Mayor Greg Nickels proposes concealed weapons ban in Seattle parks
By ANGELA GALLOWAY
P-I REPORTER
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels plans to ban concealed weapons in parks and other city lands.
"We have a moral responsibility to re-examine our policies to make sure that our people are safe," Nickels said during a news conference Monday.
Nickels said had directed city employees to establish a "gun-free at city properties, our parks, our community centers and our community events."
"Under this order, people with concealed weapons will be asked to leave or to hand over their guns," he said. Nickels believes case law gives him authority to establish the prohibition.
Nickels also said his executive order directs city departments to review rules, policies, and procedures regarding weapons on/in city-owned facilities. The plan is to establish a prohibition against concealed guns.
The review is supposed to be completed in 30 days, with the next step likely to be an attempt to tighten rules regarding concealed weapons for people who are not law-enforcement officers.
Nickels' order comes in the wake of a Memorial weekend shooting at the Seattle Center that left three people injured at the Northwest Folklife Festival.
The Snohomish County resident has been charged in King County Superior Court with second-degree assault. Authorities say his gun fired as he tried to remove it from an ankle holster during a fight. A single bullet injured one man's nose, passed through another person's hand and lodged in a woman's leg, authorities said.
The accused gunman in the Folklife Festival shooting, Clinton Grainger, 22, carried a concealed pistol license, despite a history of mental illness that didn't meet the standard for denying his license application.
Dave Workman, senior editor and Western bureau chief for Gun Week magazine, said the incident was an aberration.
"This business at Folklife is the only time I've heard of some guy with a concealed pistol license doing something like that," Workman said. "Usually with these shootings, if you look at them, they're 19 or 20 years old, and they're not even old enough to be licensed to carry a concealed pistol."
Workman said any attempt by a city or county to ban guns outright in public parks - unless it exempted holders of permits to carry concealed weapons - would be illegal under state law, which pre-empts local governments from enacting gun laws that are stricter than state codes.
Those carrying a concealed handgun without a license would already be illegal, he said.
State pre-emption was intended to prevent confusion over having a variety of different gun laws depending on which city or county you were in, Workman said.
Nickels also renewed his call for state legislative action on gun laws. Previously, he has urged closing the so-called gun show loophole.
Two years ago, Nickels and Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske helped lead an unsuccessful campaign to adopt stricter state regulations requiring background checks on private sales at gun shows. The measure died in the Legislature in the face of opposition from gun rights groups.
Last December, Nickels convened a summit on gun violence, bringing together local and federal police agencies with researchers and experts. Some of the presentations focused on the public health costs of gun crimes and the so-called gun show loophole.
Executive orders, such as the one Nickels is expected to issue, typically don't apply to the general public. Rather, they direct the policies and actions of city employees, agencies and properties. For example, the mayor has issued orders requiring Seattle agencies to avoid buying bottled water and to provide job benefits to the same-sex partners of city workers.
In addition, because the orders are directives to city departments, they do not require City Council approval.
