imported post
It's been a busy day for me. I thought I would try to post my perception of how the Snohomish County council hearing wentfor the proposed revision to bring the parks law in compliance with state law. I took the time off from work so I could testify. It wasn't a good day for me to go. My workplace was in crisis mode but attending this hearing was important.
A staff member was first up. He talked about state law, pre-emption and the county law. I was thinking that this guy almost made the whole case for us.
The first two to testify were a couple of nice little old ladies who wanted to keep parks safe for kids. Some of the usual misguided arguments were made. Children and guns don't mix. This isn't the Wild West. Then we started getting into the pro-gun side. Most of us were a little nervous but did a good job making points on why this law should be changed to reflect state law. Many stated their unhappiness with this law. Quite a few shared that they were CHL holders. Some were NRA members.
I was one of the last public speakers to testify. I cited the relevant segment of the RCWs that pertain to this issue as well as article 24 of our state constitution which allows us to "bear" arms in defense of ourselves and the state. Rather than present my pro-gun leanings, I stressed the fact that I was a parent, lived in Snohomish county, had 4 kids,named a couple of parks we have used, indicated friends who had issues in the parksand that I had no problem with anyone who legally possessed a gun in a county park. One of the ladies had talked about how there would be shoot outs in the parks if sports teams had disputes. During my 3 minutes I countered with the safety records of over 200,000 CHL holders in this state.
After the public testimony was taken. The motion was made by Councilman John Koster to vote on this measure. Do I hear a second? . . . . .visualize council members staring at the ceiling. . . . . . checking the time on their watch . . . .. checking their manicure. . . . .almost reminded me of that old statuette of the 3 monkeys except for there was a fourth one, perhaps poised with a digit up their posterior . . . . . not one word. "The motion fails." Some one in the back muttered out, "cowards!". There was couple of young students in the back, there with their mother to observe the proceedings. After the motion failed, I told them that's how government works.
My perception from an article in the Everett Herald was that the other 4 councilmen would not be favorable to gun rights. I was right. I had testified at another public hearing before most of these same councilmen and they haven't changed. The theory of the dirty diaper really applies to these 4 and they need to be voted out.
John Koster chastised the rest of the council for their failure to act on this law revision. Hedismissed the Wild West argument relevant to when these laws were enacted. He also addressed the pro-gun folks stating that we really haven't lost anything as state law has already ruled this irrelevant. It was obvious he wasn't happy with his fellow council members, especially their tactic of not offering a second to bring this to a vote.
It must be a really lonely job being the only Republican on the county council. I'm glad he's there or we would have no voice to represent us. If any of you do have the time to contact these council members, perhaps drop a kind word to Councilman Koster and thank him for his effort. He did his part bringing this revision up for a vote. We need to support him by showing up as many pro-gun citizens did. There is strength in numbers. More numbers would beeven better.
I rode the elevator down with the pro-gun crowd. Since this website is where I first learned of this hearing and some folks here said they were going, I was hoping to perhaps make some connections. A few said they had been to this websiteto visit but none were really from this group. Maybe next time.
The question is: Where do we go from here?
It's been a busy day for me. I thought I would try to post my perception of how the Snohomish County council hearing wentfor the proposed revision to bring the parks law in compliance with state law. I took the time off from work so I could testify. It wasn't a good day for me to go. My workplace was in crisis mode but attending this hearing was important.
A staff member was first up. He talked about state law, pre-emption and the county law. I was thinking that this guy almost made the whole case for us.
The first two to testify were a couple of nice little old ladies who wanted to keep parks safe for kids. Some of the usual misguided arguments were made. Children and guns don't mix. This isn't the Wild West. Then we started getting into the pro-gun side. Most of us were a little nervous but did a good job making points on why this law should be changed to reflect state law. Many stated their unhappiness with this law. Quite a few shared that they were CHL holders. Some were NRA members.
I was one of the last public speakers to testify. I cited the relevant segment of the RCWs that pertain to this issue as well as article 24 of our state constitution which allows us to "bear" arms in defense of ourselves and the state. Rather than present my pro-gun leanings, I stressed the fact that I was a parent, lived in Snohomish county, had 4 kids,named a couple of parks we have used, indicated friends who had issues in the parksand that I had no problem with anyone who legally possessed a gun in a county park. One of the ladies had talked about how there would be shoot outs in the parks if sports teams had disputes. During my 3 minutes I countered with the safety records of over 200,000 CHL holders in this state.
After the public testimony was taken. The motion was made by Councilman John Koster to vote on this measure. Do I hear a second? . . . . .visualize council members staring at the ceiling. . . . . . checking the time on their watch . . . .. checking their manicure. . . . .almost reminded me of that old statuette of the 3 monkeys except for there was a fourth one, perhaps poised with a digit up their posterior . . . . . not one word. "The motion fails." Some one in the back muttered out, "cowards!". There was couple of young students in the back, there with their mother to observe the proceedings. After the motion failed, I told them that's how government works.
My perception from an article in the Everett Herald was that the other 4 councilmen would not be favorable to gun rights. I was right. I had testified at another public hearing before most of these same councilmen and they haven't changed. The theory of the dirty diaper really applies to these 4 and they need to be voted out.
John Koster chastised the rest of the council for their failure to act on this law revision. Hedismissed the Wild West argument relevant to when these laws were enacted. He also addressed the pro-gun folks stating that we really haven't lost anything as state law has already ruled this irrelevant. It was obvious he wasn't happy with his fellow council members, especially their tactic of not offering a second to bring this to a vote.
It must be a really lonely job being the only Republican on the county council. I'm glad he's there or we would have no voice to represent us. If any of you do have the time to contact these council members, perhaps drop a kind word to Councilman Koster and thank him for his effort. He did his part bringing this revision up for a vote. We need to support him by showing up as many pro-gun citizens did. There is strength in numbers. More numbers would beeven better.
I rode the elevator down with the pro-gun crowd. Since this website is where I first learned of this hearing and some folks here said they were going, I was hoping to perhaps make some connections. A few said they had been to this websiteto visit but none were really from this group. Maybe next time.
The question is: Where do we go from here?