POSTED: 12:28 pm PDT October 15, 2008
SEATTLE -- Washington’s Attorney General Rob McKenna said Monday that cities in Washington cannot enact local laws that prohibit the possession of firearms on city property or in city-owned property.
In June, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels announced a plan to restrict weapons on city property. In his announcement, Nickels said the city had the right to develop gun-free zones and policies for all city property.
In the Revised Code of Washington, a collection of permanent laws enacted by the Legislature, one law prevents "a city’s authority to adopt firearm laws or regulations when applied to the general public, unless specifically authorized by state law," according to McKenna’s opinion.
McKenna’s opinion was a response to questions raised by several state lawmakers.
Nickels’ plan came to light about two weeks after a shooting at Seattle Center's Folklife Festival, where a man fired a gun, injuring three people.
A man who had a concealed weapons permit was arrested. Police said he had a history of drug abuse and mental health problems.
Nickels said then that the threat of another shooting at a public gathering kept him up at night
