PA Bill Number: HB2235

Title: Providing for regulation of the meat packing and food processing industry by creating facility health and safety committees in the workplace; ...

Description: Providing for regulation of the meat packing and food processing industry by creating facility health and safety committees in the workplace; ... ...

Last Action: Referred to LABOR AND INDUSTRY

Last Action Date: Apr 25, 2024

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Murray signs Seattle gun tax; Detroit top cop has better idea :: 08/24/2015

Seattle anti-gunners are gloating, and soliciting money, following Friday’s signing by Mayor Ed Murray of the gun and ammunition tax ordinance, which the Civic Skunk Works blog contended yesterday will “undoubtedly save lives.”

There’s a police chief in Detroit who has a far different perspective about keeping people safe, according to a Friday report by Fox News. Chief James Craig, according to the story, supports the notion of legally-armed citizens, and last year on his watch, 1,169 new handgun permits were issued and more than 8,100 new firearms were purchased.

Almost immediately after Murray signed the new law, which critics say runs afoul of Washington’s 33-year-old preemption statute, the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility, started asking for $4,000 “for our legal defense fund.” What do they need a “legal defense fund” for?

Civic Skunk Works is a big fan of Seattle’s new gun control scheme. Back on Aug. 11, the blog disdained state preemption, complaining, “As we know, cities are where progressive agendas begin in America, so preemption has handcuffed progressives in a very real way.” Second Amendment activists might argue there's no downside to that.

One might get the impression that the gun tax is just one more attempt by Seattle anti-gunners to whittle away at the preemption law. They tried that back in 2009 with the attempt to ban guns in city parks by administrative regulation, but the courts stopped that scheme cold.

The Seattle gun tax is supposed to raise somewhere between $300,000 and$500,000 to fund “prevention programs and research.” Translation: Feel good gun control programs that likely won’t keep a single gun out of the wrong hands or put anybody behind bars. Whether the tax even comes close to bringing in that kind of revenue is wide open to speculation.

Back in Detroit, however, guns in the right hands have stopped criminals. Fox News told the story of Darrell Standberry, who fatally shot a man who had just hijacked his car and was trying to run him down with it. That story also quoted firearms instructor Rick Ector, who noted that female attendance at his firearms classes has risen sharply. In May, he taught a class to 300 women.

Time will tell which approach makes a bigger dent in crime, the Seattle way, which penalizes gun dealers and law-abiding citizens, or the Detroit way, which encourages responsible gun ownership and fighting back.

MEANWHILE, something refreshing occurred Friday in the realm of game management. The Fish and Wildlife Commission rejected a petition from environmentalists to back away from mountain lion harvest levels set earlier this year. The 7-1 vote will allow an increase in the harvest of cougars by 15 to 30 animals in areas with “confirmed wolf packs,” according to a commission press release.

The Department of Fish and Wildlife estimates there are around 3,600 cougars in the state. Last year, hunters took 163 of the big cats. Perhaps this year they will take a few more.

The press release said there are 14 areas in the state with wolf packs. The environmentalist crowd wants more, and one can safely bet that even if wolves reach a population level good enough for de-listing, they will fight that effort vigorously.

The commission promised to “revisit” the mountain lion issue next spring before setting seasons for 2016 and 2017. That should be an interesting process.