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Chairman Creighton, commissioners;                 Meeting
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My comments will be brief.
Correspondence with your senior counsel has clearly shown that Section 3,
General Rule 16.a is in violation of state preemption of firearms (9.41.290 and
9.41.300(e)).
Per counsel, since this rule has not been adopted into the City of SeaTac
criminal code, preemption does not apply (citing Cherry v. Municipal Metro of
Seattle and (unpublished) Estes v. Vashon-Maury Fire Protection Dist 13). t      Oh
Furthermore, he states that the rule could be used to form a basis for a criminal
trespass charge (9A.52.080).
On October 13'" the Attorney General office published Opinion 2008 No. 8 that
addresses both the applicability of preemption and the Port Rules and the notion
of circumventing preemption with a threat of a criminal trespass charge. I can
provide a copy of this for the clerk. Counsel focuses on a phrase in Cherry that is
immaterial; "ac1:ing in a capacity comparable to that of a private party" while
ignoring the key phrase from 'that ruling; "The "laws and ordinances" preempted
are laws of application to the general public." Using Cherry, the commission is
free to prohibit Port Employee's from possessing firearms. They are not free to
apply this rule to the general public. The AG addresses the suggestion of using
possession of a firearm as the foundation for a criminal trespass charge on page
five.
I understand that the Attorney General cannot force you to comply with either the
state law or this opinion. It does, however speak directly to this situation. I would
ask that the commission give it due notice and view it in the same light that a
judge would. The Port is on very thin legal ice here. Your officers are at risk for
false arrest. The Port could be liable for creating a situation where a normally
armed person is unarmed due to your rule and signs and suffers an attack where
use of lethal force may have prevented injury or death.
Please take this opportunity to bring your rules and signage in line with state law
by removing any reference to legally carried firearms outside of the restricted
area as outlined in 9.41.300(e). Thank you.