From NRA-ILA:

Washington: Anti-Gun Measure Set for Senate
Committee Hearing Thursday!
Please Contact Your State Senator Today!

Senate Bill 5197 will be up for a hearing in the Senate Labor and Commerce Committee on Thursday, February 8 at 3:30 P.M. in the John A. Cherberg Building, Hearing Room #4.

SB 5197 is a measure aimed directly at private firearm sales, which would mandate that all firearms sold at gun shows be transferred through a federally licensed dealer, thereby imposing dealer restrictions on private individuals who are not dealers. This will establish a gun tax on firearms, expand the growing government database of law-abiding handgun owners, and effectively halt handgun sales at gun shows.

Your attendance at this hearing is critical. Washington Ceasefire is planning on packing the hearing with supporters of the gun show/gun registration bill, so it’s vital that NRA-supporters show a strong turnout as well. Attendees should plan on being at the Capitol by noon. Please visit your legislators, even if they are not on the Committee.

If you are unable to attend, please contact your State Senator at (800) 562-6000 and respectfully ask that he or she oppose this ill-conceived and restrictive measure.

Please make plans to attend this vital meeting, and also be sure to alert your grassroots networks and fellow gun owners to attend the meeting this coming Thursday!

LibertyNews will be present for the hearing and will bring you a full report Thursday evening. I encourage everyone who can to attend. It is time for gun owners to stand up and be heard by those who would like to remove our rights from the Constitution.

Read on for my report

Pro-Gun turnout was awesome, my pictures of the hearing room and hallway show a packed house, and there was a second room that was just as packed. Getting there early, during the previous hearing, was a good idea as was using the Dash Shuttle. It was broadcast on TVW, and the audio can be downloaded here. The first half of the hearing was the introduction and the speeches by the sponsors of the bill. Enough political anti-gun BS was shoveled to cover the capitol dome — but I guess they’re used to that down there.

Things got better when the pro-gun panels were able to respond to the ‘Junk Science’ and outright lies being thrown around, even though the Chairwoman tried shutting them up several times. It was obvious from some of their comments and mis-understandings that this is just a stepping stone to California style ban on private sales. They won’t come out and admit it, but its where we are headed if this passes. One of the prime backers of the bill, Washington Ceasefire didn’t speak — instead they imported a Senator from Oregon, a doctor from California, a fake gun-rights organizer and another local doctor to speak for them.

Senator Pam Roach put in an appearance to give the committee an earful. She’s very much opposed to this bill and was not pulling any punches, even when the chairwoman tried to get her to stop.

Overall it was a good hearing, with both sides being heard, but with 5 anti-gun Democrats on the committee its sure ro be passed on to the next level. They certainly know who we are and how we feel about this.