Day 347 – What could possibly go wrong?

by The Philosophical Fish

December 12, 2016 – “Conservative legislators in Washington state have proposed a bill that would allow fans to bring guns into stadiums”…..

High emotions, alcohol, and guns…..what could possibly go wrong?

Only in America would this seem like a sane consideration……


Fans could bring guns into stadiums under proposed bill in Washington state

A new proposed amendment to the Revised Code of Washington would change laws currently prohibiting a private company, such as the Seattle Seahawks, from banning guns from stadiums on public land, CBS Sports’ Will Brinson reports.

It is not currently illegal to carry a firearm into a game under Washington law, but CenturyLink Field, as well as Safeco Field and any other stadium, are allowed to prohibit folks from bringing certain items, including firearms, into said stadiums.

House Bill 1015, proposed by three Republican members of the state House of Representatives, would eliminate the stadiums’ ability to “prohibit persons with a valid concealed pistol license from carrying a concealed pistol in any facility or on any grounds of a facility.”

CenturyLink, like Safeco, is located on public property. But it’s run by a private enterprise — one that prohibits people from bringing in guns.

The new law, first noticed by the Seattle Times, would change that. Here’s the full text (pdf) of the proposed law:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. 
A new section is added to chapter 36.102 RCW to read as follows: 

(1) A public stadium authority may not prohibit persons with a valid concealed pistol license from carrying a concealed pistol in any facility or on any grounds of a facility that is owned, operated, managed, administered, controlled, or maintained by the public stadium authority, or leased or rented to a private or public entity by the public stadium authority.

(2) A private entity that operates, manages, administers, controls, maintains, or leases or rents a facility from a public stadium authority may not prohibit persons with a valid concealed pistol license from carrying a concealed pistol in the facility or on the grounds of the facility.  

Additionally, the law seeks to prohibit “any local government” from stopping folks from carrying guns into stadiums or convention centers, etc.  

A local governmental entity may not, whether by law, ordinance, regulation, rule, policy, or contractual agreement, prohibit persons with a valid concealed pistol license from carrying a concealed pistol in any stadium, convention center, arena, or similar facility, or on the grounds of any such facility, that is owned, operated, managed, administered, controlled, or maintained by the local governmental entity, or leased or rented to a private or public entity by the local governmental entity.

The logistics of bringing a pistol into a stadium legally would be tricky to say the least, particularly when you consider the current restrictions on items allowed into NFL games.

The league doesn’t allow most bags in games, requiring fans to utilize clear plastic bags to bring items into games. It would be a stunning turn if the league suddenly allowed people to bring firearms into the stadium.

And there’s the whole matter of fan safety, of course. We saw in Raiders-Chiefs that people aren’t afraid to fight in the stands of a football game following a couple of beers and a heated rivalry in a frigid night football game. Fighting in these situations is far from uncommon — adding bullets and guns to these situations literally has deadly potential.

The NFL is hardly afraid to utilize its leverage in certain political situations, typically behind the scenes more than outright, and it would hardly be surprising to see the league cough loudly and inform local politicians that the passage of such a law would be greatly frowned upon.

In the wake of the terror attacks in Paris, where a suicide squad targeted a major soccer match, police unions asked the NFL to reconsider its policy of barring off-duty and retired police officers from carrying guns inside stadiums. The NFL said no. 

The NFL implemented a stadium gun ban in 2013. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports an appeals court upheld the league’s right to do so in August of 2015, after they were sued by Minnesota police organizations.

In a letter defending the ban, Goodell said: “If permitted to carry concealed weapons, they create deconfliction issues for working law enforcement officers and increase the potential for “blue-on-blue” response confrontations. … Moreover, off-duty law enforcement officers are not included in the on-site law enforcement chain of command or bound by department or agency-on-duty policies that that [sic] restrict their use of alcohol or subject them to other on-duty behavior standards.”

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29 comments

George Socka December 13, 2016 - 3:19 am

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Randy DeBin December 13, 2016 - 3:47 am

At least there won’t be liquor!

Oh. Yeah.

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Paige Ackerman December 13, 2016 - 3:57 am

I did say alcohol….

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Randy DeBin December 13, 2016 - 3:58 am

Tongue was firmly in cheek.

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Paige Ackerman December 13, 2016 - 3:59 am

Oh, it’s that not reading all the way through thing?

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Randy DeBin December 13, 2016 - 3:59 am

Nope. You got everything right. Nothing left to do but mock in support.

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Randy DeBin December 13, 2016 - 4:02 am

Truth is the ammosexuals, the racists, the religious extremists (the most dangerous of them, the Christians), the anti-science crowd, the climate change deniers….. The complete Rogue’s Gallery of uninformed stupidity are all just lining up for their turn to ride the crazy train!

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Paige Ackerman December 13, 2016 - 4:05 am

“Ammosexuals?” That’s awesome!!!

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Paige Ackerman December 13, 2016 - 4:06 am

That is my most favourite new word ever!!!

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Randy DeBin December 13, 2016 - 4:06 am

No copyrights or trademarks. Distribute at will.

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Randy DeBin December 13, 2016 - 4:06 am

Just kinda fits the mentality…or mental illness.

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Paige Ackerman December 13, 2016 - 4:06 am

Oh! I will!

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Paige Ackerman December 13, 2016 - 4:07 am

I’m kinda sad my American (gun loving) friend Godfrey unfriended me over gun commentaries…..

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Randy DeBin December 13, 2016 - 4:10 am

I feel nothing but pity for them. I can’t imagine the constant terror they live under. If you ever experienced paranoia in any form….it’s absolutely a torment. It’s never taken me more than 5 minutes with one of them to get the unwarranted, misdirected, but all consuming fear to reveal itself.

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Kim Currie December 13, 2016 - 4:06 am
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MrStefaan December 13, 2016 - 4:17 am

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Gord Bennett December 13, 2016 - 4:37 am

Its a delicate subject, not just for Americans

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Paige Ackerman December 13, 2016 - 4:53 am

You know I’m not against hunting for food!

But seriously! In what universe do guns belong at a football game!

We need to talk!

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Gord Bennett December 13, 2016 - 4:55 am

No not in stadiums

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Paige Ackerman December 13, 2016 - 5:45 am

Oh thank you, I thought I needed to come up to CR and have a “discussion” 😉

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Hans Pannerup Rasmussen December 13, 2016 - 5:00 am

don’t worry, I’m sure everyone will show good judgement and restraint….

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Jim Sollows December 13, 2016 - 5:19 am

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RJT11 December 14, 2016 - 5:07 am

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DaveLawler December 14, 2016 - 5:14 am

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