In October 2020, two proud gun owners and their member organizations, NRA and SAF, brought on a lawsuit to the City of Seattle for their mandatory gun lock ordinance. A unanimous panel of the Washington State Court of appeals sided with the gun rights organizations to reverse a ruling by the lower court that dismissed the case against the City of Seattle.
The Pro 2A organizations argued that Seattle’s mandate violated Washinton’s preemption law against local gun regulations. The mandate also called for fines up to $10,000 for unsecured firearms in some cases.
The City argued that since the gun owners have not personally been fined for violating the ordinance, they didn’t have the standing to sue over the gun lock mandate.
Acting Chief Judge Beth Andrus said they saw no basis “to require a person to confess to a violation of an ordinance and risk exposure to significant civil infractions before being able to challenge the validity of that ordinance under state law.”
The case is now back in the hands of the lower courts “for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
The Second Amendment Foundation looked at the ruling as a win, ready for the gun owners to have their day in court.
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