Dave Workman
Seattle Gun Rights Examiner

Does the City of Seattle under Mayor Greg Nickels believe that one civil right is more important than another, perhaps at the peril of the city’s gay residents who will participate in PrideFest at the Seattle Center?    

It’s beginning to appear that way, as gay gun rights activists note with chagrin that, while the city will allow anti-gay demonstrators at the Seattle Center in recognition of their First Amendment rights of free speech and assembly, the city is requiring PrideFest organizers to prohibit firearms at the Center as part of its lease agreement.    

It is also beginning to appear that Nickels lacks the guts to actually issue his long-threatened executive order banning guns, probably because he knows he will be immediately sued, and that he will lose. So, instead he plays this little game of forcing lease holders to enforce a ban, which they have no authority under law to do, and should not be put into such a position in the first place. Only cowards force others to do their dirty work.    

“It is the City’s policy,” says the agreement, “to not allow events on City property at which the event organizers permit the possession of firearms. As a condition of entering into this agreement, Licensee agrees to prohibit any person, except for law enforcement officers and on-duty security personnel, from possessing firearms at Licensee’s Event in the Facility(ies), and to take reasonable steps to notify Licensee’s audiences, staff, volunteers, vendors and contractors of this prohibition. City shall provide and place signage notifying the public of this policy at all main entrances to the Seattle Center campus and to the Facility(ies), and shall conduct regular training in implementing the foregoing policy for its Admission personnel and contract Peer Group personnel.”    

One gun rights activist suggested that PrideFest simply appoint any armed citizen who attends the event as an on-duty security officer while they are on site.    

The Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation has promised to sue Nickels and the city if the mayor goes through with his threat to sign an executive order banning all firearms from city property, in defiance of the state’s 25-year old preemption statute. That lawsuit will reportedly be joined by the National Rifle Association, and three individual plaintiffs.      

Anti-gay protests at the Center in past years have, according to one gay gun owner, speaking on condition of anonymity, left many gays and lesbians feeling threatened and intimidated, and worried about their safety. Yet the city dismisses their concerns. This is yet another manifestation of the social bigotry against firearms owners being practiced in Nickels' Seattle. He's all for gay rights, until that gay person decides to exercise his or her rights under the Second Amendment and Article 1, Section 24 of the state constitution. At that point, the gay person's rights suddenly become far inferior to the First Amendment rights of anti-gay protesters, or even the illegal activities of gay bashers who may be attracted to the Seattle Center to commit a violent hate crime.    

This one-sided approach to gun rights seems to be standard operating procedure for Seattle under Greg Nickels. Two Town Hall meetings to address youth violence are scheduled this month, on June 15 at Eckstein Middle School and on June 25 at The Hall at Faultleroy. At the latter event, the scheduled keynoter is Dr. Gary Slutkin, executive director of Chicago Ceasefire, an anti-gun-rights organization. An e-mail to the city inquiring whether someone from a firearms rights organization would also be invited to speak went unanswered.    

Both meetings run 6:30-9 p.m. and are open to the public.    

UPDATE: Activists in Olympia report that no such prohibitions will apply to a Pride event scheduled June 20 in that city. The event will be patrolled by Washington State troopers and Olympia police.