By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
The Spokane City Council has adopted, by a 5-2 vote, new gun controls which, according to the Spokane Spokesman-Review, will “restrict open carry in public facilities, broadening where it is illegal to discharge a firearm and clarifying that weapons seized by police should be destroyed.”
The legislation is dubbed the “Gun Violence Prevention for a Safer Spokane” law, with Councilman Paul Dillon being the chief proponent. In an email exchange with TGM, Dillon noted, “While there’s a state pre-emption code, RCW 9.41.300 does allow cities to enact laws that are consistent with certain areas that are named in this ordinance.”
Washington has one of the oldest preemption statutes, RCW 9.41.290 dating back to 1985, which has been used as a model for similar laws in other states.
Under the statute Dillon cited, which is currently being edited to include changes made during this year’s legislative session, cities can regulate the carrying of weapons in certain places. However, the statute notes restrictions do not apply to persons legally licensed to carry concealed pistols.
According to the Spokesman-Review article, “The proposal approved by council Monday prohibits anyone from bringing a firearm or other weapons into a public venue, such as community centers and the Spokane Arena, except the concealed carrying of a firearm by someone with a valid concealed pistol license. Many venues like the arena independently ban guests from bringing weapons inside.”
Similarly, some facilities in Seattle including major league baseball and football stadiums prohibit the carrying of weapons, as they are privately managed.
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown must still sign the ordinance.
The measure was opposed by Councilmen Jonathan Bingle and Michael Cathcart, who contended it will not do much to improve public safety. Bingle was quoted by the newspaper arguing that a concealed firearm may be “more dangerous” than one carried openly.
According to the state Department of Licensing, there were more than 49,750 active concealed pistol licenses in Spokane County at the end of June, which was down slightly from the 49,862 reported at the end of May. The number of active CPLs in the county has remained fairly steady this year.
Washington is one of the 21 remaining states which still requires a license to carry in order to be armed with a concealed handgun. The other 29 have adopted permitless, or “constitutional” carry laws, eliminating the need for a permit or license. Those 29 states have Republican governors and legislators while the 21 holdouts are controlled by Democrats.
The cities of Seattle and Edmonds tried to adopt so-called “safe storage” requirements back in 2018, which would have required privately-owned firearms in the city to be kept under lock and key when not in use. The Edmonds ordinance was successfully defeated in court thanks to a lawsuit by the Second Amendment Foundation, National Rifle Association and others. The ruling essentially mooted the Seattle ordinance, which was nearly identical.
The Municipal Research and Services Center, a non-profit which “helps local governments across Washington State better serve their communities by providing legal and policy guidance on any topic,” notes on its website that open carry is legal in Washington.
“Washington is an open carry state, which means that an individual can openly carry a firearm unless specifically prohibited by state law. Private property owners may prohibit open carry of firearms on their private property and the state prohibits possession of all firearms (both open carry and concealed carry) in certain areas, including many local government facilities,” MRSC explains.
