Bremerton bringing parks ordinance in line with state preemption

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Saw this on the Bremerton City Council agenda for next Wed 11/19:

Ordinance No. 5067, amending Bremerton Municipal Code Chapter 13.04.060 relating to
“Discharging Firearms in City Parks” in order to comply with RCW 9.41.300 (#AB08-252)

Even though the agenda item refers to discharge of a firearm, they are really amending the code to reflect carry of firearms. They are striking out the language that states it is illegal to carry a firearm in Bremerton parks.

Go to page 30 of the full agenda pdf found here:
http://www.ci.bremerton.wa.us/forms/citycouncil/packet/packet08nov19.pdf

Did somebody from OCDO get this pushed through? If so, nice work!

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YES! It was one of ours - AjetPilot from Port Orchard.

He originally brought it to the council's attention months ago, attended city meetings sitting for hours waiting to speak, wrote letters, button-holed council members and clearly presented the facts to them. Mostly getting the cold shoulder and ignored, he kept at it, and here we have a favorable result.

The wheels turn slowly, but this is a fine example of what one man can do when he knows he is right and follows through.

We all owe him a thank you, and job well done!

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WooHoo!!! I wonder if the recent AG opinion had anything to do with this?

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sv_libertarian wrote:

WooHoo!!! I wonder if the recent AG opinion had anything to do with this?

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Nah! Everyone knows that Council Members don't have to pay attention to the AG. Hell, they don't even pay attention to the Legislature. Once elected they only have to answer to themselves.

I know. I'm being sarcastic but it sure does appear that way when I read about County Council's, Port of Seattle, and Mayor Nickels going about their merry ways regardless of the law.

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Anyone from Kitsap want to attend a Bremerton City Council meeting and support the cause?

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Iron Monger wrote:

YES! It was one of ours - AjetPilot from Port Orchard.

He originally brought it to the council's attention months ago, attended city meetings sitting for hours waiting to speak, wrote letters, button-holed council members and clearly presented the facts to them. Mostly getting the cold shoulder and ignored, he kept at it, and here we have a favorable result.

The wheels turn slowly, but this is a fine example of what one man can do when he knows he is right and follows through.

We all owe him a thank you, and job well done!

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As far as I know Bruce was working with the Kitsap County Council, not Bremerton City.

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sean-1286 wrote:

As far as I know Bruce was working with the Kitsap County Council, not Bremerton City.

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Sean is right. I wish I could take credit for this nice piece of work, but it must have been someone else. I've been utterly unsuccessfulin my lobbying efforts with the Kitsap County Board of Commissioners.

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Ajetpilot wrote:

sean-1286 wrote:

As far as I know Bruce was working with the Kitsap County Council, not Bremerton City.

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Sean is right. I wish I could take credit for this nice piece of work, but it must have been someone else. I've been utterly unsuccessfulin my lobbying efforts with the Kitsap County Board of Commissioners.

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This has prompted me to make an appearance at the Federal Way council meeting this Tuesday, 11/18 at 1900. I will in passing mention and present them with the Bremerton ordinance that will modify the offending code.

One thing I have learned from my dealings with FW is that all these municipalities and counties rarely will reinvent the wheel. Code is copied and adopted from one agency to the next. It would stand to reason that they would take advantage of another jurisdiction wising up as well. Perhaps it's wishful thinking; we'll see.

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It appears that a lot of municipalities in WA host their city/county codes at this company: http://www.codepublishing.com/

According to their website, they do a "legal review" of all codes submitted and will suggest changes to the submitting municipality.

For those with cities/counties that still have offending codes on the books, perhaps another angle would be to contact this company with information regarding state preemption so they can then inform the municpality of "suggested changes".

Ajetpilot: I thought Kitsap had finally agreed to change the code... they STILL haven't brought it to a meeting of the commissioners? Time to make some stickers at www.cafepress.com that say "see RCW 9.41.300" and cover up the portions of the park signs that say firearms are not allowed.

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spike89 wrote:

It appears that a lot of municipalities in WA host their city/county codes at this company: http://www.codepublishing.com/

According to their website, they do a "legal review" of all codes submitted and will suggest changes to the submitting municipality.

For those with cities/counties that still have offending codes on the books, perhaps another angle would be to contact this company with information regarding state preemption so they can then inform the municpality of "suggested changes".

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That's a pretty good idea there. I like that angle, but I'm not sure what percentage of WA State cities, counties, municipalities, etc actually utilize that company. It would be good to know, since that would determine how much effort should be placed into getting them 'on-board' with .300.

Ajetpilot: I thought Kitsap had finally agreed to change the code... they STILL haven't brought it to a meeting of the commissioners? Time to make some stickers at http://www.cafepress.com that say "see RCW 9.41.300" and cover up the portions of the park signs that say firearms are not allowed.

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Unfortunately, that's not a good idea. Putting a sticker on the sign is still either graffiti and/or littering. Commiting an infraction to point out a sign that's in violation of State Preemption is just as bad as the people that broke windows during the WTO riots to protest the conference.

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just_a_car wrote:

That's a pretty good idea there. I like that angle, but I'm not sure what percentage of WA State cities, counties, municipalities, etc actually utilize that company. It would be good to know, since that would determine how much effort should be placed into getting them 'on-board' with .300.

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Here is a list of the municipalities they serve:
http://www.codepublishing.com/eLibrary.html#washington

Unfortunately, that's not a good idea. Putting a sticker on the sign is still either graffiti and/or littering. Commiting an infraction to point out a sign that's in violation of State Preemption is just as bad as the people that broke windows during the WTO riots to protest the conference.

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Yeah, I was just being snarky since apparently our commissioners don't have respect for the law when it doesn't fit their political agenda. Comparing stickers to the WTO riots is pushing it a bit though. The irony is that the county is so broke that if they ever do get around to changing the code, putting stickers over the signs is probably exactly what they will do.