convicted or a pardon, annulment, or other equivalent procedure based on a finding of innocence.
     (9) "Firearm offense" means:
     (a) Any felony offense that is a violation of chapter 9.41 RCW;
     (b) A violation of RCW 9A.36.045;
     (c) A violation of RCW 9A.56.300;
     (d) A violation of RCW 9A.56.310;
     (e) Any felony offense if the offender was armed with a firearm in the commission of the offense.
     (10) "Law enforcement officer" includes a general authority Washington peace officer as defined in RCW 10.93.020, or a specially commissioned Washington peace officer as defined in RCW 10.93.020. "Law enforcement officer" also includes a limited authority Washington peace officer as defined in RCW 10.93.020 if such officer is duly authorized by his or her employer to carry a concealed pistol.
     (((9))) (11) "Lawful permanent resident" has the same meaning afforded a person "lawfully admitted for permanent residence" in 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101(a)(20).
     (((10))) (12) "Loaded" means:
     (a) There is a cartridge in the chamber of the firearm;
     (b) Cartridges are in a clip that is locked in place in the firearm;
     (c) There is a cartridge in the cylinder of the firearm, if the firearm is a revolver;
     (d) There is a cartridge in the tube or magazine that is inserted in the action; or
     (e) There is a ball in the barrel and the firearm is capped or primed if the firearm is a muzzle loader.
     (((11))) (13) "Machine gun" means any firearm known as a machine gun, mechanical rifle, submachine gun, or any other mechanism or instrument not requiring that the trigger be pressed for each shot and having a reservoir clip, disc, drum, belt, or other separable mechanical device for storing, carrying, or supplying ammunition which can be loaded into the firearm, mechanism, or instrument, and fired therefrom at the rate of five or more shots per second.
     (((12))) (14) "Nonimmigrant alien" means a person defined as such in 8 U.S.C. Sec. 1101(a)(15).
     (((13))) (15) "Pistol" means any firearm with a barrel less than sixteen inches in length, or is designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand.
     (((14))) (16) "Rifle" means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger.
     (((15))) (17) "Sell" refers to the actual approval of the delivery of a firearm in consideration of payment or promise of payment of a certain price in money.
     (((16))) (18) "Serious offense" means any of the following felonies or a felony attempt to commit any of the following felonies, as now existing or hereafter amended:
     (a) Any crime of violence;
     (b) Any felony violation of the uniform controlled substances act, chapter 69.50 RCW, that is classified as a class B felony or that has a maximum term of imprisonment of at least ten years;
     (c) Child molestation in the second degree;
     (d) Incest when committed against a child under age fourteen;
     (e) Indecent liberties;
     (f) Leading organized crime;
     (g) Promoting prostitution in the first degree;
     (h) Rape in the third degree;
     (i) Drive-by shooting;
     (j) Sexual exploitation;
     (k) Vehicular assault, when caused by the operation or driving of a vehicle by a person while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug or by the operation or driving of a vehicle in a reckless manner;
     (l) Vehicular homicide, when proximately caused by the driving of any vehicle by any person while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug as defined by RCW 46.61.502, or by the operation of any vehicle in a reckless manner;
     (m) Any other class B felony offense with a finding of sexual motivation, as "sexual motivation" is defined under RCW 9.94A.030;
     (n) Any other felony with a deadly weapon verdict under RCW ((9.94A.602)) 9.94A.825; or
     (o) Any felony offense in effect at any time prior to June 6, 1996, that is comparable to a serious offense, or any federal or out-of-state conviction for an offense that under the laws of this state would be a felony classified as a serious offense.
     (((17))) (19) "Short-barreled rifle" means a rifle having one or more barrels less than sixteen inches in length and any weapon made from a rifle by any means of modification if such modified weapon has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches.
     (((18))) (20) "Short-barreled shotgun" means a shotgun having one or more barrels less than eighteen inches in length and any weapon made from a shotgun by any means of modification if such modified weapon has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches.
     (((19))) (21) "Shotgun" means a weapon with one or more barrels, designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger.
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) On or after the effective date of this section, whenever a defendant in this state is convicted of a firearm offense or found not guilty by reason of insanity of any firearm offense, the court must consider whether to impose a requirement that the person comply with the registration requirements of section 4 of this act and may, in its discretion, impose such a requirement.
     (2) In determining whether to require the person to register, the court shall consider all relevant factors including, but not limited to:
     (a) The person's criminal history;
     (b) Whether the person has previously been found not guilty by reason of insanity of any offense in this state or elsewhere; and
     (c) Evidence of the person's propensity for violence that would likely endanger persons.
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Any adult or juvenile residing, whether or not the person has a fixed residence, in this state who has been required by a court to comply with the registration requirements of this section shall personally register with the county sheriff for the county of the person's residence.
     (2) A person required to register under this section must provide the following information when registering:
     (a) Name and any aliases used;
     (b) Complete and accurate residence address or, if the person lacks a fixed residence, where he or she plans to stay;
     (c) Identifying information of the gun offender, including a physical description;
     (d) The offense for which the person was convicted;
     (e) Date and place of conviction; and
     (f) The names of any other county where the offender has registered pursuant to this section.
     (3) The county sheriff may require the offender to provide documentation that verifies the contents of his or her registration.
     (4) The county sheriff may take the offender's photograph or fingerprints for the inclusion of such record in the registration.
     (5) Firearm offenders shall register with the county sheriff not later than forty-eight hours after:
     (a) The date of release from custody, as a result of the firearm offense, of the state department of corrections, the state department of social and health services, a local division of youth services, or a local jail or juvenile detention facility; or
     (b) The date the court imposes the firearm offender's sentence, if the offender receives a sentence that does not include confinement.
     (6)(a) Except as described in (b) of this subsection, the firearm offender shall register with the county sheriff not later than twenty days after each twelve-month anniversary of the date the offender is first required to register, as described in subsection (5) of this section.
     (b) If the firearm offender is confined to any correctional institution, state institution or facility, or health care facility throughout the twenty-day period described in (a) of this subsection, the offender shall personally appear before the county sheriff not later than forty-eight hours after release to verify and update, as appropriate, his or her registration.
     (7) If the firearm offender changes his or her residence address and his or her new residence address is within this state, the offender shall personally register with the county sheriff for the county of the person's residence not later than forty-eight hours after the change of address. If the offender's residence address is within the same county as the offender's immediately preceding address, the offender shall update the contents of his or her current registration.
     (8) The duty to register shall continue for a period of four years from the date the offender is first required to register, as described in subsection (5) of this section.
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A person commits the crime of failure to register as a firearm offender if the person has a duty to register under section 4 of this act and knowingly fails to comply with any of the requirements of section 4 of this act.
     (2) Failure to register as a firearm offender is a gross misdemeanor.
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A new section is added to chapter 43.43 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The county sheriff shall forward registration information, photographs, and fingerprints obtained pursuant to section 4 of this act to the Washington state patrol within five working days.
     (2) Upon implementation of this act, the Washington state patrol shall maintain a central registry of firearm offenders required to register under section 4 of this act and shall adopt rules as are necessary to carry out the purposes of this act.
     (3) Upon expiration of the person's duty to register, as described in section 4(8) of this act, the Washington state patrol shall automatically remove the person's name and information from the registry.
     (4) The central registry of firearm offenders shall be used only for law enforcement purposes and is not subject to public disclosure under chapter 42.56 RCW.
NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.
--- END ---

Washington State Legislature Debates A Firearm Sales Universal Background Checks Bill

Today, I took some time out from my work schedule to telephone the offices of some members of the Washington legislature’s House of Representatives, to ask them to oppose the unworkable and unenforceable WA HB 1588, the universal firearm sales background checks bill. Upon calling some of their offices I left voice mail messages. When I telephoned some other representatives, I was able to speak directly with the representatives’ legislative assistants.

Every legislative assistant I spoke with was helpful and cordial, regardless of their legislator’s intent regarding the bill. They not only listened, they also asked questions. They gave me the impression they understand I was knowledgeable about the subject, and they were interested in frank discussions about it. While I doubt many legislators will be swayed, I told each of their assistants that I felt it was important that they hear directly from constituents and residents about our sentiments regarding the bill, and to tell  legislators who oppose the bill that they have wholehearted support from Washington residents who also oppose it. 

According to many news reports, there is a possibility that a revised version of WA HB 1588, that would include a referendum clause, may pass the Washington House of Representatives. However, the same news reports appear to indicate that there is significant opposition to the bill in the Republican controlled Washington State Senate. Thankfully the state Senate seems more likely to defeat this unworkable and unenforceable legislation.

Background

While the abstract concept that every firearm sales transaction should require some form of background check seems obvious on the surface, the details of bills drafted to implement the concept prove that they are unworkable, unenforceable, and place unnecessary burdens on law abiding gun owners. In combination with the federal firearms statutes, the existing firearms statutes in Washington State already provide a framework that makes it easy for responsible gun owners to privately sell a firearm they own to a known eligible buyer. In Washington State, all the seller need do is ask the buyer to produce a concealed pistol license and matching state identification. In Washington State anyone who is already eligible to own firearms under state and federal law can obtain a concealed pistol license from a local sheriff for an approximate $52.50 fee, submission of fingerprints, and an NICS background check. 

In addition, Washington state statutes RCW 9.41.040 and RCW 9.41.080 already make it illegal to sell a firearm to a prohibited person. Consequently, a private firearm seller has a legal duty to check the eligibility of a firearm buyer before selling one to that person.

Another aspect of WA HB 1588 that makes it unworkable, and uninformed, is that the ATF 4473 firearm purchase form, was never intended to be used for the purposes that WA HB 1588 proposes. In fact, the federal government has not authorized local police or local sheriffs to use ATF form 4473 for the purposes that WA HB 1588 proposes. The form does not in any way contemplate its use for background checking and recordation of a private firearms sale. The form is available for review at the link below.

(ATF Form 4473 – Federal Firearm Dealer Firearm Sales/Transfer Form)

http://www.atf.gov/forms/download/atf-f-4473-1.pdf

Washington State Legislature HB 1588 is also redundant and unnecessary because it is already a felony to “deliver” a firearm to a prohibited person, pursuant to RCW 9.41.080. Washington State Legislature HB 1588 is also redundant and unnecessary because federal statute 18 USC § 922(d) enacts similar prohibitions. The full text of these statutes, as provided below makes this clear.

RCW 9.41.080

Delivery to ineligible persons.

No person may deliver a firearm to any person whom he or she has reasonable cause to believe is ineligible under RCW 9.41.040 to possess a firearm. Any person violating this section is guilty of a class C felony, punishable under chapter 9A.20 RCW.

(state statute source)

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9.41.080

18 USC § 922(d)

It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person:

(1) is under indictment for, or has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year;

(2) is a fugitive from justice;

(3) is an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act (21 U.S.C. 802));

(4) has been adjudicated as a mental defective or has been committed to any mental institution;

(5) who, being an alien—

(A) is illegally or unlawfully in the United States; or

(B) except as provided in subsection (y)(2), has been admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa (as that term is defined in section 101(a)(26) of the Immigration and Nationality Act (8 U.S.C. 1101 (a)(26)));

(6) who  [2] has been discharged from the Armed Forces under dishonorable conditions;

(7) who, having been a citizen of the United States, has renounced his citizenship;

(8) is subject to a court order that restrains such person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner of such person or child of such intimate partner or person, or engaging in other conduct that would place an intimate partner in reasonable fear of bodily injury to the partner or child, except that this paragraph shall only apply to a court order that—

(A) was issued after a hearing of which such person received actual notice, and at which such person had the opportunity to participate; and

(B)

(i) includes a finding that such person represents a credible threat to the physical safety of such intimate partner or child; or

(ii) by its terms explicitly prohibits the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against such intimate partner or child that would reasonably be expected to cause bodily injury; or

(9) has been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

(federal statute source)

http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/922

Washington State's law abiding gun owners have already won an important concession to the gun ban zealots' aspirations for a "universal background check" statute. The first concession is that any seller who sells their firearm to a concealed pistol license holder is able to bypass the "background check" system because the buyer's concealed pistol license is evidence of the required background check that the bill proposes. The following clause has been added to WA HB1588: 

(2)(a) No unlicensed person may sell a firearm to another unlicensed person unless: ... (ii) the purchaser produces a valid concealed pistol license issued under RCW 9.41.070.

Yet another of the reasons WA HB 1588 remains problematic is because it does not address procedures for transfer of a firearm due to inheritance. At a minimum the executor, or successor trustee, of a decedent’s estate is not the actual owner of the firearm that needs to be transferred to its new owner under the terms of a decedent’s will and/or trust. As a result, even if the executor/trustee follows the terms of the bill if enacted, they would not be the actual gun owner transferring the firearm (especially if the executor/trustee is also the recipient of the inheritance because that person would be transferring the firearm to himself/herself), but the ATF firearms transfer paperwork makes no allowance for such circumstances. In fact for any private firearms transfer contemplated under the statute, the ATF firearms transfer form was never intended for such usage and its contents isn’t designed to meet such needs. The ATF form was intended for use solely by FFL retail firearms dealers. Notably, the universal background checks bill drafted in Colorado includes explicit language that addresses this issue.

In reviewing existing Washington State law, pursuant to state statute RCW 9.41.080 and federal statute 18 USC § 922(d), both already imply a responsibility for a private firearm seller to check the buyer's eligibility. A private firearm seller would be criminally liable for selling a firearm to a prohibited person under existing RCW 9.41.080 in Washington State in any event. That responsibility upon the firearm seller would continue to exist if WA HB 1588 were to be enacted, and that portion of the statute would remain the same. An ineligible buyer would be committing a separate felony crime pursuant to RCW 9.41.040. The existing law fulfills all the necessary requirements for the system to work, as it clearly does already, except that local government have failed to adequately prosecute people who violate the associated statutes:

RCW 9.41.080

Delivery to ineligible persons.

No person may deliver a firearm to any person whom he or she has reasonable cause to believe is ineligible under RCW 9.41.040 to possess a firearm. Any person violating this section is guilty of a class C felony, punishable under chapter 9A.20 RCW.

RCW 9.41.040

Unlawful possession of firearms — Ownership, possession by certain persons — Restoration of right to possess — Penalties.

(1)(a) A person, whether an adult or juvenile, is guilty of the crime of unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree, if the person owns, has in his or her possession, or has in his or her control any firearm after having previously been convicted or found not guilty by reason of insanity in this state or elsewhere of any serious offense as defined in this chapter.

     (b) Unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree is a class B felony punishable according to chapter 9A.20 RCW.

Summary

It should be apparent from all these example, why WA HB 1588 create a pointless, unworkable, unimplementable, unenforceable statute. A statute like it is not going to prevent mass shooting massacres. Such a statute is not going to stop felons and other prohibited people from illegally trading in firearms, just as the existing law cannot, because such people are not going to abide by such statute, regardless of its structure. Given all the foregoing, Washingtonians should oppose Washington State HB 1588.

Gun Ban / Restriction Bills introduced at the 2013 U.S. Congress

Multiple bills that could enact federal statutes that would radically change federal firearms law in the U.S., and would likely restrict firearm rights and ownership in America if enacted, have been filed in Congress by various elected Representatives and Senators. Below is a list of bills filed in the current session of the U.S. Congress that include proposals to enact:

• gun bans,
• ammunition magazine bans, 
• gun restrictions,
• gun registration,
• gun purchase background checks,

and other federal firearms related legislation. The link below each bill description below navigates to the full text of each bill, copied and pasted from the Library of Congress, Thomas, Congressional bill information web site. The list below is only a partial list of the gun rights related bills currently under consideration in Congress. Additional bills will be added as time and research permits.

H.R.21 : NRA Members' Gun Safety Act of 2013

Sponsor: Rep Moran, James P. [VA-8] (introduced 1/3/2013)      Cosponsors (2)

Committees: House Judiciary

Latest Major Action: 1/25/2013 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/hr-21.html

H.R.34 : Blair Holt's Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2013

Sponsor: Rep Rush, Bobby L. [IL-1] (introduced 1/3/2013)      Cosponsors (1)

Committees: House Judiciary

Latest Major Action: 1/25/2013 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/hr-34.html

H.R.93 : Fire Sale Loophole Closing Act

Sponsor: Rep Cicilline, David N. [RI-1] (introduced 1/3/2013)      Cosponsors (59) 

Committees: House Judiciary 

Latest Major Action: 1/25/2013 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/hr-93.html

H.R.117 : Handgun Licensing and Registration Act of 2013
Sponsor: Rep Holt, Rush [NJ-12] (introduced 1/3/2013)      Cosponsors (2) 
Committees: House Judiciary 
Latest Major Action: 1/25/2013 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/hr-117.html

H.R.137 : Fix Gun Checks Act of 2013

Sponsor: Rep McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4] (introduced 1/3/2013)      Cosponsors (80)

Committees: House Judiciary

Latest Major Action: 1/25/2013 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/hr-137.html

H.R.138 : Large Capacity Ammunition Feeding Device Act

Sponsor: Rep McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4] (introduced 1/3/2013)      Cosponsors (81) 

Committees: House Judiciary 

Latest Major Action: 1/25/2013 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/hr-138.html

H.R.141 : Gun Show Loophole Closing Act of 2013

Sponsor: Rep McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4] (introduced 1/3/2013)      Cosponsors (38)

Committees: House Judiciary

Latest Major Action: 1/25/2013 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/hr-141.html

H.R.329 : Strengthening Background Checks Act of 2013

Sponsor: Rep Fitzpatrick, Michael G. [PA-8] (introduced 1/22/2013)      Cosponsors (1)

Committees: House Judiciary

Latest Major Action: 2/28/2013 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/hr-329.html

H.R.437 : Assault Weapons Ban of 2013

Sponsor: Rep McCarthy, Carolyn [NY-4] (introduced 1/29/2013)      Cosponsors (65)

Committees: House Judiciary

Latest Major Action: 2/28/2013 Referred to House subcommittee. Status: Referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, And Investigations.

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/hr-437.html

H.R.955 : Hadiya Pendleton and Nyasia Pryear-Yard Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act of 2013

Sponsor: Rep Rush, Bobby L. [IL-1] (introduced 3/5/2013)      Cosponsors (1) 

Committees: House Judiciary 

Latest Major Action: 3/5/2013 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary.

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/hr-955.html

S.22 : Gun Show Background Check Act of 2013

Sponsor: Sen Lautenberg, Frank R. [NJ] (introduced 1/22/2013)      Cosponsors (16)

Committees: Senate Judiciary

Latest Major Action: 1/22/2013 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/s-22.html

S.150 : Assault Weapons Ban of 2013

Sponsor: Sen Feinstein, Dianne [CA] (introduced 1/24/2013)      Cosponsors (21)

Committees: Senate Judiciary

Latest Major Action: 3/7/2013 Senate committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee on the Judiciary. Committee consideration and Mark Up Session held.

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/s-150.html

S.174 : Ammunition Background Check Act of 2013

Sponsor: Sen Blumenthal, Richard [CT] (introduced 1/29/2013)      Cosponsors (5)

Committees: Senate Judiciary

Latest Major Action: 2/12/2013 Senate committee/subcommittee actions. Status: Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights. Hearings held.

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/174.html

S.374 : Protecting Responsible Gun Sellers Act of 2013

Sponsor: Sen Schumer, Charles E. [NY] (introduced 2/25/2013)      Cosponsors (None)

Committees: Senate Judiciary

Latest Major Action: 2/25/2013 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/s-374.html

S.480 : A bill to improve the effectiveness of the National Instant Criminal Background Check System by clarifying reporting requirements related to adjudications of mental incompetency, and for other purposes.

Sponsor: Sen Graham, Lindsey [SC] (introduced 3/6/2013)      Cosponsors (4)

Committees: Senate Judiciary

Latest Major Action: 3/6/2013 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.

http://afirearmrightschronicle.blogspot.com/p/s-480.html