03/18/2013 01:30 PM Senate JUDICIARY

         HJR  4-OPPOSE GUN CONTROL ORDERS & LEGISLATION                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
1:44:57 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR  COGHILL  announced  the consideration  of  HJR  4.  [CSHJR
(JUD) AM was before the committee.]                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
1:45:15 PM                                                                                                                    
REPRESENTATIVE CHARISSE  MILLETT, sponsor  of HJR 4,  stated that                                                               
the resolution  urges the President  of the United States  not to                                                               
issue executive  actions related  to the regulation  of firearms,                                                               
because that  might limit Alaskans'  unique abilities  to provide                                                               
food and  protection for  themselves. She  opined that  while the                                                               
shootings  in Newtown  Connecticut, Aurora  Colorado, and  Bethel                                                               
Alaska  were  tragic,  gun  control   would  not  mitigate  those                                                               
actions.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
She  said  it was  unclear  what  type  of authorization  the  23                                                               
actions or  executive orders the President  issued actually hold,                                                               
but the  volume of gun  legislation passing through  Congress was                                                               
amazing. What  was even  more amazing was  the idea  that someone                                                               
from Washington,  D.C. or New  York City could regulate  guns and                                                               
think  it would  be appropriate  that  the action  take place  in                                                               
Alaska.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT asked  the committee to stand  with her to                                                               
support  the Second  Amendment right  as  well as  the Ninth  and                                                               
Tenth Amendments  that give  states the  right to  determine what                                                               
laws  fit their  state. These  rights are  particularly important                                                               
for  gun and  ammunition control  because one  size does  not fit                                                               
all, she stated.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
1:47:46 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI joined the committee.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR COGHILL  asked if  23 [executive  actions] was  the correct                                                               
number, because he heard some conflicting debate on that.                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT affirmed that  was the correct number. She                                                               
added that some  of the recommendations were  reasonable, but the                                                               
implications on a national level  did not fit Alaskan lifestyles.                                                               
She granted  that many violent  offenders and people  involved in                                                               
mass shootings  have some  type of mental  health issue,  but did                                                               
not  agree with  the notion  of  establishing a  level of  mental                                                               
illness  to keep  a person  from owning  a gun.  She agreed  that                                                               
mental  health  awareness  should  increase,  but  urged  caution                                                               
because unreasonable restrictions may  make people less likely to                                                               
report  or get  help with  their mental  illness. She  maintained                                                               
that the  recommendations by President  Obama and  Vice President                                                               
Biden  should be  addressed on  a statewide  level rather  than a                                                               
national  level,  because many  of  the  23  actions do  not  fit                                                               
Alaska.                                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
1:49:52 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR  COGHILL asked  if  it was  her  experience that  executive                                                               
actions or  recommendations were more  difficult to get  ahold of                                                               
than executive orders.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MILLETT agreed  that executive  orders were  very                                                               
different  from  executive  actions and  they  carried  different                                                               
weight.  When  the President  brought  the  23 executive  actions                                                               
forward there  was misunderstanding  in Alaska and  other states,                                                               
but now she understands that they were recommendations.                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR   MCGUIRE  thanked   the   sponsor   for  bringing   this                                                               
legislation  forward, and  described the  [23 executive  actions]                                                               
illustrated  more  absurd  federal overreach.  She  reviewed  the                                                               
facts in  the Newtown, Connecticut shooting  and highlighted that                                                               
the  gunman was  not licensed  to own  a weapon,  so he  took his                                                               
mother's. She  stated that as  a mother,  she would like  to have                                                               
more trained and armed personnel  in schools. She maintained that                                                               
Alaska  doesn't  see many  mass  shooting  tragedies because  the                                                               
state has concealed carry laws.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR DYSON explained that the  difference between an executive                                                               
order and an executive action  is that an executive order appears                                                               
in the Congressional Record. He  stated that he certainly did not                                                               
want the decision  about who is mentally  fit to own a  gun to be                                                               
centralized, and highlighted that one  of the first things Hitler                                                               
did  when he  seized  power in  1933 was  to  eliminate those  he                                                               
deemed "mentally defective."                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
1:54:24 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI  asked if  she wanted  rescission of  all 23                                                               
executive orders.                                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MILLETT   said  yes,  and  she   was  asking  the                                                               
President   not   to   issue  executive   orders,   actions,   or                                                               
recommendations on gun control for Alaska.                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI  agreed that  there should not  be executive                                                               
orders  on  gun  control,  then  pointed out  that  some  of  the                                                               
recommendations  were reasonable.  He  asked the  sponsor if  she                                                               
disagreed  with "Provide  incentives for  schools to  hire school                                                               
resource officers."                                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MILLETT responded  that it  was not  a matter  of                                                               
agreeing or disagreeing.                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI  interjected that  the resolution  urges the                                                               
President to rescind every single  one of the recommendations. He                                                               
asked if  she believes it was  wrong and perhaps in  violation of                                                               
the Second Amendment for the  President to say that states should                                                               
provide incentives for schools to hire school resource officers.                                                                
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT  reiterated that the resolution  was about                                                               
sending a message. While some of  the 23 executive actions may be                                                               
realistic,  it  was   the  state's  job  to  do   that,  not  the                                                               
President's.  The   state  may   want  to   adopt  some   of  the                                                               
recommendations, but it will also  want to tailor them to Alaska.                                                               
She asserted  that the  executive actions  were sound  bites that                                                               
may be difficult  to apply realistically. She drew  a parallel to                                                               
the federal "No Child Left  Behind" directive, which sounded good                                                               
on its  face, but didn't work  in Alaska. She reiterated  that it                                                               
was not  the federal government's  job to tell Alaska  when, how,                                                               
or where to use guns. It was the state's right to do that.                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he agreed  with that, but hiring school                                                               
resource officers had  nothing to do with guns. He  then asked if                                                               
she thought there was something  wrong with the recommendation to                                                               
"Launch a national dialog led  by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan                                                               
on mental health."                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE   MILLETT   reiterated   that  the   message   the                                                               
resolution tries  to send is  that the federal  government should                                                               
not  issue a  one-size-fits-all package  for states  to implement                                                               
gun  regulations. She  agreed that  mental health  should receive                                                               
more attention, but  the President didn't need to  tell the state                                                               
what it should be doing in this area.                                                                                           
                                                                                                                                
1:57:33 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  WIELECHOWSKI clarified  that the  recommendation was  to                                                               
launch a national dialog.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR COGHILL  pointed out that the  resolves go to the  right to                                                               
keep and bear arms, not to the executive orders.                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said  he was trying to bring  clarity to the                                                               
request to ask  the President to rescind all  23 executive orders                                                               
-  as called  for in  the title  of the  legislation -  because a                                                               
number  of them  were  very good.  He  cautioned that  requesting                                                               
blanket rescission calls Alaska's credibility into question.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MILLETT acknowledged  that  there  might be  some                                                               
good recommendations, but the point  is that the state is telling                                                               
the federal government to stop issuing orders on gun control.                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  WIELECHOWSKI  argued  that   they  weren't  all  on  gun                                                               
control.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MILLETT  maintained that  they  were  all on  gun                                                               
control.                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR  COGHILL pointed  out that  the  two resolution  statements                                                               
talk  about  the individual  right  to  keep  and bear  arms  and                                                               
recommendations related  to regulation of firearms.  He described                                                               
the statements as very clear.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR MCGUIRE summarized that the  point the sponsor was making                                                               
is  that the  state  of Alaska  collectively  disagrees that  the                                                               
federal government  and the President  should tell the  state how                                                               
to address  the issue of  guns in  the state. She  stated support                                                               
for that collective statement of beliefs.                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                
2:02:22 PM                                                                                                                    
CHAIR COGHILL said he didn't intent to move the bill today.                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR WIELECHOWSKI said he agreed  with the resolve, but he did                                                               
not  agree with  rescission  of all  23  resolves. Most  Alaskans                                                               
would agree  that some  of them  were good.  He suggested  that a                                                               
simple "tweak" on the title may resolve the issue.                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE    MILLETT   explained    that   the    resolution                                                               
specifically mentions the  number 23 because the  intention is to                                                               
be specific to the gun  control measures the President is taking.                                                               
The message the  resolution sends is that  the federal government                                                               
cannot tell  the State  of Alaska and  its citizens  when, where,                                                               
and how it should control guns.                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR COGHILL  asked if it was  a package of 23  orders, actions,                                                               
and recommendations.                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT answered yes.                                                                                            
                                                                                                                                
2:04:22 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  OLSON observed  that the  resolution also  had overreach                                                               
because  it  condemns  all  23  executive  orders,  actions,  and                                                               
recommendations when some should be supported.                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  MILLETT  responded  that  the  resolution  wasn't                                                               
condemning  everything the  President  was doing;  the point  was                                                               
that it  is the state's  purview to make its  own recommendations                                                               
on gun  control, and  those may  or may not  include some  of the                                                               
President's recommendations.                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR OLSON thanked the sponsor.                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
2:06:02 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR MCGUIRE asked  if her concern with  the recommendation to                                                               
"Launch a national dialog led  by Secretaries Sebelius and Duncan                                                               
on mental  health." was  that in  the context  of gun  control it                                                               
could  lead to  a discussion  about how  to limit  the rights  of                                                               
those with mental health issues.                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE MILLETT  responded that everything in  the package                                                               
is about  gun control and  this resolution  is to make  sure that                                                               
Alaska is not left out of the conversation.                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
2:07:47 PM                                                                                                                    
SENATOR  MCGUIRE indicated  that she  would talk  to the  sponsor                                                               
about a clarifying amendment.                                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR COGHILL held HJR 4 in committee.