Senate panel flexes muscle, blocks gun bills

February 22, 2013 @ 3:16 pm

OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) - A Senate committee led by firearm-friendly lawmakers blocked five gun control bills Friday, suggesting that this year's momentum related to weapons laws may not be enough to win passage.

Members of the Law and Justice Committee voted to reject a variety of proposals, including one that would have created a task force to study weapon violence and another that would have created a specific crime for people who leave out loaded guns for children to access. Sen. Adam Kline, D-Seattle, expressed frustration after the hearing, saying the majority on the committee was stuck in "mindless, rigid refusal" that rejects even common sense ideas.

"They are in such rigid refusal, they just can't see it," Kline said.

Kline said he suspected that if the Connecticut school massacre hadn't happened recently, his proposal related to child access to guns would have passed unanimously.

Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley, chairs the committee and decided not to hold public hearings on many of the gun proposals. Democrats moved to take votes on the measures ahead of Friday's deadline for policy bills, and Padden argued that the bills should be rejected because they didn't have a proper public debate.

"We haven't had a hearing to hear both sides on this," Padden said on Democratic Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles' proposal on child access to guns.

Kohl-Welles noted that her bill had 24 sponsors in the Senate, including two Republicans and Senate Majority Leader Rodney Tom.

The state House is working on a plan to expand background checks, with the help of a Republican lawmaker who works as a police officer, providing perhaps the best hope for gun control supporters who have worked on such a bill for years. Padden said he wasn't sure whether that bill would get a hearing in his committee.

Sen. Pam Roach, a Republican lawmaker on the Law and Justice Committee, had spoken positively about the first bill considered _ a plan that would allow law enforcement agencies to store weapons if people voluntarily surrender them for a period of time. But when it came time to vote, Roach paused before casting the deciding vote to reject the bill.

Roach then left the committee room for the remainder of the votes, leaving the bills to die on 3-3 ties. Roach did not immediately return a call seeking comment after the hearing.


(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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Comments (17)


  • Add A Comment

  • CH wrote...
    Zoeller how old are you?
    February 13, 2013 5:13 pm
    can you still get it up? the gun that is to shoot it. I shoot my gun every night.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HLC wrote...
    get a clue CH.
    February 19, 2013 11:32 am
    Your hand doesn't count.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • xplanes wrote...
    another stupid law...
    February 19, 2013 12:00 pm
    ...whose only purpose is to hassle gun owners. If this was a serious effort to keep guns out of the hands of criminals they would have already changed the law that lets minors get caught ilegally possessing a gun without doing more than 30 days in juvy. That's right. Five times before this state actually does something to protect us from armed criminals. If they were serious about protecting us they would take property crime serious. They don't. The vast majority of guns used in crimes are stolen. That's right. Next time that crackhead gets caught breaking into a residence with 9 previous convictions you might want to take it seriously. Get real you gun control trolls. You could greatly reduce the supply of guns to criminals if you nailed kids with guns on the first offense and nailing the revolving door of property crimes shut. You don't and yet you push for crap laws like this that only serve to harass gun owners.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    Lawmakers in the state House are moving ahead with a plan to expand background checks to private gun sales.
    February 19, 2013 2:04 pm
    YES! "Your hand" has a headache. We have to go to plan B.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • CH wrote...
    Senate panel flexes muscle, blocks gun bills
    February 22, 2013 4:03 pm
    time to order body bags for your kids. Thanks Sen. Pam Roach, a Republican lawmaker.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }