SAF: APPEALS COURT UPHOLDS SAF VICTORY IN LAWSUIT V. SEATTLE PARKS GUN BAN
Second Amendment Foundation:
The Washington State Court of Appeals for Division 1 today unanimously upheld a 2010 King County Superior Court ruling against the City of Seattle’s ban on firearms in city parks in a lawsuit originally brought by the Second Amendment Foundation, other gun rights groups and five individual plaintiffs.
SAF Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb said he had always been confident that the Appeals Court would rule “in favor of the law and against the attempt by Seattle to dance around it.”
“We told former Mayor Greg Nickels he was wrong,” Gottlieb said, “and we have reminded the city under Mayor Mike McGinn that it was wrong, and now the Appeals Court has confirmed our position.”
SAF was joined in the lawsuit by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, the National Rifle Association and Washington Arms Collectors.
Writing for the Court, Presiding Chief Judge Ann Schindler noted, “We hold that under the plain language of RCW 9.41.290 and RCW 9.41.300, the city’s attempt to regulate the possession of firearms at designated park areas and park facilities open to the public by adopting the Firearms Rule is preempted by state law.”
“This is not only a victory for the citizens of Washington State,” he said, “but also for the State Legislature, which had the wisdom in 1983 and 1985 to pass and strengthen our preemption statute. This law has become the model for other state statutes across the country.
“The ruling is also an affirmation of Judge Catherine Shaffer’s original trial court ruling last year,” he continued. “She had the foresight to include observations about our state constitutional right to bear arms but also the Second Amendment.
“Now that the Second Amendment has been incorporated to the states through our victory in McDonald v. City of Chicago,” Gottlieb concluded, “it is going to be impossible for anti-gun politicians in the Evergreen State to defy our preemption statute and our constitutional rights. Such local rules and ordinances are illegal, and now they know it for sure.”
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control. In addition to the landmark McDonald v. Chicago Supreme Court Case, SAF has previously funded successful firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; New Orleans; Chicago and San Francisco on behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers and numerous amicus briefs holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.
Who Guards the Guards: Fail Blog Notes “Misplaced Police Firearm”
From the Fail Blog
According to the Fail Blog:
“The Seattle Police Department is apologizing for an assault rifle left unattended on the back of a patrol car Monday night, and has launched an investigation into the matter.
“First published by The Stranger, Nick Gonzales snapped a picture last night of the menacing –looking rifle on the trunk of a Seattle Police car. It was around 9 p.m. and the car was parked outside the Roosevelt Hotel, near Pine and 7th Avenue, with no police officers in sight, said Gonzales.
“In addition, after an officer got back into the patrol car, it was driven away with the rifle still on the trunk. A woman also saw the rifle and followed the car to try to get the officer’s attention.”
Not much more to say about this one.
Seatte Area Man Convicted for Wife’s Gun
Luke T. Groves of Bremerton, Wash., will be headed to jail for first-degree unlawful possession of a firearm. Groves had turned down a plea deal that would have allowed him to avoid jail time reports Seattle PI. As we previously reported Groves had been previously convicted of breaking into a school in 1990. What is disturbing about this case is that it was actually Groves who had called the police for help. Seattle PI notes:
“Groves called police in late November 2008 after he returned home to find a broken window in his Hewitt Avenue house. He says he told officers that his wife owned a rifle and handgun.”
He now faces 31 to 41 months in prison. He will be sentenced January 29. We wish our best to the Groves family.
First on KING5 Uses Poor Choice of Words
While the story from KING5 TV is mostly fair and even, the headline is in bad taste considering that anti-gun groups have charged that it is wrong to even think about taking a gun to a rally. So the choice of words could be seen as threatening:
“Gun advocates take aim at city hall”
Now in fairness, I doubt that anyone would actually think that gun owners are physically aiming their firearms at city hall by reading that statement, but it is still a poor choice of words. And normally we would let this headline pass, except the mayor’s press release is quoted in the story that talks about Seattle activists looking to overturn a gun ban. Compare the headline with this statement from the press release:
“In June, a group of teen boys flashed a gun at several girls outside of the Alki Community Center.”
Considering that the teens in question did actually brandish a firearm, the choice of words in the headline is a little deceptive. It also sets the tone that the law-abiding, and diverse citizens could be a little hotheaded.
