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Less than two weeks after Seattle passed a law requiring gun owners to safely lock up their firearms or face potential civil penalties, gun advocates are suing to stop the law from taking effect.
The National Rifle Association and Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation filed a lawsuit[1] Friday claiming the new regulations violate state law.
The city law, proposed by Mayor Jenny Durkan and approved by the Seattle City Council, creates a tiered set of civil penalties[2] for people who fail to safely store their guns. Fines range from $500 to $10,000 depending on whether the gun is accessed and used to injure someone. Supporters said it will help prevent suicides, thefts of guns, and accidental injuries. The law is set to take effect in six months. State law bars local governments from regulating the “registration, licensing, possession, purchase, sale, acquisition, transfer, discharge, and transportation of firearms, or any other element relating to firearms or parts thereof, including ammunition and reloader components.” Known as preemption, such laws are backed by the NRA[3] and other groups. "The City of Seattle has been trying to erode state preemption almost from the moment it was passed back in 1985," Second Amendment Foundation Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb said in a statement. "We should not have to repeatedly remind Seattle that they are still part of Washington State and must obey the law." During a city council committee discussion on the safe storage legislation, a staffer for Durkan said he did not believe the law fell into one of the categories identified in state preemption. Along with the NRA and SAF, two Seattle