At least eight innocuous signs posted around the Seattle Center over the Memorial Day weekend during the Folklife Festival declared “No firearms allowed at this event or on these premises.”
The signs had no force of law, there was no authority cited, and there are anecdotal reports from some in the gun rights community that armed citizens simply ignored those signs, kept their pistols tucked under cover garments, vests or loose shirts, and contrary to what anti-gun Mayor Greg Nickels would have had everyone believe would happen, nobody got hurt.
For months, the mayor had been blustering and threatening and promising that he would issue an “executive order” banning firearms from all city property, including those carried legally by private citizens. For just as long, the Second Amendment Foundation in Bellevue, its sister organization, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, and the National Rifle Association, have been waiting.
Those groups are ready to hit Nickels with a lawsuit and he knows it. SAF founder Alan Gottlieb assured me the other day that “the papers are prepared and we have really good plaintiffs lined up.”
The city “banned” guns from Folklife only by making a firearm prohibition a condition of the lease permit this year. This all stems from last year’s bizarre shooting incident in which an armed man tussled with another man, they grappled over the gun, it went off and the single round wounded two bystanders. Nickels exploited the incident to propose this citywide ban on legally-carried handguns on city (make that public) property.
I am not in favor of concealed weapons. I think that creates a potential atmosphere where more innocent people could (get shot during) altercations - Barack Obama
Just one fly in the ointment, however; according to Attorney General Rob McKenna’s office, Mayor Nickels does not have the authority to declare such a ban. That authority rests solely with the state legislature, under Washington’s model preemption statute. It might also be in direct violation of the State Constitution.
The mayor even acknowledged almost three years ago in a letter to House Speaker Frank Chopp that he knows he has no authority to ban guns. State law hasn’t changed, and nobody repealed Article 1, Section 24 of the State Constitution.
Nickels does not like concealed carry, putting him on the same level as Barack Obama, who told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review last year that he also opposes concealed carry. The Seattle mayor would probably suffer cardiac arrest if he were to drive down I-5 and find an Open Carry group cleaning up the highway shoulder. The Seattle Weekly did a story on open carry, that can be read here.
Open carry is legal in Washington, always has been. Police agencies and sheriffs departments understand this and seem to respect it – while dutifully responding to all “man with a gun” calls to 911 – so one wonders how it is that a public official can’t grasp it. Even an official like Nickels, who was born in Chicago and moved to Washington at age 6, ought to understand that. Maybe he drank too much of that Windy City water before becoming a child carpetbagger. His entire career has been on the public payroll, which means he has never held a job in the private sector. He went from being an aide to Norm Rice, to a spot on the County Council, to the mayor’s office. More than one person with such a career track has come to think of himself as a ruler rather than a public servant.
Washington is one of the 43 states where it is legal to carry a handgun without having to conceal it
Nickels has insisted that such a ban would be in the best interest of public safety, yet Seattle’s homicide statistics belie that claim. Seattle – where thousands of citizens are legally armed – has a remarkably low homicide rate for a city of its size.
When he called a public hearing on the proposed ban, and hundreds of citizens – many of them armed – showed up from both inside and outside the city, Nickels was noticeably absent.
Adding a “no-guns” provision to a lease agreement with some private entity may work for an event like Folklife, but it may only apply to Folklife organizers, staff and people who attend. There is a huge legal question whether that applies to the general public. Armed citizens attending some other event at the Seattle Center, or picnicking or just strolling through a city park, or visiting the public library, or entering a public building would still be exempt.
Greg has lived in Seattle since age six. A graduate of Seattle Prep, he began his public service career at age 19 with the City of Seattle while attending the University of Washington. Greg served as legislative assistant to then-City Councilmember Norm Rice from 1978 to 1987. In 1987, Greg was elected to a seat on the King County Council where he served for 14 years.
Nickels has several challengers after his job. Probably none of them are gun rights enthusiasts, but one might hope that at least some have a better grasp of municipal authority versus state statute and constitutional power.
“Legally-armed Washington residents, whether they live in Seattle or just visit there, have just as much right to be on public property as any other citizen,” Gottlieb observed. “Mayor Nickels cannot simply issue what amounts to an imperial edict that not only ignores the state preemption statute, but essentially strips these citizens of their state constitutional right to self-defense in places where they have a legal right to be.”
Visit with other Gun Rights Examiners:
For more info: Second Amendment Foundation, Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, OpenCarry.org
Comments
Here are the three most common things you can do with a gun:
1. Commit suicide. 71% of gun deaths in washington are by suicide.
2. Get drunk and shoot your wife, your ex-wife, and/or all fo your kids. I know several people who have chosen this route.
3. Your kid can play with it when you are not around and shoot his best friend, or vice versa. I know some people in this boat too.
One thing that almost never happens--an armed civilian exercising his Second Amendment Rights successfully uses his gun to stop a crime in progress, without injuring innocent bystanders.
Guns don't kill people. Stupid, drunken, angry men with guns kill people, inclduing themselves.
Dude, what bridge were you under?
"Guns don't kill people. Stupid, drunken, angry men with guns kill people, inclduing themselves."
...and they stand a much lower chance of killing me or anyone in my immediate vicinity when I am armed.
I'll kick: there will always be idiots who aren't responsible in many aspects of their lives. Please explain how the existence of a few idiots is cause to preempt the constitutional rights of the vast majority of concealed permit holders who handle firearms in a completely responsible manner?
Mmmmm I love the sound of trolls in the morning. Lesse my 16 guns didn't do a single bad thing last night. Again. Wow. I must be lucky.
The troll speaks the truth.
I have nothing but pity for the frightened cowards who cling to their guns like toddlers clinging to their binkies.
Rather than a gun these pathetic creeps need a shrink so they may properly lament their cowardice and tiny genitalia.
Even the most conservative data suggests that annually, there were approx. 100K incidences where a gun was used for self defense in the US(UCLA study, I believe).
A Florida State study concluded 1.5 million incidences of self defense gun use.
Prouf of my new hubbie, cause we both had a great time at Folklife Festival - gay in arms... u make of it what u want.
Suicide is a fact of life, gun or no. If there were no guns at all in the world, it would make no difference, people would find another way to kill themselves, so stop using that same old tired argument. People who want to die will find a way.
Alcohol causes tens of thousands more deaths on our roadways each year than negligent firearms use in our homes or on our streets. According to the CDC, 40% of all 45000 some automobile fatalities in 2005 and previous years can be directly linked to alcohol. In contrast, only 3% of all 31000 firearms fatalities nation wide of the same years can be attributed to negligence or accidents of any kind. Look it up on the CDC website. webapp.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html
As for assertions that armed citizens "almost never" use their firearms for self defense or to stop a crime, you obviously place more faith in the hysterical ramblings of the Brady Bunch than you do in the FBI crime database. The truth is, they just don't get the
I'll kick your fat...
You're absolutely right, it almost never happens--an armed civilian exercising his Second Amendment Right, successfully using their gun to stop a crime in progress.
"goto-->www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1818798/posts"
"goto-->www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Gunfight+at+bar+leaves+one+wounded,+another+in+custody&articleId=858db55b-f7c2-4dd2-ba58-5f99976fee2b"
"goto-->www.volokh.com/posts/1212034090.shtml"
"goto-->blog.mlive.com/annarbornews/2008/06/bank_customer_pulls_gun_on_rob.html"
"goto-->www.saysuncle.com/archives/2007/12/10/mass_murderers_v_armed_citizens-2/"
Should I continue? You get the picture. If you want to read more, google "armed citizen stops crime".
A Right Unexercised is a Right Lost!
Jason, I think you are in slight error. The Florida State study you mention was the Gary Kleck, et al study. The estimate for it was, I believe 2.5 million. The 1.5 million estimation came fro a Department of Justice study during the Clinton Administration. In any case, it happens a lot, though it doesn't seem to count in the minds of some people unless the perp ends up dead.
80% of those 2.5 mm defensive gun uses are brandishing - at least -
Oh, "tatankaGap," where did you come to that conclusion? Just make it up like anti-gunners make up most of their data?
A little dated, but probably not that far off.
• 76% of all self-defense use of guns never involve firing a single shot.
National Crime Victimization Survey, 1979-1985
Olivia sounds frustrated by tiny genitalia, perhaps she hangs (pun) out with men who also do not believe in personal responsibility in securing one's safety. That could explain her frustration with tiny genitalia. Anyway she seems a big enough pr.... uh, prince?ess to bring the average up.
Olivia proves that trolls can and do mate.
I'll mumble mumble rant rant rant wrote:
"One thing that almost never happens--an armed civilian exercising his Second Amendment Rights successfully uses his gun to stop a crime in progress, without injuring innocent bystanders."
No, it happens hundreds, if not thousands, of times every day. It just doesn't get reported to the police because the crime was successfully prevented, or when it does get reported, it usually doesn't get carried beyond the local news media. Armed self defense is "boring" to the national news media, and doesn't fit their (and your) narrative.
If you're at all honest, I suggest you take a look at this site:
h++p://www.claytoncramer.com/gundefenseblog/blogger.html
Or maybe this one:
h++p://www.guncite.com/kleckandgertztable1.html
But I suspect you won't, as they refute your dearly-held views about armed self defense.
Sorry, I meant to say:
It just doesn't get reported to the police because the crime was successfully prevented without a shot being fired
Got something to say?
Examiner.com is looking for writers, photographers, and videographers to join the fastest growing group of local insiders. If you are interested in growing your online rep apply to be an Examiner today!