According to the Daily Weekly, Nickels is "moving forward" with his decision to ban guns on city-owned property despite opposition from citizens and state government leaders alike, and the ban could go into effect as soon as May. As the Weekly's Don Ward points out, the constitutionality of Nickels' ban will almost certainly be tested in court; critics of the mayor's executive order (including Seattlest) are looking to state law regarding legal possession of firearms to soundly trump any city law forbidding someone with a license to carry a gun on city property. We predict (read: profoundly hope) the ban will in fact be found unconstitutional. It would also be nice if all this uproar provokes productive dialogue about how to effectively counter and prevent gun violence in Seattle without blatant disregard for state law. more ›

Because we couldn't make it to the gun ban public hearing, we've been trying to catch up via online accounts of the meeting. "I personally view carrying a gun as kind of like wearing a seatbelt," one of the opponents of the ban said, caught on tape by King5. "You'll probably never need it but I still buckle up." (Of course, in a car crash the seatbelt would probably be a net positive, while a gun would just rattle around in your glove box.) Other opponents argued that the ban would prevent law-abiding citizens from being able to protect themselves against gun-toting criminals. Proponents of Nickels' questionably legal executive order were, of course, concerned about accidental firings. Still no conversation, at least not recorded in the accounts we've read, about addressing gun violence from the angle of making guns and/or bullets (and/or seatbelts, which are just like guns) more difficult to obtain--our favorite angle. more ›

We've said it before and we'll say it again: the mayor's proposal to ban guns on public property is an ill-founded idea. Attorney General McKenna has said Nickels doesn't have the legal authority to follow through on this plan, but so far all the opposition seems to have barely registered with the man and the ban is barrelling full steam ahead. That is, unless enough people make it clear that there are better ways to combat gun violence. Tonight is your chance to speak up in public on how you feel about the gun ban, as City Hall is hosting an official City of Seattle hearing on the subject at 6:30 p.m. No word on whether Mayor Nickels will be there to sign autographs (sorry!). more ›