Last year three armed men followed a woman in her 60s into her garage when she was returning home to her home in Seattle. The robbers stole her jewelry and car keys in broad daylight.

The day before that robbery, a man was harassing other passengers on a Metro bus.He began arguing, pushing and kicking one of the passengers. The victim tried to ignore the assault. Then a woman that was with the assailant began hitting some of the victim’s family members. The victim defended himself and his family. The assailant allegedly stabbed the victim and caused him to endure a short stay in the hospital.

Earlier the same week, an armed contractor with a CPL arrived at a home on the North End of Tacoma and saw a vehicle in the driveway. The contractor arrived shortly after 11 a.m. and saw household goods, including a television and weapons, in the driveway. The contractor was armed and blocked the driveway with his truck. The burglar walked out, saw the pickup truck blocking the driveway and decided that the best way to get away was to ram the truck with his minivan.

After the contractor fired one shot that wounded the suspect, the police apprehended the alleged burglar, 32, and took him to Tacoma General Hospital for treatment and criminal charges. In Tacoma during 2011 Jamarr Johnson, 19, died when he unlawfully entered a home and the homeowner shot Jamarr dead through a door.

The following month, a homeowner shot Anthony Len McDougald, 36, when Anthony and another man broke into a home on South D Street. The homeowner confronted the two inside his garage, they charged and the homeowner shot them. The other assailant was only injured. And within about a month, a Tacoma police officer shot and injured a suspected burglar after a confrontation outside a South Tacoma home where the man had crashed his car.

Most of these armed citizens took the risk of being prosecuted or branded as vigilantes, possibly even as racist, like George Zimmerman in Florida. Contrary to the perception fostered by certain parties, full investigations have been ongoing and only reckless disregard for public safety would cause anyone to go around giving opinions as to what happened in Sanford, Florida between Mr. Martin and Mr. Zimmerman. Nevertheless, many of the so-called facts appear quite different than initial media reports caused many to believe.

When you are confronted by a serious possibility of death or grave bodily harm, the risk is worth taking. All these armed citizens are likely to have experienced some kind of intense trauma, just like the syndrome normally experienced by police officers in similar situations. Such individuals are not going to be applauded; nor will they be held in high regard by their neighbors.

And the Spring of 2012 seems to promise another year in which citizens are overcoming chaos. One intruder was shot dead during a home invasion in Puyallup involving three men and a woman .

The police determined that the homeowner, a retired police officer, was threatened with deadly force in his home. One of the attackers was brandishing a crowbar. The homeowner was justified in using deadly force, the police said, when he suddenly found himself confronting two men in his hallway after he heard pounding on his door.

Two of the suspects are in custody and the homeowner probably wounded another member of the gang, Joshua Baker, who escaped and is still at large.

It seems worth noting that, had the homeowner been subject to a duty to retreat, he might have been in some kind of legal jeopardy (and vulnerable to being brained from behind with the crowbar) for “standing his ground“. Florida used to be a state that required a victim to retreat if possible, before deploying deadly force. Stand Your Ground laws have been a hot topic in the news lately.

Another recent justified shooting occurred in North Bend. The King County Sheriff’s Office reported that a 30 year old North Bend man was shot and killed after he broke into a couple’s home:

A couple had been sleeping when they woke up to the sound of glass breaking. The suspect had broken the rear sliding glass door, entered the house and then started “trashing the house.” The couple, a 46 year old man and his girlfriend, hid in a bedroom as they talked to the 911 operator.

The suspect was yelling, “Where are you? I’m going to kill you!” The man living at the home retrieved a handgun from his nightstand and yelled numerous times, “I have a pistol. Get out of my house!” The couple locked themselves in a bedroom as they continued to hear the suspect ransack the house and yell that he was coming after them.

After the suspect kicked down the couple’s bedroom door, the homeowner shot him and deputies found the suspect, who was not known by the couple, dead outside of the bedroom.

Almost the same day, Bonney Lake and Gig Harbor saw two attempted home invasions involving armed citizens protecting themselves from home invasions. In Bonney Lake, a homeowner heard someone kicking the door, grabbed a shotgun and confronted the intruder. The suspect took off in a pickup truck.

In the other attempted home invasion in Gig Harbor, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said two teenagers tried to get in through a doggie door. The woman, at home alone, grabbed a gun and showed it to the teens. The kids took off.

Dave Workman reports that:

A check with the Department of Licensing Thursday revealed that a new record number of Concealed Pistol Licenses are now active in Washington. As of Thursday morning, 357,782 CPLs are now in circulation. March showed a stunning volume of activity, according to a DOL source, with some 12,000 renewals, first-time applications and replacements being processed.

Each one of us has to decide how to deal with the risk of becoming a victim of violence. Many adults of all ages all around the U.S.- including many women- have decided to make a firearm part of their personal protection plan. While weighing the facts, keep in mind that statistics about people that have been killed with firearms can be deceptive when it comes to identifying the circumstances of the deaths.

How many of the victims of gun violence, reported in supposedly scientific studies of gun violence and published as statistical evidence in the mainstream news, have died by suicide or while engaging in deadly assaults against innocent people?

They all deserve our sympathy to varying degrees, but what if it is a choice between you and a suspect that decides that your family will be his next victims? To willingly surrender the means to protect yourself and your loved ones is a step toward suicide that violates the core principle of providing for one’s own.

Most Americans understand the reality of what we are discussing herein and that is why so many are becoming licensed to carry. Some of the worse instances of violence are barely reported by the media.

Many families are choosing to get trained at professional schools for armed citizens. The Armed Defense Training Association is not a school but we are already bringing quality trainers and armed citizens together in Federal Way and at local ranges.

We are also providing regular opportunities to practice what we are learning with methods that are geared toward the reality of home defense and what can happen when we leave our homes in a world that is getting more dangerous every day.

The Armed Defense Training Association (ADTA) is exploring ways to work with many of the existing ranges in the area — and the new ranges — in order to encourage all community members to work together in fostering responsible and productive shooting events, including safety and training. We even hope to sponsor and organize various shooting competitions.

Plan to attend a special program by the ADTA at 6:30 p.m. May 3. The free public meeting will be held at Genesis Realty, 32014 32nd Ave. S. in Federal Way. Guest speaker will be FWPD Cmdr. Kyle Sumpter, our local “Top Shot” contestant. Sumpter is responsible for FWPD firearms training. He will be speaking on his experience as a competitor on “Top Shot,” which airs Tuesdays on The History Channel. It could be informative to ask Sumpter how a new Federal Way shooting range may impact Federal Way police training activities.

Anti-gun groups and politicians regularly exploit accidents involving children and guns. For example, anti-gun state Senator Adam Kline (D-37) and two other state Senators were primed and ready to propose new legislation (SB 6628)immediately following the incident in which a nine-year old boy recently brought a gun to a Bremerton elementary school. The gun accidentally discharged resulting in another student suffering serious gunshot wounds. Saul Alinsky was the Chicago radical that urged his fellow Socialists to exploit every crisis in order to advance the cause of total government control.

Unfortunately, subsequent events have transpired since the tragedy in Bremerton that seem to indicate that parents are leaving guns around where their kids can find them. While people all over the state were still discussing the Bremerton school incident, an off-duty Marysville police Officer parked his van near Stanwood City Hall.

The officer’s son, left alone in the vehicle, found the officer’s gun in the glove compartment and shot his 7-year-old sister. The girl died from her injuries. So much for the idea that law enforcement officers are more trustworthy when it comes to firearms responsibility!

To make things worse, a 3-year-old boy fatally shot himself with a gun he found in the family car while his family stopped for gas in Tacoma. The mom’s boyfriend put a pistol under the seat of the car and got out to pump gas while the mom went into the convenience store, leaving the boy and his baby sister in the car. The boy climbed out of his child seat, fished out the gun from under the seat and shot himself in the head.

Whenever episodes of gun mayhem get play in the media, Sen. Kline usually finds his way into the news. In the past, he has proposed new state laws prohibiting certain kinds of rifles that he thinks are too much like military weapons.

Despite the fact that the Founding Fathers exhorted Americans that preparing Americans to use militarily useful weapons was their objective when drafting the Second Amendment, Adam Kline wants to ban guns that seem scary; i.e., most guns- if the truth be known.

Kline’s newly proposed SB 6628 would now provide new language to the existing RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT statute making it a crime to let a child obtain access to a loaded firearm. The trouble is that prosecutors already utilize Washington State’s RECKLESS ENDANGERMENT statute to prosecute folks that leave guns in places where children are likely to get hold of them. The “new” provision contains no new penalties and is apparently window dressing to make Kline look like he is doing something about a problem that may not even exist.

While fatal firearm accidents are at an all-time low, poisoning, suffocation and choking on small objects cause many more accidental deaths to children than firearms. In fact, about one accidental firearm death of a child each year is typical in our state, according to state health statistics gathered between 2007 and 2010.

The biggest question about the recent spate of gun accidents is why folks obtain concealed pistol licenses and then leave their guns behind when going about in public. That one time that you are outside your vehicle pumping gas could just be the time that you need the weapon.

But even if you never need to protect yourself or your family, the best way to keep a pistol out of reach of children is to have it on your person. Otherwise, it should be unloaded and properly stored.

A Seattle anti-gun advocacy group is placing signs on buses to persuade Seattle residents and commuters that gun ownership is more dangerous to family members or loved ones than it will be to a predatory criminal. The Washington State Supreme Court has consistently championed firearms rights and the right to self-defense is deeply engrained in our state’s laws, including numerous case law precedents. Adam Kline, on the other hand, is reportedly a former radical and still seems to favor governmental solutions over individual responsibility.

I am constantly amazed when I hear the children of the Sixties railing against gun ownership. These are often the very folks that went around U.S. campuses inveighing against capitalism and chanting, “All political power comes from the barrel of a gun!” Chairman Mao, the tyrant that cheerfully murdered over 60 million of his fellow Chinese citizens, coined that catchy little dictum.

After he marched across China and took control, the first thing Mao did was ban guns, depriving the people under his control from possessing the means to defend themselves against numerous Maoist purges. But, notwithstanding the fact that all tyrants ban possession of firearms by their own citizens, lock up your guns when you are not using them! And keep firearms out of the hands of unsupervised children.

Range time on TV: Root for local ‘Top Shot’ contestant | Firearms Lawyer

By MARK KNAPP

Republished with permission from the Federal Way Mirror
The Firearms Lawyer
February 3, 2012

Television programs that feature weapons and shooting technology are becoming very popular.

One of my favorites is “Wednesday Night at the Range” on the Outdoor Channel — actually several different programs about self defense, competition shooting and the history of firearms.

Then on Tuesday evenings at 10:00 PM Pacific Time on the History Channel there is Top Shot. The program has matches in which top military, law enforcement and competitive shooters compete with everything from antique pistols to .50-caliber sniper rifles and machine guns.

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Sometimes they even throw rocks or tomahawks and shoot crossbows and other primitive weapons.

Just getting selected as a “Top Shot” participant requires candidates to compete against men and women that are highly ranked in various shooting disciplines. Most are experts with a certain kind of pistol or rifle. It takes the ability to master whatever weapon is at hand in order to be successful on the show.

Federal Way Police Department’s Cmdr. Kyle Sumpter recently cleared all the initial hurdles and went on to compete in a series of “Top Shot” episodes in Santa Clarita, Calif. Sumpter supervises firearms training for Federal Way police officers and previously headed up Valley SWAT, the largest SWAT agency in the state. Although Sumpter has already completed the “Top Shot” competition, not even Chief Brian Wilson knows the results. Sumpter knows how he did, but the results will be a secret until the episodes air this spring (season starts Feb. 14).

My occasional talks with Cmdr. Kyle Sumpter, mostly by phone, have me looking forward to seeing him on and off the range. You don’t have to talk to him for long to realize that Sumpter is dedicated to the craft of shooting and that he is the kind of honest, straight talking professional that makes him worth paying attention to. That is why the Federal Way Police Department has him in charge of training officers.

Some of my best memories growing up are of watching Westerns on television with my dad. There was more to some of the programs than just bullets being thrown back and forth by men on horseback. Greatness of character and decency could often be discerned in some of the really good shows.

Of course, a gun itself is not somehow a mark of excellent character — or even being good with a gun. It takes courage to face the people in society that are organized against decency. Sometimes it takes a whole lot of character just to figure out who the good guys and the bad guys are.

I don’t know whether kids think about stuff like that today or not. But get your son or daughter to watch “Top Shot” with you this spring. If you want your kids to see one of the good guys who keep Federal Way safe, and learn something about why America is great, you will not be disappointed.

This year, the day after Thanksgiving saw Americans finally getting back to the business Americans love: Shopping!

FBI statistics show that a new record was set during that one Friday for background check requests from gun buyers. There were 129,166 requests to the NICS. That was a third more than the previous all-time record of 97,848 on Black Friday 2008. On Black Friday last year, there were 87,061 requests.

Some of the buyers believe that stockpiling guns is a better way to prepare for hard times than gold. Nevertheless, many of those shopping for guns at several gun stores in the Federal Way area were almost certainly women purchasing guns for their own protection.

Federal Way’s local Armed Defense Training Association has been in contact with an instructor named Jennie at Rivendell Sales and Consulting in Kent. Jennie teaches women how to shoot. She owns and operates a store that markets to women who shoot.

I asked her what ladies need to know when they first decide to buy a gun. The first consideration, she stated, is not to let someone at a gun shop — or a well-meaning significant other — sell you a small gun that “you shoot once, it hurts and you put it away.”

Jennie said a woman needs her own gun that fits. “I have seen too many ladies with a gun that does not fit their hand, one that is too large a caliber for a beginner, or they are told at some gun shop that the itty-bitty gun is just the one for them. The gun that does not fit you right just goes unused and sits on a shelf.”

Jennie encourages her students to consciously make the decision to defend their own life. “If you are killed or severely injured, how will your family function without you?”

Of course, hardly anyone ever actually states that his or her own life is not worth defending. But, despite all the philosophical and political arguments, take the steps to get trained and actually get a gun into your hands. This demonstrates that you are prepared to fight back.

Jennie demystifies the “danger” of guns. She told me, “I have seen many ladies not even sure they want to touch a gun. Her students learn quickly that a gun does not go off by itself. Once a woman realizes that she can effectively and safely operate the efficient little safety device, fear goes away and smiles start to appear.”

However, too many women take a beginner class and think that they are ready to go out on the street and deal with all the legal, physical and emotional things that go with armed self-defense.

“In order to carry for self-defense, you have to make the commitment to train and practice,” Jennie explains. “Training generally teaches you a skill and how to practice that skill; practice needs to continue on a regular basis.” Jennie recommends competition to test skills, keep skills sharp and make training interesting and fun.

“The holster that fits a slim man will usually not work for a curvy lady.” Men behind the gun counter, who have absolutely no idea what a lady needs for shooting gear, are the reason why Jennie became an instructor and opened her gun shop. Apparently, in the world of women’s self-defense, most of the old wives’ tales are perpetuated by men.

According to John Lott, the longer “shall issue” laws (such as Washington’s concealed carry law that requires a permit to issue within thirty days) are in place in a state, the more effective they are. In the period studied, for every five years a shall-issue law was in place, murder rates dropped by at least 15 percent, robberies by 11 percent and rapes by 9 percent. The benefits of concealed-carry laws for women are especially striking. According to Lott’s research, one additional woman carrying a concealed handgun reduces the murder rate for women by about three to four times more than one additional man carrying a concealed handgun reduces the murder rate for men.

According to LAUREL S. BARTON, a guest columnist in the Seattle PI:

Most people will be horrified and will fail to ask the crucial, underlying question: How many of those guns were purchased legally? After all, laws will affect guns legally acquired, not those from secondary sources. The answer: 15 percent of guns used in crimes are legally obtained. That leaves 85 percent unaffected by changes to gun control laws.

The number of crimes prevented by firearms based on incidents reported to the police nationwide is roughly 64,615 yearly; the estimate can jump as high as 2.45 million if one factors in unreported cases. Compare those numbers to 30,000 gun-related deaths yearly and one can see the difference is, at the very least, 34,000 people saved by guns.

According to an article in the Detroit News a few years ago, Americans own more than 200 million firearms, more than 60 million of which are handguns (National Institute of Justice statistics):

“Figures vary widely about the gender breakdown of ownership, but federal statistics claim 9 percent of women own guns.”

Brian Anse Patrick, a professor at the University of Toledo who studies gun culture, has observed that, as concealed carry permits are becoming more available due to rapidly changing laws in many states, the issue of concealed carry has become mainstream and more women are carrying:

“Before the CCW laws were liberalized, the people getting trained traditionally in gun culture were the old white guys,” Patrick said. “But after (2001) women said, ‘I am a woman and at risk and it’s a pretty sensible thing to do.‘”

In Colorado, a woman named Jeanne Assam, was thrown right into the path of a mad-dog killer:

Amid deafening cracks of gunfire, smoke-spewing canisters and the flight of thousands of New Life Church members, Jeanne Assam said she suddenly saw the hallways clear and a gunman come through the door.

“I took cover. I identified myself. I engaged him. I took him down,” the 42-year-old former law officer and volunteer church security guard said Monday at a news conference in the Colorado Springs police station.

The armed attacker invading the church was carrying two handguns, an assault rifle and over 1,000 rounds of ammunition, said Sgt. Jeff Johnson of the Colorado Springs Police Department.

See also Michelle Malkin “Feminization of Gun Debate.”

“Generally a lot of women are out alone at night and they just want to feel like they have that level of protection. There are also a lot of single moms who feel it is important to protect their family and their kids in that regard.”

If you are a woman or man that has questions, comments or additional information, including statistics pertaining to concealed carry permits issued in the Seattle-Tacoma area you should send us an e-mail at knapp.m@comcast.net.

The internet has made it possible for average citizens to plunge into cyberspace and learn the secrets of the Matrix by obtaining information about our local communities that was never available in the past. Until recently, most Federal Way news was from two Federal Way newspapers and Seattle and Tacoma news outlets that focused on Seattle and Tacoma stories.

The modern Matrix of social media, websites and online forums empowers every citizen with an interest in journalism to deliver news to an audience potentially as huge as that of the Seattle Times. Citizen journalists may not be able to deliver the news to a reader’s doorstep but we can do even better! Thanks to the Matrix, activists, community organizers and agents of change can deliver the news to your cell phone and even right to the top of your desk!

The town of Vernon, New Jersey is an interesting example of the powerful potential for change presented by the internet. Vernon’s town government operated like Federal Way did not so long ago under a “council-manager” government. The city council, not the people, elected the mayor.

The result in Vernon was that corruption in Vernon became so bad that the citizens issued a declaration of independence. The solution that led to reform in Vernon’s government was for the people to elect a strong, honest mayor! The change was initiated by a local online newspaper named THE REVERED REVIEW.

Another catalyst for change is social networking media such as Twitter. Chris Carrel, the Communications Coordinator for our Federal Way government, recently told me that social media is an incredibly interesting area to explore because of the opportunity for 2-way communication. The City is cautiously moving forward with a plan to interact with Federal Way residents by launching a Facebook page and Twitter stream that Mr. Carrel will manage for the City.

Chris told me that the project is a 1-year pilot project, with an eye towards measuring the City’s ability to build an audience and the effectiveness of the new tools in communicating with the public. City departments will forward messages, news and photos to Chris to post or tweet. The Community Center will have also have a sub-page on Facebook. Other departments have the option during the pilot period to undertake their own Facebook page or Twitter stream.

Just as in Matrix- the movie- the Social Media Matrix contains the potential for creating destructive phenomenon like the flash mobs now being utilized for robbery, looting and to foment chaos. It has become critical for law enforcement to understand the potential of social media for enabling criminal activity like we saw in London. But it is also critical for law enforcement to understand how to utilize social media proactively to prevent violence.

Federal Way Police Department may want to consider the option of utilizing social media for 2-way communication with the community. During the London riots that spread to other English towns and cities, the police utilized Twitter and other social media to follow up on rumors and prevent the rampant speculation that occurs when whole neighborhoods are burned and homes and shops invaded by gangs of thugs.

According to Mark Payne, a Superintendent with the West Midlands Police, England’s TV channels were publishing banner headlines directly from his tweets. The Superintendant stated that he gained 5000 extra followers within 24 hours after the riots started. Payne provided advice worth passing on to the community and especially to the FWPD.

You need to understand what you are doing and develop a follower base so people start to trust your voice on a daily basis and turn to you for information in a crisis. Be brave –the benefits of using social media outweigh the potential pitfalls. One of the benefits of social media is that there are already networks of engaged citizens in Federal Way just waiting to talk to law enforcement.

FWPD can answer the public’s questions and promote established principles of community policing with Twitter and Facebook. Encourage individual officers to engage through social media. Twitter and other social media can add a personal dimension to a local officer that used to be more common when officers always walked their daily beats in the same part of town.

When local government officials and concerned citizens get involved on a local basis, the big media news outlets will also be impacted. Social media can help to reassure people and dispel rumors during emergencies. By sharing news locally, every citizen of Federal Way can now impact our community and the nation- even the world- by engaging in honest communication and dialogue at a local level.

Reprinted from King County Bar Association Bar Bulletin (September, 2011).

I read KCBA President Joe Bringman’s message in the Bar Bulletin (August, 2011 President’s Page). Many lawyers have the impression that the KCBA is taking political positions that conflict with the conservative principles which animate more than a few lawyers. The President’s comments related to state preemption of local gun control efforts might be commendable as an opinion piece or an expression of his personal opinion. Nevertheless, the fact that he was writing as President to KCBA members raises the issue of whether the President’s Page is an appropriate venue from which to advocate taking a questionable position regarding RCW 9.41.290.

Consider how many lawyers and even judges have CPLs and ask how those of us that “bear arms” as a normal part of our daily routine would be able to navigate our way down the freeway if we have to research the laws of every municipality into which we enter. If it is a challenge for lawyers that are experts when it comes to legal research then what about the non-lawyer that chooses to carry? If judges and lawyers adopt the approach that each man or woman that bears arms also bears the risks of running afoul of a patchwork of confusing laws, the chilling effect will hobble any meaningful exercise of our rights under the U.S. Constitution and SECTION 24 of the Washington State Constitution:

RIGHT TO BEAR ARMS. The right of the individual citizen to bear arms in defense of himself, or the state, shall not be impaired, but nothing in this section shall be construed as authorizing individuals or corporations to organize, maintain or employ an armed body of men.

If I go to a park in Seattle using public transportation would I check my gun in with the driver before I get on the bus? If I am walking around Seattle, will the City provide a lock box outside each entrance to a city park the way the courts are required to do by statute? And what about when I park in a municipally owner parking while stopping in a city that has decided to enact legislation prohibiting firearms in vehicles parked in municipal parking lots? The unpredictability and chaos will lead to utter disrespect for the law.

The impact of any potential modification concerning RCW 9.41.290 collides with common sense Local governments are not best situated to determine how to ensure the safety of their citizens. Local lawmakers react to local political pressures often without considering ramifications that involve travelers, visitors and business people that may be carrying large amounts of money with no place to safely store a weapon when they enter an area that restricts firearms. Many states have similar preemption laws and are safer than cities like Chicago where most residents have been prohibited from keeping guns- even in their homes- and the murder rate is out of control. Enacting the President’s proposals for Washington State would create legal chaos and make us less safe!

RCW 9.41.290 states:

The state of Washington hereby fully occupies and preempts the entire field of firearms regulation within the boundaries of the state, including the registration, licensing, possession, purchase, sale, acquisition, transfer, discharge, and transportation of firearms, or any other element relating to firearms or parts thereof, including ammunition and reloader components. Cities, towns, and counties or other municipalities may enact only those laws and ordinances relating to firearms that are specifically authorized by state law, as in RCW 9.41.300, and are consistent with this chapter. Such local ordinances shall have the same penalty as provided for by state law. Local laws and ordinances that are inconsistent with, more restrictive than, or exceed the requirements of state law shall not be enacted and are preempted and repealed, regardless of the nature of the code, charter, or home rule status of such city, town, county, or municipality.

Given the harm all too frequently associated with statist theoreticians, it’s time that we ask whether the benefits provided by our state’s firearms preemption law outweigh any short term political advantages to be gained by modifying state law.

A few years back, the Bar Bulletin published a great article entitled PRYING THE SECOND AMENDMENT’S MEANING FROM THE FOUNDERS’ COLD DEAD HANDS. The well written legal analysis of the Second Amendment was written by a young attorney that started out with negative assumptions about the Second Amendment but she discovered that its provisions are actually very meaningful.

There are presently lawsuits pending in Illinois that will almost certainly establish a right to carry a firearm in many public places. The Washington State Constitution is unequivocal in its legal protection for gun owners and those of us that bear arms. Proposals to modify firearms preemption are actually a giant step back to the patch work laws that have worked to completely deprive many people in Illinois from enjoying a right that residents of most states take for granted; i.e., the right to simply possess a firearm within their own homes!

Things have changed a lot since most of us were in law school. One reason to think soberly and clearly about such proposals is because, as lawyers, we are more likely to be threatened with violence than most people. The threats to judges and prosecutors in particular have been escalating according to a study by the Washington State Board for Judicial Administration (BJA).

See article.

There is no evidence that armed citizens are creating a threat by wearing pistols in public places and a concurring opinion in the NORDYKE V KING case (Ninth Circuit, 2009) contained a strong comment as to how effectively the Second Amendment protects Americans from the promiscuous carnage that occurred during the attacks in Mumbai by terrorists armed with automatic rifles. A few guns at the youth camp in Norway could also have saved many lives. An unarmed officer in uniform was one of the victims in the early stages of that attack.

More lawyers should get involved in the full debate about guns. The issues are serious and the public needs the rigorous analysis lawyers can provide on the subject of gun law, not the kind of superficial analyses that politicians and news media often produce.

Terms like homophobia have come to be the accepted nomenclature to describe anyone that opposes a political agenda that is advocated by the mavens of our American media-political complex. Control of the language ensures cultural dominance. For example, opposing government entitlement programs translates into hate for minorities. And many Americans are now convinced that actually enforcing immigration laws indicates fear of people that don’t speak English.

According to my sources, the Yiddish term “maven” became common in political parlance during the 1980s when William Safire, the Conservative mantelpiece at the New York Times, began describing himself as “the language maven“. A maven is someone who has a disproportionate influence on other members of his or her network.

The role of mavens and psycholinguistics in propagating opinion has been well-documented. It may someday become common to read stories in magazines and newspapers about hoplophobia; i.e., morbid fear of guns! The Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation has now moved for a preliminary injunction against the State of Illinois to prevent the state from prohibiting citizens from carrying guns - something allowed in every other state.

Rahm Emanuel wants to avoid adverse court rulings on two pending federal lawsuits challenging Chicago’s ban on gun ranges. The City of Chicago is reluctantly taking steps to perpetuate its systematic hoplophobia by finally allowing gun ranges within its City limits. This seems like a move in the direction but the proposed zoning regulations would contain such severe restrictions that the legal expense alone will discourage most business people from even trying to construct a gun range!

Ranges in Chicago would be confined to areas zoned for manufacturing- but that’s only the beginning. Gun ranges would be prohibited within 1,000 feet of a school, park, place of worship, day care center, liquor store, library, museum, hospital or residential district!

That doesn’t leave too many viable locations. But the Mayor and Chicago’s aldermen are also busy trying to figure out how to make sure that, if any would-be range operators ever do obtain the required special use permits- after a prolonged and difficult public hearing process- no one could leave the range with ammunition purchased there. Did I mention that Illinois is now the only state where carrying of firearms by private citizens is completely prohibited!

Lawyers and historians are very familiar with all the unintended consequences that result from any policy choice. But there may come a time that the citizens of Chicago will look back to when violent crime was rampant in their city’s streets and wonder how they ever submitted to the tyranny of hoplophobic politicians like Rahm Emanuel. Parents all over the U.S. may even tell their children how toy guns could lead to dreadful retribution exacted by school officials under the control of a mental abnormality that once swept over our American ruling class.

Illinois also has a huge spending problem, four modern governors convicted of corruption and a river of blood in its streets. The Second Amendment was written by men that had read about similar times and they called hoplophobia something else- a recipe for tyranny!

Most of our readers recognize that the Federal Way Firearms Lawyer does not merely rant about guns. In fact most of our readership recognizes the column as a source of thought provoking insight into life’s weightier questions. The fact that this column is often a Socratic dialogue that transcends mundane commercial pursuits raises the question, “How can such an inquiry be relevant to the market place in which the need to make a buck is preeminent?”

Understanding the premises of the Firearms Lawyer blog requires unabashed bumper sticker logic starting with the following three precepts:

Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.

When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will own guns.

Gun control means using both hands.

Bumper sticker has been appearing around Seattle regarding the Starbucks Memaid!

Last year the Brady Bunch added to the potential for humor with histrionics about right-wing gun activists seething with threats. One can actually observe Progressive-Liberals like Helmke, Congressman Adam Smith and his beltway twin, Anthony Weiner, exhibiting Histrionic Personality Disorders.

HPD is defined by the American Psychiatric Association as a personality disorder characterized by a pattern of excessive emotionality and attention-seeking, including an excessive need for approval and inappropriately seductive behavior, usually beginning in early adulthood. These individuals are lively, dramatic, enthusiastic, and flirtatious.

They may be inappropriately sexually provocative, express strong emotions with an impressionistic style, and be easily influenced by others. Associated features may include egocentrism, self-indulgence, continuous longing for appreciation, and persistent manipulative behavior to achieve their own needs.

The comments in the Seattle PI’s online publication of our recent column about the Starbucks Mermaid logo with guns demonstrate that there is no joking around when it comes to Progressive sacred cows. According to one online response:

“The vast, overwhelming majority of tyranny in the world’s history is right-wing tyranny. This country fought too hard to defeat Fascism and Nazism to stand by and let their ideological brethren take over this country with flimsy excuses and cheap scare tactics. (Read Mein Kampf to see that Adolf Hitler based the vast majority of National Socialism directly on American conservatism. Fact!)”

It quickly becomes apparent that we aren’t getting comments from the sharpest knives in the PI readership’s drawer. But if the article gets republished enough maybe Congressman Weiner will log in from rehab with one of his smart and clever ripostes. Our own representative in DC is Adam Smith but he is busy studying the polls related to deficit reduction. It would be presumptuous to expect Smith to enter a dialogue that is no laughing matter for Ceasefire, the Brady Campaign and apparently a large number of baristas that would, according to Paul Hemke and company, prefer to ask armed Starbucks customers to leave rather than take a chance on some caffeine inebriated open-carry enthusiast letting off an accidental discharge or worse!

About a year ago, the Brady Campaign warned that “gun rights” activists were also converging on Washington, D.C., seething with threats of right-wing violence. And Conservatives are supposedly so paranoid compared to the smooth-tempered, reasonable libs and homophiles that have been cautiously warning for years that Christians are conspiring with Republicans to establish a Neo-Wagnerian trilogy of religion, guns and fascist repression against hoplophobes and homosexuals.

Of course, the Brady Campaign rejects the “bumper sticker logic” of the gun lobby.

The gun control group called for a new reality-based discussion of guns and violence.

Someone at the Brady Center wrote a book titled “Lethal Logic: Exploding the Myths that Paralyze American Gun Policy”. The author dissected the superficial appeal of bumper sticker logic (e.g., when guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns).

While I don’t normally display bumper stickers, I am convinced that the stickers provide profound sociological data. Which brings us to the question posed herein: What does it mean that the Starbucks lady is now on a bumper sticker carrying a handgun?

In California a few years ago, some folks were offended by fellow coffee drinkers in Starbucks (and other spots) with pistols and revolvers visibly hanging from their hips. Organizations like the Brady Center, which wants to take guns away from the rest of us, demanded that armed customers be prohibited from such publicly “lethal” expressions of free speech.

Some retailers reacted by announcing a “no guns” policy. Starbucks, on the other hand, allowed guns in its stores. The anti-gun groups held demonstrations around the U.S. to try and coerce Starbucks into changing its policy. The demonstrations spread to Seattle and resulted in swarms of reporters, demonstrators and armed caffeine addicts intermingling in an exchange of viewpoints that could have become lethal to Starbucks’ profit and loss statement.

Did the Brady Campaign encourage the bumper stickers in order to shame the coffee chain? Or did the open-carry crowd adopt the image as a means of trumpeting their victory over the progressing forces of tyranny?

There has always been a certain mystery surrounding the Starbucks lady with the star above her head. Her mermaid-like mien is normally encompassed by porpoise tails. Thus, the image of her brandishing a gun could be a shout of indignation against environmentalism — or even a new breed of environmental radicalism?

Maybe she is just a symbol of Seattle rising amid the splendors of an Emerald Sea. The Starbucks logo certainly offers something for everyone.

The next time you visit a Starbucks, thank your favorite barista for keeping us caffeinated and for protecting our First and Second Amendment rights. And give the Starbucks lady the respect she deserves for sticking to her guns!

Christine Gregoire gave the legislature an additional thirty days- starting April 22nd- to produce a two-year state budget and it looks like the law makers finally have a budget after a special session that looked like it was about to go into another overtime. Gov. Gregoire signed three gun bills into law passed by lawmakers during the regular session. HB 1016 allows use of suppressors. Known as silencers, suppressors are common in many other states. Federal law requires some red tape with the BATFE, however. European gun enthusiasts have used silencers for years because it eliminates many of the complaints about noise that plague gun ranges.

HB 1455 deals with where to petition the courts for the right to possess firearms. People previously convicted of certain crimes or involuntarily committed on psychiatric grounds are presently able to petition for their gun rights in any county within the State of Washington. After July 22, 2011, petitioners must file in the county where he or she resides or in the county where the conviction or commitment occurred.

Under SHB 1923, a check with the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) will determine whether individuals can obtain a Concealed Pistol License. Thus, a person with a valid, current CPL issued after July 22nd will not be required to undergo a NICS check when purchasing a firearm from a licensed dealer. But BATFE will have to make a formal determination that the new law meets the federal standard.

The legislative enactment that has gotten the most attention is the legalization of firearms suppressors. Neighboring states like Oregon permit silencers; Washington has permitted possession but not the actual use of a silencer. The BATFE issues tax stamps to gun owners in Washington- as they do in many other states. The stamp costs $200.00 and requires permission from a Chief Law Enforcement Officer; e.g., a Washington sheriff or police chief. The red tape involves a good deal of time and expense to own something that could not be used! Now shooting a round through your silencer in this state will no longer be a crime.

I advise an NFA Gun Trust. Federal law still requires the signature of a chief LEO but an NFA Trust makes the signature unnecessary. I am told that in the Seattle area obtaining the required signature can be problematic. Thus, people wanting to own silencers will now get more benefit from an NFA Trust because they can actually get out and shoot in peace and quiet without going to Oregon or Idaho! You also need to go to other states to own fully automatic weapons. The legislature is unlikely to allow private ownership of full auto weapons very soon, however!

All three of the bills above will take effect on July 22, 2011. Joe Waldron publishes a regular legislative update from which we obtained much of the legislative information above. There has not normally been too much gun legislation enacted in Olympia because the anti-gun legislators have been in a prolonged stalemate with pro-gun law makers. Every session, however, a number of proposed bills- both pro and anti-gun- die a natural death, often without being reported out of committee!

One of the most interesting developments, according to an addendum to the Goal Post for the month of May:

The week before the regular session ended, Rep. Brian Blake (D-19), one of the strongest proponent of our right to keep and bear arms in Olympia, introduced HB 2099. The bill would open the door once again to lawful possession of short-barreled rifles and short-barreled shotguns. The bill was filed too late for consideration in this year’s session, but will be at the top of the stack for 2012.

Up until 1994, there was no restriction on the possession of short-barreled rifles and shotguns in Washington, provided they were possessed in compliance with federal law (just as suppressors are lawfully possessed). Back when Rep. Marlin Appelwick (D-Seattle), and Senators Phil Talmadge (D-Seattle) and Adam Smith (D-Federal Way) were drafting the so-called “Youth Violence Act” (E2SHB 2319), they added a provision banning the possession of these heavily (federally) regulated firearms. There was no good reason for the ban then, nor is there one today. Hopefully the bill will move forward next regular session.

Contact Joe Waldron at jwaldron@halcyon.com.

Saturday, June 25th ADTA Law of Armed Defense Meeting:
Location: Regional Library at 34200 First Way South in Federal Way.

The class is for members, the public and especially for armed citizens interested in knowing more about armed defense of self and others! We will cover Washington laws pertaining to your duty to carry a firearm responsibly and how to deal with the legal decisions ypu will encounter before, during and after an actual defensive encounter in which you are armed with a gun. We will also invite you to join the Armed Defense Training Association at the meeting but we will not pressure anyone. Our nonprofit corporation provides opportunities to participate in shooting activities that develop action shooting and tactical skills.

Since we first raised the issue of a gun range for Federal Way we have had a positive response. Several business leaders are spearheading the newly incorporated Armed Defense Training Association (ADTA). We held our first meeting to answer questions and recruit membership on January 26th, 2011.

Our members pay an annual membership fee that helps provide monthly events at local ranges. The goal is to provide members with opportunities to draw from the holster, shoot on the move from cover and to proceed into more advanced tactical training scenarios. We are negotiating reduced rates for range time and expect to bring in instructors for training in various defense techniques; e.g., weapon retention, pepper spray, knives, etc.

We now have over sixty members, mostly from around Federal Way and encourage people from every background to get involved.

Our goal is to build a range in one of Federal Way’s empty commercial buildings. We raise funds by various events, many of which may be open to the public. These will include hosting seminars with instructors and other speakers. ADTA members will be able to participate in all these events at reduced or no cost.

The number of gun enthusiasts in the Federal Way area includes quite a few active members of service clubs like Rotary, Kiwanis and the Chamber of Commerce. It is not surprising that men and women that volunteer countless hours to their community are also passionate about being ready to “preserve and protect” a community which we are constantly working to improve.

See http://www.armeddefense.org/home.

The benefit of having ADTA members that put serious time and effort into training together will make all of us safer in schools, businesses, churches and anywhere we go during our normal routine. We might even stimulate the economy as the ADTA starts to host bigger events!

Check out what we are doing at http://armeddefense.org. Proper firearms training creates discipline and respect that will enhance public safety. Additionally, there are many new gun owners with recently obtained Concealed Pistol Licenses in King and Pierce Counties. Many states require testing that includes proficiency with your weapon in order to obtain a Concealed Pistol License.

The State of Washington only requires a background check to obtain a CPL but that does not excuse armed citizens from understanding the laws pertaining to keeping and bearing arms. We also need to be prepared for the possibility of stressful tactical situations. Firearms safety will always be emphasized at every level of training. The tax payers will pay nothing and Federal Way will reap all the benefits.

We have made it clear that we welcome Progressives, liberals, Republicans and Democrats- from every religious and political persuasion or no religious persuasion! We will not tolerate anyone that advocates breaking the law, however. Recent events in Tucson show how dangerous it can get when anarchy, rebellion and lawlessness of any sort is tolerated. Join us for safer and more prosperous communities!

Our club is sponsoring training events that are not typically available to the general public.

We’re eager to meet you, answer your questions and hear your ideas.

What is the Armed Defense Training Association?

1. We promote the safe and ongoing development of responsible self-defense skills.

2. We organize regular events (including live-fire, no-fire, interactive demonstrations, seminars, and social outreach events) to build interest in responsible self-defense and to provide training opportunities for individuals to practice and improve their defensive skills and knowledge.

3. We assemble involved, like-minded individuals, that as a group we can explore developing unique resources and facilities (the Shooting Arts Center)

4. We advocate to all individuals to consider their roles as rational, self-determined, law-abiding adults who may someday be required to immediately act in defense of life, either their own or their loved ones.

5. We participate in our communities of family, friends, neighbors, cities, and region, for their growth and health.

E-mail info@ArmedDefense.org for more information