Category: Law

  • Guns & Bibles: Protecting Children in Schools

    “ To hear the ensuing debate about arming teachers and principals and security guards, I just want to go on the record with the board in saying I think that is one of the most irresponsible positions to take in this gun discussion.”

    This what a Superintendent of schools stated after the Sandy Hook school shootings several years ago.

    “I hate this conversation, I hate that it’s a necessary evil. What happened in Newtown…is just horrible. And having young children at home, and sitting and watching the TV, and seeing those photos with the names being called…with your children in the room, looking at the TV, and looking at you, and you’re fighting back the tears. You’re so thankful they’re sitting in that living room with you, and you’re not one of those parents. I can’t imagine what those parents feel like.” (more…)

  • How I Came To Be The Firearms Lawyer

    Now that we have called local citizens to join us in our new training group, I want to tell about myself and what we are doing. Over ten local leaders met a few weeks ago in Liberty Lake and we now have events scheduled for 4:00 PM, every 3rd Thursday of the month at the Fernan Rod & Gun Club. (more…)

  • Veterans Administration: Obama Administration’s Strategy for Stripping Vets of Gun Rights?

    It is now widely known that veterans that receive VA checks via protective payees are to be stripped of their gun rights.  There are many reasons that a veteran may have someone receiving their paychecks.  The mere inability to handle financial affairs does not indicate that veterans are a threat to themselves or others and should not possess firearms.

    Also, contrary to denials, a medical provider at the VA only has to report to the NICS that there is a mental health issue- such as suicidal thoughts- and veterans rights are being taken away without the benefit of a hearing or any due process. Although there is a procedure to get rights restored after a NICS prohibition, the process can become a Kafkaesque descent into bureaucratic-legal hell!

  • BATF & Poorly Written NFA Gun Trust

    David Goldman attended the NRA Firearms Law Seminar in Nashville. David pioneered the NFA Gun Trust. He tells us that BATF ‘s attorney, William Ryan, made some interesting comments about the ATF, NFA, Gun Control Act and Gun Trusts: (more…)

  • I-594 and NFA Gun Trusts

    It is too early to know whether a gun trust will provide any protection from charges of violating I-594. The initiative does not provide any exception for temporary sharing of firearms with trustees named in an NFA Gun Trust. The federal exception for temporary transfers of NFA restricted items to trustees has been promulgated administratively by the BATF and is not binding on Washington State. (more…)

  • NICS Reverses Stand on Gun Rights for Domestic Violence Convictions in Washington

    We will represent you in petitioning the court to restore your right to own firearms. At the present time, the federal government no longer considers a Washington State Fourth Degree Assault (DV) to be a prohibiting conviction. This a complete reversal because, up until a few months ago, the NICS would not recognize restoration of rights for non-felony domestic violence convictions entered in Washington State!

    If you have a conviction in Washington, however, you still need to get your rights restored because you are prohibited from possessing firearms under state law. Nevertheless, this is very good news and applies even to people that have been previously denied for Assault 4 convictions in the past. The requirement is to have at least three years from the date the conviction was entered for domestic violence cases and five years for felony convictions. (more…)

  • I-594: Beware of Wolves in Billionaire’s Clothing

    Initiative 594 is a proposed measure that its proponents claim will prevent mentally ill and other prohibited persons from obtaining firearms.

    The campaign is being financed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Bill Gates, Nick Hanauer, Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer along with other leftist Billionaires. The anti-gun Bloomberg’s “grassroots” organization Everytown For Gun Safety filings with the Public Disclosure Commission reveal a $50 million action fund to support I-594.

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  • FBI Clears Way for Restoration of Gun Rights After DV Conviction in Washington State

    Until recently, anyone that had been convicted of a Fourth Degree Assault determined to be domestic violence in Washington State was in a tough position because the NICS did not recognize a Restoration of Rights for Washington state non-felony domestic violence convictions. State and federal laws on the subject of domestic violence and gun rights are very technical and you should schedule a legal consultation in order to look carefully at any convictions that you think resulted from allegations of domestic violence.

    Many Washington State citizens with misdemeanor DV convictions who had their right to possess firearms restored were getting NICS denials. The intent of Congress has long been that a state court order restoring firearm rights should remove federal prohibitions on possessing firearms. (more…)

  • NICS Reverses Stand on Gun Rights for Domestic Violence Convictions in Washington

    The FBI-NICS no longer issues denials for most non-felony convictions for domestic violence entered in Washington State. This is based on the 2013 case of Descamps v U.S. Up until recently, anyone that had been convicted of a Fourth Degree Assault determined to be domestic violence in Washington State was in a tough position because the NICS did not recognize a Restoration of Rights for Washington state non-felony domestic violence convictions. State and federal laws on the subject of domestic violence and gun rights are very technical and you should schedule a legal consultation in order to look carefully at any convictions that you think resulted from allegations of domestic violence.

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  • About Mark Knapp

    Our firm advocates for the Second Amendment and strict compliance with Washington’s firearms preemption statute whenever an opportunity presents itself. When attorneys for various municipalities around Washington State issued legal opinions that RCW 9.41.290 “only applied to the regulation of firearms themselves” and excluded regulations that only secondarily affect firearms, many law firms and the Second Amendment Foundation took action. The Washington State Attorney General’s Office had already issued a legal opinion that thoroughly rebuts such opinions based on Cherry v Metro and another case that dealt with certain narrow issues applied to a venue for a gun show leased from the City of Sequim, Washington.

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