44Brent
Regular Member
The House joines (sic) the Senate in barring openly carried guns from the chambers’ public-viewing areas in Olympia.
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2025497927_gunshousegalleryxml.html
OLYMPIA — The state House has joined the Senate in prohibiting people from openly carrying firearms in the public viewing area located over the floor where lawmakers sit.
The decision was made Monday morning after a meeting between leaders from both sides of the aisle in that chamber, and also applies to openly carried knives. The House gallery rules will now include a line prohibiting “open-carried weapons such as guns, firearms, and blades.”
House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, D-Covington, said the clarification of the rule banning demonstrations in the public galleries takes effect immediately, and that security staff have been notified and will hand out the list of restrictions to people who show up with openly carried weapons.
“This is about how we operate within the House framework that allows us to get our work done,” Sullivan said. “This isn’t a matter of Second Amendment rights. The fact you can’t bring a sign into the gallery, although you have a First Amendment right of free speech ... There are limitations. Within our rules, we believe we have the ability to restrict certain things that would distract from our ability to get work done.”
Sullivan said the attorney general’s office was consulted over the weekend regarding constitutional issues surrounding the decision.
“We believe that we’re on solid ground,” he said.
The move by the House comes just days after a similar decision by Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, a Democrat who serves as president of the Senate. Owen announced Friday that he considered openly carried guns the same as any prop used for a demonstration, which is not allowed under each chamber’s rules.
Owen’s decision came a day after a dozen protesters went to the House gallery with their weapons after a gun-rights rally on the Capitol steps protesting a new voter-approved gun background-check law.
People can still bring their concealed guns into the galleries, as long as they have a concealed pistol license.
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2025497927_gunshousegalleryxml.html
OLYMPIA — The state House has joined the Senate in prohibiting people from openly carrying firearms in the public viewing area located over the floor where lawmakers sit.
The decision was made Monday morning after a meeting between leaders from both sides of the aisle in that chamber, and also applies to openly carried knives. The House gallery rules will now include a line prohibiting “open-carried weapons such as guns, firearms, and blades.”
House Majority Leader Pat Sullivan, D-Covington, said the clarification of the rule banning demonstrations in the public galleries takes effect immediately, and that security staff have been notified and will hand out the list of restrictions to people who show up with openly carried weapons.
“This is about how we operate within the House framework that allows us to get our work done,” Sullivan said. “This isn’t a matter of Second Amendment rights. The fact you can’t bring a sign into the gallery, although you have a First Amendment right of free speech ... There are limitations. Within our rules, we believe we have the ability to restrict certain things that would distract from our ability to get work done.”
Sullivan said the attorney general’s office was consulted over the weekend regarding constitutional issues surrounding the decision.
“We believe that we’re on solid ground,” he said.
The move by the House comes just days after a similar decision by Lt. Gov. Brad Owen, a Democrat who serves as president of the Senate. Owen announced Friday that he considered openly carried guns the same as any prop used for a demonstration, which is not allowed under each chamber’s rules.
Owen’s decision came a day after a dozen protesters went to the House gallery with their weapons after a gun-rights rally on the Capitol steps protesting a new voter-approved gun background-check law.
People can still bring their concealed guns into the galleries, as long as they have a concealed pistol license.
