From an Eastern Washington perspective, the Seattle City Council is, um... "interesting". OK, that's not accurate, they're mostly nuts really. Liberal, progressive, socialistic, pick your adjective and then hold on to your wallet with one hand and your constitution with the other.

That council's latest move is likely to land them in court accused of violating a long standing state statute. In a news release, the Second Amendment Foundation and National Rifle Association announced they are filing a lawsuit against the City of Seattle, Mayor Jenny Durkan, the Seattle Police Department and Chief Carmen Best over the adoption of a so-called “safe storage” ordinance that requires guns kept at home to be locked up in storage.

The Seattle City legal staff should know that the state legislature has sole authority to adopt gun laws, including but not limited to, registration, licensing, possession, purchase, sale, acquisition, transfer, discharge and transportation of firearms., The premise of the lawsuit is that State law prohibits cities, towns and counties or other municipalities from adopting gun regulations that exceed state authority.

“The City of Seattle has been trying to erode state preemption almost from the moment it was passed back in 1985,” recalled SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “When the city tried to ban guns from city parks facilities under former mayors Greg Nickels and Mike McGinn, SAF and NRA joined forces with other organizations to stop it, under the state preemption statute. We should not have to repeatedly remind Seattle that they are still part of Washington State and must obey the law..... Seattle simply can’t break the law to adopt an ordinance as a political statement."

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.

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