The City Council’s Public Safety Committee meets at 9:30 am tomorrow, with an agenda including their first look at various proposals to change city laws and/or create new ones, in many cases just making city law match up with state law. This memo from council staff gets into key points including:
Firearm & Weapon Restrictions
This bill would adopt various changes made to state law in recent years concerning firearms and other weapons. Generally, firearms regulation is an area of law where cities and other local government entities are preempted from enacting their own unique restrictions, but may choose to adopt changes made by the Washington State Legislature. This bill would adopt RCW 9.41.010 and 9.41.390 which, taken together, prohibit with limited exceptions the manufacture, import, distribution, and sale of a category of firearms known as “assault weapons” defined by reference to a list of specific firearms in combination with a descriptive schema based on certain firearm features. Violations of these assault weapon provisions would be a gross misdemeanor.
This bill would also create a civil infraction in the amount of $1,000 for failing to report the theft of a firearm within 24 hours to the Seattle Police Department.
Finally, the bill would also add libraries, zoos and aquariums, and transit stations and facilities to the existing list of places where weapons are prohibited. Violations of City place-based weapons restrictions would be punishable as a gross misdemeanor. Statutory changes related to firearms and other weapons described above were made to RCW by the state legislature during the 2023 and 2024 sessions.
Then there’s a bill addressing traffic laws – CB 121081 – including these proposals among others, as summarized in the staff memo:
Covered License Plates
This bill would update vehicle license plate requirements to prohibit the use of license plate covers. Existing SMC prohibits plate frames, holders, or other materials that “change, alter, or make a license plate [illegible],” but does not explicitly ban plate covers (e.g. tinted plastic covers commonly in use). This change would mirror a state law change adopted by the legislature in 2024 which was intended to address an increase in the use of plate covers which obscure license plate legibility by law enforcement officers and automated tolling cameras.Negligent Driving with Vulnerable User Victim
This bill would establish new offenses of negligent driving with a vulnerable user victim in the first and second degrees. “Vulnerable user of a public way” would be defined to mean, in sum: a pedestrian; person riding an animal; or, a person operating a wheeled vehicle other than an automobile. The new first degree offense would be triggered by negligent driving that is likely to endanger a person or property, and results in the death of a vulnerable user. The second-degree offense would be triggered by similar conduct that results in great or substantial bodily harm to a vulnerable user, rather than death. The new first-degree offense would be a gross misdemeanor with a $1,000 mandatory minimum fine and a 90 day license suspension. The new second degree offense would be a traffic infraction. These changes would mirror state law changes adopted by the legislature in 2023.
The full agenda for tomorrow morning’s committee meeting includes how to watch and comment (as well as the other items the councilmembers will consider, including what’s ahead for the Community Safety Initiative).
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