Alan Gottlieb
Attorneys for the Second Amendment Foundation, National Rifle Association and National Shooting Sports Foundation have filed a notice of appeal in their challenge of a so-called “gun violence tax” adopted last year by the City of Seattle.
In a ruling Dec. 22, King County Superior Court Judge Palmer Robinson said the city’s gun tax is legal. She noted, however, that the city’s argument that the tax ordinance does not contain a criminal penalty failed because there is, indeed, a misdemeanor penalty for non-payment of the tax.
SAF, NRA and NSSF were joined by two Seattle gun stores and two private citizens in the lawsuit. They are challenging the gun tax on the grounds that it violates the state’s 33-year-old preemption statute, which places so authority for firearms regulation in the hands of the Legislature.
That statute specifically reads:
“The state of Washington hereby fully occupies and preempts the entire field of firearms regulation within the boundaries of the state, including 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. Cities, towns, and counties or other municipalities may enact only those laws and ordinances relating to firearms that are specifically authorized by state law…and are consistent with this chapter. Such local ordinances shall have the same penalty as provided for by state law. Local laws and ordinances that are inconsistent with, more restrictive than, or exceed the requirements of state law shall not be enacted and are preempted and repealed, regardless of the nature of the code, charter, or home rule status of such city, town, county, or municipality.”
SAF Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb said the language in the statute leaves no wiggle room because it specifically mentions the “purchase, sale, acquisition (and) transfer” of firearms.
At the time of Judge Robinson’s ruling, Gottlieb expressed disappointment, but was “confident that the State Court of Appeals will ultimately concur with our position.”
“It is unconscionable for Mayor Ed Murray and the City Council to codify what amounts to social bigotry against firearms retailers and their customers,” Gottlieb stated, “and we are going to fight this vigorously in defense of a state preemption law that has served Washington citizens well for more than three decades.”
