State's law of preemption hobbles cities' attempt to address gun violence [View all]

[SecularMotion]

What if we could significantly reduce gun violence and deaths in large cities like Seattle and Tacoma by changing a single state law in Olympia?

A little background. According to the book “Private Gun, Public Health” – written by Dr. David Hemenway, the director of injury prevention at the Harvard School of Public Health – the states with the most comprehensive gun legislation, like closing the gun show loophole, have one-sixth the level of gun violence of those states like Florida that have the most lenient gun laws.

Washington has some of the most lenient gun laws and has been given an F by the national Brady Campaign. This state permits things that even Texas forbids, such as open carry of a loaded firearm without a permit.

But there is one state gun law that trumps all the rest: the state law of preemption, or RCW 9.41.290. It states that “the state of Washington hereby fully occupies and preempts the entire field of firearms regulation. Local laws that are inconsistent with, more restrictive than, or exceed the requirements of state law shall not be enacted, regardless of the nature of the code.”

http://www.thenewstribune.com/2012/06/07/2172215/states-law-of-preemption-hobbles.html#storylink=cpy