By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
While Washington State lawmakers are continuing to push legislation designed to ratchet down on the rights of law-abiding gun owners, a string of cases in Seattle reveals the real problem is criminals with guns, none of which they obtained legally.
The story unfolds simply by reviewing cases posted on the Seattle Police Blotter. Such reports may explain why nearly 700,000 Evergreen State citizens are legally licensed to carry defensive sidearms, including more than 100,000 in King County, which encompasses Seattle. None of the subjects who were involved in the Blotter reports has an active concealed pistol license because they couldn’t possibly get one, as they are previously-convicted criminals.
Leading the reports was the arrest of a 38-year-old convicted felon in Lower Queen Anne on Jan. 27, the result of a month-long manhunt stemming from a Dec. 28, 2024 broad daylight shooting in the city’s Greenwood neighborhood. The incident was caught by a security camera and shows the suspect firing several shots at an individual in a silver Maserati SUV.
According to KCPQ/Fox13 News, the suspect was driving a rented Jeep.
The arrest came after police tracked down the gunman at an apartment. A SWAT team forced their way into the apartment where they found firearms, ammunition and spare magazines, along with narcotics, according to the police. Meanwhile, the suspect tried to escape by crawling out through a bedroom window, onto a upper-floor ledge. He eventually came inside and was arrested.
As a convicted felon, the suspect cannot legally possess firearms or ammunition.
A day earlier, Seattle police arrested two men for discharging a firearm through the sun roof f their vehicle in the city’s Pioneer Square. This happened at about 2:20 a.m., so there were no tourists nearby.
According to the Blotter, patrol officers observed the shooting, so they followed the vehicle, stopped it and detained the four people inside, who said there were several guns in the glovebox.
The 37-year-old driver is under Department of Corrections “supervision for Murder and is prohibited from carrying a firearm.” His 36-year-old passenger is also a convicted felon, so he can’t have a gun, either. The other two occupants were questioned and released.
In a separate arrest on Jan. 25, Seattle police arrested two suspects “with stolen firearms” in West Seattle. This was the result of an investigation involving an illegally-parked vehicle. Officers spotted a handgun in the console, removed the two people and recovered the gun, which had been reported stolen. The 27-year-old driver was arrested for possession of the gun, while his passenger was held on a $7,500 warrant from the Federal Way Police Department. This guy was also armed with a stolen handgun, so he was held on that charge, plus illegally carrying a handgun and resisting arrest. Also inside the vehicle were 3.9 grams of cocaine and 27.5 grams of fentanyl, the Blotter detailed.
Back on Jan. 11, officers assigned to the East Precinct were on patrol when they were “flagged down by victims who reported that the occupant of a silver vehicle had pointed a gun at them. by victims who reported that the occupant of a silver vehicle had pointed a gun at them.” Police found the suspect vehicle at a gas station and got all four occupants out. They included the 19-year-old driver and a 20-year old passenger, both with felony convictions, plus another 19-year-old and a 14-year-old juvenile.
Also inside the car were three handguns, “all with extended magazines.” The report noted one handgun “appeared to have been modified with a “switch” that allows it to be converted from semi-automatic to fully automatic. Another handgun had its serial number filed off. Officers also found two black ski masks and three blue bandanas inside the vehicle.”
Finally, Seattle bicycle officers arrested two men Jan. 6 during a narcotics operation in broad daylight. One of the suspects was a 49-year-old man who was carrying a loaded 9mm pistol, plus cash and fentanyl. He was a convicted felon, so he was prohibited from having the gun. His companion, aged 40, was holding 18 grams of methamphetamine and more than $500 cash. Both men went to jail.
The same day, in a different location, police arrested a 66-year-old man who was carrying crack cocaine, meth, fentanyl, digital scales and a loaded .45-caliber pistol. This man was also a convicted felon, so he was charged for the drugs and the gun.
Nothing in any of the gun control measures recently introduced by Democrats in the Legislature had anything to do with arresting and prosecuting convicted criminals with guns.
