As expected, Bob Warden, Kent attorney whose suit against Mayor Greg Nickels and the City of Seattle regarding the ban on guns in city parks was dismissed by Judge Marsha Pechman last week has filed his appeal with the US Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.

In his letter to the Herald Warden states, "This morning I appealed the district court's dismissal of my federal civil rights claim against the city of Seattle. The appeal will be focused on the second amendment claim against the city. The portion of Judge Pechman's ruling regarding former Mayor Nickels and punitive damages was reasonable, and I accept it. Though I disagree with the portion of the ruling dismissing the state constitutional claim, it sets no precedent for future actions, and could add little to the value of my case.

The district court dismissed my second amendment claim on the sole basis that current Ninth Circuit precedent holds that the second amendment does not apply to states and municipalities. While this is technically true today in March, the Supreme Court of the United States will in June of this year rule definitively on that specific issue in McDonald v. Chicago. It is widely expected that the High Court will apply the second amendment to the states, as they previously have with virtually every other individual right enumerated in the Bill of Rights. If (when) this happens, the dismissal of my case will be reversed.

It is important to keep in mind that the Seattle Parks gun ban is currently dead as it was previously found to violate state law, regardless of the ultimate outcome in Warden v. Seattle. The added value of my case, if successful, is that future state legislatures would be unable to change state law to enable municipalities to arbitrarily regulate firearms due to a strong recognized second amendment individual right to keep and bear arms."

Warden also points out that he has dropped former Mayor Nickels and the state constitution claim from the suit. He is contesting only the 2nd Amendment claim against the city.

Warden brought the suit originally after he chose to challenge the city's ban against guns in city parks by entering the Southwest Community Center with his weapon in a shoulder holster. He was asked to leave and did so without incident but used this as the basis for his legal challenge.