HJR 4-OPPOSE GUN CONTROL ORDERS & LEGISLATION  1:44:57 PM CHAIR COGHILL announced the consideration of HJR 4. [CSHJR 4(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.