Carrying in community centers

Ought Six · Feb 9, 2012

There are a number of community centers in Seattle. I have a class in one of them. While they offer a variety of classes at these centers, they are not operated by the school district. So is concealed carry legal in these buildings, or not?

deen_ad · Feb 9, 2012

It is legal under state law, but, remember, you're in Seattle too and they don't like legal concealed carry.

Here, in Vancouver, we have a community center, on school property run by the school district. But there is a Boys and Girls Club there too so it's not 100% school use. It's also posted with a school district "No weapons Allowed, no smoking etc" sign. Legal to carry or not? I really don't know, but I'm sure not going to be a test case and find out

chemist · Feb 10, 2012

Man, what a mess you have to deal with in WA. Thank goodness for state pre-emption here in OR. Here's to hoping that your state legislators pass the same law for you guys up there.

joeroket · Feb 10, 2012

chemist said:
Man, what a mess you have to deal with in WA. Thank goodness for state pre-emption here in OR. Here's to hoping that your state legislators pass the same law for you guys up there.

No mess. We have a very strong state pre-emption statute.

Don't worry about carrying in anyplace that is not expressly prohibited by state law. The Seattle owned and run community centers are places that it is lawful to carry and Chan v. Seattle backs you up.

deen_ad · Feb 10, 2012

chemist said:
Man, what a mess you have to deal with in WA. Thank goodness for state pre-emption here in OR. Here's to hoping that your state legislators pass the same law for you guys up there.

Actually it's stronger in WA than in OR. It's just that Seattle thinks they're above the law.

chemist · Feb 10, 2012

Good for you! I had no idea. You know, I have a nonresident LCCP for WA but I've never carried North of the river because I'm so mixed up about the law there.

It's no surprise that the Seattle PD would seek to make examples of citizens who had the temerity to exercise their legal rights. Don't worry, I'm sure you'd be vindicated in the courts - two years and ten thousand dollars later! You might even get your gun back, eventually.

Portland is a smaller version of Seattle and so isn't quite so extreme in its anti-2A practice. Then again, I've never had the nerve to OC on TriMet! Just keep it covered, that's my motto. Concealed means concealed, and the only place that I don't carry is the Post Office.

mjbskwim · Feb 10, 2012

Well a buddy lived in Ballard and was at a community center when a friend came up and said they had bought a new 9mm.
No biggie,carried on the conversation not saying any more about guns,until a cop come in and ask WTF?
What do you mean?
Someone said you were talking about guns

HUH?
All they had heard was one of them say "I bought a new 9mm" and they called the cops and were told not to TALK about guns there

So there ya go for Seattlites. YMMV

ericb · Feb 11, 2012

The way I see it, if your gun doesn't see the light of day nobody knows the difference. If you need it, you won't care if you're supposed to have it or not.

MarkAd · Feb 11, 2012

mjbskwim said:
Well a buddy lived in Ballard and was at a community center when a friend came up and said they had bought a new 9mm.
No biggie,carried on the conversation not saying any more about guns,until a cop come in and ask WTF?
What do you mean?
Someone said you were talking about guns

HUH?
All they had heard was one of them say "I bought a new 9mm" and they called the cops and were told not to TALK about guns there

So there ya go for Seattlites. YMMV

To which I would ask the cop to kindly tell whoever called "to piss off" and continue my conversation about even bigger guns.

Redcap · Feb 11, 2012

mjbskwim said:
Well a buddy lived in Ballard and was at a community center when a friend came up and said they had bought a new 9mm.
No biggie,carried on the conversation not saying any more about guns,until a cop come in and ask WTF?
What do you mean?
Someone said you were talking about guns

HUH?
All they had heard was one of them say "I bought a new 9mm" and they called the cops and were told not to TALK about guns there

So there ya go for Seattlites. YMMV

The proper response is 'F*** off'.

mjbskwim · Feb 11, 2012

No he responded properly by moving out of the city.Leave them to themselves

8ball · Feb 12, 2012

Does Seattle really harass CCW that much? Sure, open carry can cause an issue (Seattle is not the only place for that - just ask Vancouver) , and I'm aware of our former mayor and his attempted ban in parks, but I've never read of systematic harassment of CCW holders in Seattle. There have been several recent defensive handgun uses in Seattle by licensed citizens where they (rightly) haven't been charged.

Anyone got actual data, not anecdotes? Court cases?

mjbskwim · Feb 12, 2012

I think you will only find news reports,as when they see the errors of their ways,and face civil liberty law suits,they drop the charges.I don't think the guy at Green lake was charged when he was OCin',just had wanna bee swat cops pointing guns at him.

I would guess if you are doing it right,you don't get harassed for CC