GOAL Alert 8-2008 15 June 2008
ACTION REQUIRED
Using last month's shooting incident at the Folklife Festival at Seattle Center as his excuse, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels has announced he will take measures to ban the carry of firearms in all Seattle city facilities. Not just open carry (which is perfectly legal under Washington law), but even concealed carry by cleared and licensed individuals. Nickels has a long history of anti-gun activism, most of it of the "ready, fire, aim"category where he demonstrates his ignorance of the gun issue at every turn.
Back in the mid-1980s, the Washington legislature passed "state preemption" (RCW 9.41.290), reserving to the state the right to regulate almost all aspects of firearm regulation. The purpose of state preemption is to ensure law-abiding gun owners can travel across the state secure in the knowledge that they are not passing through or entering random "gun free zones" or other restrictive areas.
Mayor Nickels' stated intent is a clear violation of the spirit and the letter of state preemption. But that isn't stopping him.
To make matters worse, other municipalities have or are planning to jump on the local gun control bandwagon. The Montesano city council voted this week to ban all firearms in city parks ¬ again with CPL or without CPL. Other cities are considering similar action, all based on Nickels' declared defiance of state law.
RCW 9.41.290 reads as follows (note the last sentence of the section especially):
The state of Washington hereby fully occupies and preempts the entire field of firearms regulation within the boundaries of the state, including the registration, licensing, possession, purchase, sale, acquisition, transfer, discharge, and transportation of firearms, or any other element relating to firearms or parts thereof, including ammunition and reloader components. Cities, towns, and counties or other municipalities may enact only those laws and ordinances relating to firearms that are specifically authorized by state law, as in RCW 9.41.300, and are consistent with this chapter. Such local ordinances shall have the same penalty as provided for by state law. Local laws and ordinances that are inconsistent with, more restrictive than, or exceed the requirements of state law shall not be enacted and are preempted and repealed, regardless of the nature of the code, charter, or home rule status of such city, town, county, or municipality.
Various courses of action can be followed to prevent Nickels' actions, should he choose to violate state preemption, among them a lawsuit. At least two state organizations are already considering a suit.
But other measures should be considered before filing suit. One of these is publication of an Attorney General's Opinion (AGO) that clearly states the purpose of preemption and puts Mayor Nickels and other on notice that they do not have the authority to regulate firearms beyond that prescribed by state law.
AGOs are drafted at the request of state agencies or state legislators. PLEASE CALL, E-MAIL OR WRITE YOUR LEGISLATORS (Senator AND two Representatives) and ask that they request an Attorney General's Opinion clarifying the issue and intent of state preemption so that even gun-grabbing extremists like Mayor Nickels understand it.
This issue impacts EVERY GUN OWNER in Washington. First Seattle, then rural Montesano. Do you really believe arbitrary gun control ordinances can't come to your home town or county?
If you don't have contact information for your legislators, you can find it at:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/DistrictFinder/Default.aspx
Individual legislator e-mail addresses can be found at:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/memberemail/Default.aspx
The more legislators we have requesting an AGO on this critical issue, the sooner the Attorney General will act. Do not delay. Montesano has already passed a gun ban, Seattle threatens to go far beyond the Montesano ban. PLEASE ACT TODAY.
