CCRKBA hails Washington AG opinion on Nickels’ proposed gun ban

[Sun195]

BELLEVUE, WA – The Bellevue-based Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms is hailing an opinion issued this week by Washington Attorney General Rob McKenna that says cities cannot enact local laws to prohibit the possession of firearms on city property or in city-owned facilities, effectively nixing a plan by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels to do just that by executive fiat.

The opinion was written in response to an inquiry from several state lawmakers. It was signed by Deputy Solicitor General William B. Collins.

CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb said the opinion, dated Monday, Oct. 13, “confirms what we said in June regarding the mayor’s proposal.” CCRKBA said then that the Nickels proposal would violate the state’s model preemption statute, one of the first and most effective such laws in the nation.

“We advised the mayor in a letter that his proposed ‘executive order’ would run afoul of the law, and that we would take legal action,” Gottlieb recalled. “Thanks to the attorney general’s opinion, that no longer appears necessary.”

“The opinion,” added CCRKBA Legislative Affairs Director Joe Waldron, “stands not only as a detailed explanation about why Mayor Nickels’ plan was legally unsound, but it also demonstrates why Washington’s preemption statute is a monument to legislative wisdom. Washington’s law has been duplicated by more than two dozen other state legislatures that saw the sensibility of statewide uniformity in the regulation of firearms, so that cities and counties could not create a confusing and even contradictory legal patchwork of local gun ordinances.

“This opinion should also have a spill-over effect on local ordinances banning firearms in parks and other municipal property and buildings in cities like Federal Way, Lacey and in the Seattle City Library,” Waldron said.

Gottlieb noted, “We have a law, and it works. It recognizes the right of individual citizens to keep and bear arms as affirmed in both the state and federal constitutions. Mayor Nickels was wrong to think he could usurp legislative authority through executive edict. We expect state lawmakers to zealously protect their authority if Nickels comes lobbying in Olympia in January.”

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[torpedoman]

the idiots finally got something right.

 

[Jaybo]

I think for a moment, I heard the angels in heaven singing praises!!!!!!!!


I have to admit, I was a little upset when I heard the initial news a few months ago, and that other cities (Montesano) were following suit. I am happy to see that not ALL our polititions are out to destroy our rights as law abiding citizens.

We have enough folks out there trying to erode away our freedoms, and this goes to show, that letters, phone calls and emails from everyone that made the choice to have their voices heard, paid off. Hats off to everyone that stood up!!!

 

[Sun195]

Mayor Nickels <broken link removed> .

AG says Nickels' authority restricted on guns
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels does not have the authority to ban guns on public property, says State Attorney General Rob McKenna.

By Sharon Pian Chan
Seattle Times staff reporter

McKenna's opinion, which had been requested by state legislators, is nonbinding, so the city can proceed with its gun prohibition on public property. But historically, such opinions have been given great weight in court, according to the Attorney General's Office.

Washington state law "pre-empts a city's authority to enact local laws that prohibit possession of firearms on city property or in city-owned facilities," McKenna wrote with Deputy Solicitor General William Collins in the opinion issued Monday. Nickels said the ban is needed for public safety.

"While we appreciate the Attorney General's opinion, we have a moral responsibility to pursue common-sense gun laws," Nickels said in a statement.

"We cannot wait for another incident, or another victim. Our communities face real consequences if our state fails to act and I am hopeful that we will get further clarity on this issue. The simple fact is our public buildings, events, parks and community centers are safer without guns."

In May, a man who had a concealed-weapons permit fired a gun at Seattle Center's Northwest Folklife festival and wounded three other people.

Two weeks later Nickels issued an executive order directing city departments to come up with a plan to make city facilities — including buildings, parks and community centers — gun free. He said the city would post signs about the ban on city property, and would charge people who violated it with trespassing.

The Mayor's Office is now drafting an administrative rule and plans to hold a public hearing.

Many questioned whether the city had the authority to restrict firearms. In Washington state, cities cannot go beyond state restrictions on firearms. State legislators led by Sen. Bob Morton, R-Kettle Falls, and Rep. Kevin Van De Wege, D-Sequim, requested a legal opinion from McKenna's office.

The city has suggested that a state Supreme Court ruling permitting the city of Sequim to regulate firearms at a gun show in a city convention center allowed Seattle to make similar restrictions.

After reviewing the Sequim case, which was filed by Pacific Northwest Shooting Park Association, McKenna wrote that in that instance the city was acting as a private business owner.

Under Mayor Nickels' prohibition however, the city would not be acting as a private business owner because large parts of city property are generally open to the public, McKenna wrote.

Two organizations, The Second Amendment Foundation and the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, have notified Nickels they intend to mount a legal challenge to his order.