No firearms at outdoor music festivals - RCW 70.108.150

"RCW 70.108.150 - Firearms - Penalty.

It shall be unlawful for any person, except law enforcement officers, to carry, transport or convey, or to have in his possession or under his control any firearm while on the site of an outdoor music festival."

Anybody familiar with the origins of this law?

What is considered an "outdoor music festival?" Would a rally of any sort (e.g. political, religious, etc.) that included music automatically be considered an "outdoor music festival?" Some of the Tea Party rallies out here have live music, but I wouldn't consider them an "outdoor music festival." I wonder if a prosecutor could/would.

I believe an "outdoor music festival" would be something a little more like Woodstock...

Just without all the lack of food and water and such...

For it to be an outdoor music festival the primary purpose is for musical entertainment, ie not political or religious gatherings.

RCW 70.108.020

For the purposes of this chapter the following words and phrases shall have the indicated meanings:

(1) "Outdoor music festival" or "music festival" or "festival" means an assembly of persons gathered primarily for outdoor, live or recorded musical entertainment, where the predicted attendance is two thousand persons or more and where the duration of the program is five hours or longer: PROVIDED, That this definition shall not be applied to any regularly established permanent place of worship, stadium, athletic field, arena, auditorium, coliseum, or other similar permanently established places of assembly for assemblies which do not exceed by more than two hundred fifty people the maximum seating capacity of the structure where the assembly is held: PROVIDED, FURTHER, That this definition shall not apply to government sponsored fairs held on regularly established fairgrounds nor to assemblies required to be licensed under other laws or regulations of the state.

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=70.108.020

This law goes back to the early 70's when outdoor music festivals popular (post Woodstock) . In November of 1971 promoters decided to hold a "Rock Festival" at Satsop, WA. The Washinton State Legislature decided to enact legislation to prevent the same issues that occurred at Woodstock.

This "law" only applies to venues such as farm fields, etc. as fairgrounds, etc are excluded.

If sleeping in the mud turned you on, Satsop was the place to be.

Thanks for the info.

I don't think there were any problems with guns at Woodstock. I've never seen any reference at all to guns at Woodstock.

There were three deaths at the 1969 festival: one heroin overdose, one trampled, and one run over by a tractor while sleeping in a field.

cbpeck said:

"RCW 70.108.150 - Firearms - Penalty.

It shall be unlawful for any person, except law enforcement officers, to carry, transport or convey, or to have in his possession or under his control any firearm while on the site of an outdoor music festival."

Anybody familiar with the origins of this law?

What is considered an "outdoor music festival?" Would a rally of any sort (e.g. political, religious, etc.) that included music automatically be considered an "outdoor music festival?" Some of the Tea Party rallies out here have live music, but I wouldn't consider them an "outdoor music festival." I wonder if a prosecutor could/would.

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always go up a level. Definitions are usually found within the same section, usually around .010 or .020

e.g if you have questions about 70.108.150, go look at 70.108 and see if there are definitions sections listed

KBCraig said:

I don't think there were any problems with guns at Woodstock. I've never seen any reference at all to guns at Woodstock.

There were three deaths at the 1969 festival: one heroin overdose, one trampled, and one run over by a tractor while sleeping in a field.

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3 deaths + 2 births= -1 Hippie FTW!

trevorthebusdriver said:

3 deaths + 2 births= -1 Hippie FTW!

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That just covered the "Vital Statistics" for the days of the Concert. How many died later from effects of the drugs? How many unexpected pregnancy's that resulted in more hippies 9 mos. later. For some reason I get the feeling that a lot of those Woodstock babies are todays voting liberals.

amlevin said:

That just covered the "Vital Statistics" for the days of the Concert. How many died later from effects of the drugs? How many unexpected pregnancy's that resulted in more hippies 9 mos. later. For some reason I get the feeling that a lot of those Woodstock babies are todays voting liberals.

Click to expand...

+1