Superior Court Judge Strikes Down Seattle Gun Storage Ordinance

Superior Court Judge Anita Farris struck down Seattle’s gun storage ordinance Monday, ruling it violates the state’s 36-year-old preemption law.

Preemption laws exist in various states around the union. They forbid cities and other localities from passing gun controls that exceed those which exist at the state level.

The suit in which Judge Farris ruled was brought by the Second Amendment Foundation and National Rifle Association, together with three private citizens, Brett Bass, Curtis McCullough and Swan Seaberg. It rested on a claim the gun storage law of 2018 violated preemption.

Second Amendment Foundation founder and executive vice president Alan Gottlieb said, “Judge Farris’ ruling confirms what we’ve argued all along, that under the state preemption law, first adopted in 1983 and strengthened in 1985, the Legislature has sole authority over firearms regulation in the state.”

Gottlieb explained:

Michael Bloomberg’s gun control lobbying group has been supporting similar restrictive local laws all over the country. This victory will help stop this across the country. Preemption uniformity was a good idea in the 1980s and it is still the most commonsense way to deal with firearms regulation. What is the law in one part of a state should be the law in all parts of that state.

Pending appeal, Farris’ ruling will result in a permanent injunction against the gun storage ordinance.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.