BELLEVUE, WA – The Second Amendment Foundation today filed notice of appeal in their challenge of Initiative 594, in which a district court judge in Tacoma dismissed without prejudice last month on the grounds that SAF and its co-plaintiffs lack standing because none of them have so far been criminally cited or prosecuted under the new law.
The request for review of that ruling, by federal District Judge Benjamin H. Settle, is being made to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.
SAF is joined in its lawsuit by the Northwest School of Safety, Puget Sound Security, Inc., the Pacific Northwest Association of Investigators, Inc., Firearms Academy of Seattle, Inc., Darryl Lee, Xee Del Real, Joe Waldron, Gene Hoffman, Andrew Gottlieb, Alan Gottlieb and the Gottlieb Family Revocable Living Trust. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of several tenets of the 18-page gun control measure, passed by voters in November.
“We believe an appeal will result in the case being remanded for full hearing because there are serious issues at stake,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb. “Citizens should not have to actually be criminally prosecuted in order to challenge the constitutionality of a poorly-written law.”
Gottlieb noted that his legal team has been joined by California-based attorney Donald E.J. Kilmer, Jr., who has considerable experience before the Ninth Circuit. He has already been fully briefed on the background by SAF’s team, including Seattle attorneys Steven W. Fogg and David B. Edwards with Corr Cronin Michelson Baumgardner Fogg & Moore LLP, and Bellevue attorney Miko Tempski.
“We’ve worked with Don in the past,” Gottlieb said, “and we’re delighted to have him on board for this next step in the process. His experience at the Ninth Circuit will be invaluable.”