BELLINGHAM - Gun sales would be banned near the city's 50 state-licensed day care centers, 19 public schools and four colleges, under a draft law. It would also ban sales near at least 13 private and religious schools.
The proposed law, which the City Council will consider approving Monday, May 18, would allow existing gun dealers to continue operating, even if they were near a school, but it would ban new locations from opening and selling within 500 feet of schools.
The city currently has eight licensed gun dealers, according to the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
State law allows cities to ban gun sales within 500 feet of "primary and secondary school grounds." City staff drafted a law that defines schools as including day cares, public and private schools and preschools, and staff added colleges to the definition, at the direction of the council.
Council policy analyst Mark Gardner said that in the absence of a clear definition in state law, he drafted a definition of school that mirrors a definition already in city code and keeps with the intent of state law, which is to protect children.
"It doesn't make sense to say a 4-year-old should not be given any protection because they're not yet in kindergarten," he previously told the council.
Another reason for the law: City officials want to prevent passers-by from seeing somebody with a gun near a school, calling police and triggering a lockdown and major police response to a false alarm.
Dan Sytman, spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office, previously said he could imagine a gun-rights person or group suing Bellingham, claiming its definition of "school" goes further than state law allows. The question, then, is whether the city is confident enough in the definition to go through a court challenge, he said.
It's a significant question, particularly because there are so many day cares, he said.
The issue arose after Checkmate Pawn in 2008 proposed relocating to near Shuksan Middle School. The city tried to ban the owner from selling guns at the location, but he appealed to the city's hearing examiner and won. The project has since been abandoned.
The city's proposed definition hasn't drawn much praise or criticism. Only one written comment was sent to city officials.
"This attempt to restrict guns out of your city is nothing short of an attack on the Second Amendment of the Constitution of the United States," wrote Aaron A. Tracy. It is unclear whether Tracy is a Whatcom County resident. "You wouldn't think of banning a pharmacy, grocery store or an auto dealership within 500 feet of a school, but drugs, alcohol and cars kill far more people every year than guns."