SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES
Second Amendment Foundation sues Seattle over gun storage law
Jul 20, 2018, 6:00 AM | Updated: 3:04 pm
The City of Seattle's new gun storage law fines gun owners for failing to securely store their firearms. (SPD)
(SPD)
Gun rights group The Second Amendment Foundation filed a lawsuit against the City of Seattle on Friday over the city’s new gun storage law.
The law, passed by the Seattle City Council earlier this month, establishes penalties for gun owners who do not store their guns in locked, secure containers, and could fine gun owners up to $10,000 if the gun is stolen and used to commit a crime.
RELATED: Seattle City Council’s gun law punishes victims
Alan Gottlieb told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson that the foundation is suing the City of Seattle on the grounds that state law prevents cities and counties from passing firearm laws that differ from the state gun control policy.
“It’s illegal, and the City of Seattle shouldn’t be passing laws that are illegal,” he said. “If their concerns are stopping crimes and violence, you don’t pass an illegal law — it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever.”
Gottlieb stated that any political leader who willingly breaks laws “shouldn’t be in office.”
“I thought a much better approach would be an educational campaign,” he said. In fact, Gottlieb met with Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and suggested as an alternative a program that would teach people how to safely store guns, spread suicide prevention information, and provide safe storage devices for people who can’t afford them.
“Unfortunately, she totally ignored my advice,” he said, adding, “It’s more like, just stick your fingers in gun owners’ eyes rather than really do something that’s really going to work.”
The City of Seattle’s public health department currently does partner with Seattle Children’s Hospital to put on free gun storage device giveaway events at locations throughout the county.
The gun storage law, Gottlieb contended, is “punishing an innocent gun owner instead of the criminal who stole the gun to start with.” Furthermore, he said, there is no real way to enforce the law because the city “can’t go door-to-door to find out if your gun is stored properly.”
“Nobody can say the Seattle City Council or the mayor use common sense — they don’t,” he said.
Gottlieb believes the real motivation behind the law is to drive gun owners away from Seattle.
“What they’re doing with this, is they’re making a political statement that they hate guns,” he said. “That’s all it’s about. It’s not to save lives — it’s just a political statement.”
