The National Rifle Association, along with the Second Amendment Foundation, sued the city of Seattle on Friday over its “safe storage” gun law, arguing it violates Washington State’s 35-year-old pre-emption statute.
Last week, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan signed into law legislation that requires firearms to be stored in a locked container and slaps penalties on those who do not report lost or stolen guns.
But that ordinance, which was set to go into effect in January and would slap a fine as high as $10,000 on offenders, runs afoul of state gun laws, the NRA, SAF, and two Seattle residents who are firearm owners, Omar Abdul Alim and Michael Thyng, allege in their lawsuit.
“The City of Seattle has been trying to erode state preemption almost from the moment it was passed back in 1985,” said SAF founder and executive vice president Alan Gottlieb in a statement. “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.”
Durkin is named as a defendant along with the Seattle Police Department and Chief Carmen Best.
In a tweet, Durkin said they are not intimidated and promised to “continue to fight for our kids.”
The @NRA decided to sue me and @carmenbest in addition to @CityofSeattle. If they think we are intimidated, they are mistaken. I will continue to fight for our kids. pic.twitter.com/4yD0iwPEKg
— Mayor Jenny Durkan (@MayorJenny) July 21, 2018
According to KOMO News, the Seattle law was drawn up following a University of Washington study, which showed a high rate of gun-owning households not storing their firearms. However, gun advocates argued the definition of what is safe storage is up to interpretation.
