A state appeals court said no to local Democrat lawmakers in a major win for supporters of the Second Amendment last week.
According to the Washington Free Beacon, a Washington state appeals court struck down on Monday a local gun ordinance in Edmonds, Washington that heavily restricted firearms storage and possession.
The three-judge panel that issued the ruling cited a Washington law that blocks local governments from passing gun reform measures that “preempt” state-level legislation.
An “unambiguous” decision
The Monday ruling covered “an Edmonds ordinance making it a civil infraction to store unlocked any firearm and to allow access to such a firearm by children or others not permitted by law to possess it.”
In their decision, the justices ruled in favor of three individual gun owners in the city who “testified that they have an interest in keeping their firearms unsecured in the presence of unauthorized users, and they will have to deviate from their storage practices to avoid violating both provisions of the ordinance.”
The ruling was unanimous, according to the Free Beacon.
“[T]he legislature’s express preemption of ‘the entire field of firearms regulation’ is unambiguous and necessarily extends to regulations of the storage of firearms,” the justices wrote.
“An important victory”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, supporters of the Second Amendment are celebrating the decision.
“Today’s ruling is an important victory for the people of Washington,” Lars Dalseide, spokesman for NRA Washington state, said in a statement, according to the Free Beacon.
“Hopefully jurisdictions like Edmonds will realize that violating the Washington State Constitution is neither legal nor in the best interest of personal protection,” he added.
Dalseide went on:
Washington state law prevents local jurisdictions from passing laws that are inconsistent with or more restrictive than state law. We thank the courts for faithfully applying the preemption law and securing the rights of those who choose to protect themselves, their families, and their homes.
One can only hope the case out of Edmonds, Washington will serve as a precedent for similar cases across the country, as gun owners continue to fight for what is supposed to be a constitutionally-protected right.
The post Washington state appeals court throws out local gun ordinance: ‘An important victory’ first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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