Megalomaniac mayor shooting from the hip (Seattle mayor wants to ban concealed carry from city)

WHEN IT comes to a city plan to keep concealed weapons from public places, Felix Arena, proud gun owner, has a few thoughts.

First, he says, state law gives him the right to carry concealed firearms with a permit. So what gives Seattle the gumption to trump that?

Second, he says, the plan would be hard to enforce unless the city wants airportlike security in parks and other properties. Wands and metal detectors cost money and are a hassle for crowds.

Third: "It's just bulls - - -," Arena summed up during a break from his checker job at a store near Seattle Center, which would be affected by the ban. "Why's the mayor doing this?"

Take Friday, for example. Word had spread that Seattle Parks and Recreation was thinking about ending a popular Seattle ritual -- beach bonfires. After a public outcry, the department had to bend so far over backward it almost snapped in two.

Memo to parks honchos: Next time you want to save the North Pole from a meltdown or protect equatorial pygmies from sunburns by reducing Seattle carbon emissions, don't douse hometown tradition.

In other government goof-ups, Nickels has been eager to lean on police to clean up city nightclubs through stings.

But, as the Seattle P-I recently reported, after eight months and 26 arrests at clubs, there have been how many slam-dunk convictions? Zilch.

Such futility won't curtail Nickels' heavy hand. He recently put out a "Help Wanted" sign for a city nightclub czar. Presumably, this czar -- or czarina? -- will lord over more dubious club arrests.

But to make sure his critics and the pundits see his softer, saner side, the mayor just hired a man to pour on the Shinola.

Robert Mak, a well-regarded Seattle political reporter, is receiving a kingly sum to burnish the mayor's vision -- a whopping $160,000, about 10 grand more than Nickels sees.

"Strip clubs" will be framed as "Strip-poled Houses of Sodom" to justify police purges of dens of sin.

That's because the mayor is racking up points with his Pothole Rangers and doesn't want to muff that up.

Fixing potholes isn't as challenging as making sure working-class folks can afford to live in the city after their apartments become condos.

Feel-good headlines about potholes distract from major issues the mayor promised to fix -- such as improving transit. But it dawned on Nickels that picking on dirty dancers and noisy nightclubs and the homeless and plastic bags is easier -- and much sexier, a sure bet to get his name in bright lights as Seattle's crusading cynosure.

Nickels recently steamrolled City Council members such as Nick Licata, who tried to put the brakes on the mayor's Big Brother push for surveillance cameras in parks.

"I felt that there is little if any information available to us that surveillance cameras actually reduce crime," Licata said in vain.

The mayor's handlers are now on red alert for his windbag emissions, like this recent one: Nickels stood before regional movers and shakers and said Seattle ought to secede from the state.

It was a joke, his spin doctors tried to explain. The rest of Washington forgot to laugh.

But now that the mayor has put concealed weapons in his sights, there are gun-loving lawmakers east of the Cascades who'd love to lop Seattle off -- no joke.

Nickels' gun plan came after a man with a history of mental illness shot and injured two at Seattle Center during the Folklife Festival.

So Arena, a 30-year-old married father of two, wondered: Why target responsible gun owners, but not mentally ill people who get access to guns? Bingo!

Equally puzzling is Nickels' showy assault on guns just as overall violent crime in Seattle dipped.

Yes, politics -- along with blatant, knee-jerk pandering to the public's whims and fears.

*** LETTER WRITING CAMPAIGN NOW ! *** Copy and paste the following into a letter and send it to the WA State AG. If you are a resident use this one: Page 1 Honorable, R. McKenna, WA State Attorney General. Office of the WA State Attorney General. 1116 WEST RIVERSIDE SPOKANE WA 99201-1194 Honorable, R. McKenna I am a concerned WA State resident who has just learned of mayor Nickels’ plan to ban the legal possession of weapons on Seattle City Property, under the guise of "private property". There are some fundamental problems with this thinking, obviously cities are not allowed to create their own gun laws under state pre-emption, and I understand that you have issued an official AG Opinion regarding this, which Greg Nickels is defiantly ignoring. But equally important is the fact that Mayor Nickels considers city property to be private property! The city is not a private entity like a corporation, but instead a public entity, making city lands (such as Seattle Center) public property, not private property. Law abiding residents, including myself, fear we will be arrested for exercising rights that are protected under federal and state constitutions. Such abuse of power and blatant tyranny should not be accepted. Law abiding residents should not be punished and prosecuted under illegal legislation. Depriving law abiding resident’s rights is a serious crime, and Greg Nickels is very guilty of it. His actions in passing this executive decision are not only illegal under state law, but also under federal law. Any enforcement of this law would be a federal offense, a "color of law" violation and it is very serious. The fact that a public official believes he can do whatever they want without consequence is a prodigious problem. Many other law abiding residents, including myself, feel helpless in this matter and we would ask that you please intervene and have mayor Nickels reprimanded under the following laws: RCW 9A.80.010 - Official misconduct. TITLE 18, U.S.C., SECTION 242 Sincerely, Enclosure: Copies of cited: RCW 9A.80.010 - Official misconduct. TITLE 18, U.S.C., SECTION 242 Page 2 RCW 9A.80.010 Official misconduct. (1) A public servant is guilty of official misconduct if, with intent to obtain a benefit or to deprive another person of a lawful right or privilege: (a) He intentionally commits an unauthorized act under color of law; or (b) He intentionally refrains from performing a duty imposed upon him by law. (2) Official misconduct is a gross misdemeanor. TITLE 18, U.S.C., SECTION 242 Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, ... shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death. For visitors to Washington state Page 1 Honorable, R. McKenna, WA State Attorney General. Office of the WA State Attorney General. 1116 WEST RIVERSIDE SPOKANE WA 99201-1194 Honorable, R. McKenna I am a concerned law abiding visitor to WA State who has just learned of mayor Nickels’ plan to ban the legal possession of weapons on Seattle City Property, under the guise of "private property". There are some fundamental problems with this thinking, obviously cities are not allowed to create their own gun laws under state pre-emption, and I understand that you have issued an official AG Opinion regarding this, which Greg Nickels is defiantly ignoring. But equally important is the fact that Mayor Nickels considers city property to be private property! The city is not a private entity like a corporation, but instead a public entity, making city lands (such as Seattle Center) public property, not private property. Law abiding visitors, including myself, fear we will be arrested for exercising rights that are protected under federal and state constitutions. Such abuse of power and blatant tyranny should not be accepted. Law abiding visitors should not be punished and prosecuted under illegal legislation. Depriving law abiding visitor’s rights is a serious crime, and Greg Nickels is very guilty of it. His actions in passing this executive decision are not only illegal under state law, but also under federal law. Any enforcement of this law would be a federal offense, a "color of law" violation and it is very serious. The fact that a public official believes he can do whatever they want without consequence is a prodigious problem. Many other law abiding visitors, including myself, feel helpless in this matter and we would ask that you please intervene and have mayor Nickels reprimanded under the following laws: RCW 9A.80.010 - Official misconduct. TITLE 18, U.S.C., SECTION 242 Sincerely, Enclosure: Copies of cited: RCW 9A.80.010 - Official misconduct. TITLE 18, U.S.C., SECTION 242 Page 2 RCW 9A.80.010 Official misconduct. (1) A public servant is guilty of official misconduct if, with intent to obtain a benefit or to deprive another person of a lawful right or privilege: (a) He intentionally commits an unauthorized act under color of law; or (b) He intentionally refrains from performing a duty imposed upon him by law. (2) Official misconduct is a gross misdemeanor. TITLE 18, U.S.C., SECTION 242 Whoever, under color of any law, statute, ordinance, regulation, or custom, willfully subjects any person in any State, Territory, Commonwealth, Possession, or District to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States, ... shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than one year, or both; and if bodily injury results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years, or both; and if death results from the acts committed in violation of this section or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, shall be fined under this title, or imprisoned for any term of years or for life, or both, or may be sentenced to death.

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