Category: Law

  • Expungement of Convictions, Gun Rights & Criminal Defense in Spokane, Washington

    Restoration of Gun Rights.

    As a Spokane Criminal Defense attorney, Mark Knapp often gets calls regarding restoration of gun rights, expungement and the right to possess firearms under Washington state law. In Washington state, expungement does not restore the right to possess firearms. A Petition to Restore the Right to Possess Firearms is the procedure that is required pursuant to RCW 9.41.040.

    Since 1993, the Law Firm of Mark Knapp PLLC has specialized in NFA Gun Trusts and working with courts to restore clients’ right to possess firearms in Washington.

    See Press Release from Top Attorneys of North America.

    Washington State Firearms Attorney.

    We have been focused on gun rights for the last fifteen years. With 32 years of practicing law, we know how to navigate the many pitfalls and potential problems that arise in the process of restoring gun rights. Although some situations seem simple, it is best to have an attorney handling your case that focuses on firearms issues and restoration of gun rights.

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  • Gray Men & Patriots

    Being a Spokane area Firearms Lawyer who shoots with many folks from law enforcement and military backgrounds, I am acquainted with a few people in law enforcement. As the political and legal environment becomes more hostile to law enforcement officers, it has become apparent to me that cops and armed citizens need to look out for each other.

    I told one law enforcement acquaintance that the John Birch Society is a good source of information with which to study the vast influence of the Council on Foreign Relations. CFR members occupy key roles in the corporate, academic and media-political complex. The CFR’s elite members constitute a virtual hiring hall for government, military, the most well endowed tax-exempt foundations and law enforcement at the federal and international levels.

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  • Make Straight the Highway

    Make Straight the Highway

    Jesus proclaimed that John the Baptist was the greatest Prophet:

    “Verily I say unto you, Among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force (lay claim to it).”

    Matthew 11:10

    Isaiah prophesied concerning John:

    “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”

     Isaiah 40:3

    There is an ancient highway that still runs from Egypt to Syria and modern day Iraq, the former seat of the Babylonian Empire. The highway has always been strategic because any governmental power seeking dominion over those regions needs the access the highway provides for armies to travel through Israel.

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  • Journalists Need to Explain How the Second Amendment Keeps Everyone More Safe

    “Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, rebuke and expose them.”

    Ephesians 5: 11

    The Philippines is just one of the many countries worldwide where journalists, lawyers and judges are slain and their killers go free. Mexico is also very dangerous for anyone that reports on the cartels and the cartels routinely eliminate large numbers of police officers within any city where the authorities take a stand against cartel domination. Mexico is a nation where almost every firearm in the hands of its own people is illegal.

    Even Mexican police officers are often disarmed when off duty because so many of them have been involved in the murder, rape and slavery perpetrated by the cartels across whole regions. So can the Philippines learn anything from Mexico?

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  • Proposed Uniform School Marshals Legislation for Washington & Other Statesy

    School Marshals—Training Standards—Certification—Immunity from Liability.

    The following discussion includes certain draft proposals that we are proposing as uniform School Marshal legislation for all the states to consider. The language is cast in terms of Washington state but provides a template that can easily be adapted to other states. The advantage of providing training programs that are standardized as much as possible is in the potential growth of  state-of-the-art multistate training facilities that will benefit from economies of scale by training and certifying School Marshals from across whole regions.

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  • Implementing the Law Enforcement Officers’ Safety Act

    RE: OPINION LETTER RELATING TO IMPLEMENTATION OF
    LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS’ SAFETY ACT

    I. PURPOSE

    The following opinion answers questions related to questions raised by the WASPC as to whether a municipal law enforcement agency exposes itself to additional liability by certifying retired law enforcement officers as having met Criminal Justice Training Commission standards for firearms qualification. The purpose of the LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS’ SAFETY ACT OF 2004 (18 U.S.C. Sec. 926B and 926C) is to supplement active law enforcement personnel in order to deter crime and prevent terrorist activity. The federal law accomplishes this by anticipating that additional armed law enforcement personnel that have already been trained will be present within each jurisdiction as officers travel from one jurisdiction to another while on business, vacationing or for any other reason. (more…)

  • Use of Deadly Force: the Unarmed Assailant

    Shooting 1971 Summary.    The following is a summary of information presented by one of our members at our monthly Action Training Group meeting in July. The purpose of the presentation in Spokane Valley was to initiate discussion about self-defense issues so we can start creating Reality Based scenarios that develop situational awareness for armed citizens, church safety teams and law enforcement personnel in the Spokane and North Idaho areas.  Criminal defense attorneys & civil practitioners also need to understand the dynamics of what actually occurs during the decision making process under high stress situations. (more…)

  • Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act (LEOSA) & the Air Force

    Purpose. Certain law enforcement officers who work for the Air Force, have requested that the Law Office of Mark Knapp draft an Opinion Letter analyzing issues related to Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act (LEOSA) Identification set forth below. The officers have indicated that they have been treated differently than other DOD and Air Force employees and that LEOs and their families are endangered thereby.

    Facts. Law enforcement members of the 375th Security Forces Squadron have raised certain issues pertaining to the Qualified Law Enforcement Officer Identification cards. The LEOS asserted that their right to carry a weapon off duty is being violated by Air Force policy. One grievance has been filed via the officers’ collective bargaining representative which is National Association of Independent Labor (NAIL) Local 19. The grievance raised issues under the Second Amendment and Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act (LEOSA) of 2004 and as amended in 2008. (more…)

  • Spokane Church & Action Training Group: Use of Force to Detain

    On June 5, 2017, several members of the Action Training Group, Inc. met at Genesis Church in Spokane to discuss church security, use of force to detain and citizen’s arrest laws for church safety teams in Washington state. Rustin Rathbun, presented the information for the Genesis Safety Team and the ATG. A good discussion of Washington law followed. We had some very informative discussion as to when Church Safety teams are permitted by law to detain individuals who commit crimes on church premises.

    The following points are from my notes and include several conclusions reached by my own independent research and conclusions. The conclusions herein are my own and should not be construed as legal advice. The facts of each specific situation dictate a very wide range of different legal outcomes.

    The starting point for church safety teams is that even though a team of volunteers is not licensed to perform professional security operations, the church itself comes under the laws that pertain to shopkeepers. (more…)

  • The Beef in Your Marketing Arsenal?

    The LAW OFFICE OF MARK KNAPP provides NFA Gun Trusts, protects the gun rights of individuals and represents those who are charged with crimes in the State of Washington; i.e., criminal defense work. We have also been very involved in forming and promoting the Action Training Group in North Idaho and the greater Spokane area.

    Attorney Mark Knapp, who is running for Federal Way Municipal Court judge, enjoys a coffee in the Commons Mall parking lot while taking a client’s call on his Blackberry. Photo by Seth Bynum

    I just finished reading Chapter 3 of Guerilla Marketing, by Jay Conrad Levinson. I am not done reading the book but was invited to talk about the 16 Secrets of Guerilla Marketing at a meeting of Heart of Business in Coeur d’Alene. (more…)