09/26/2025
On September 25, 1968, the Seattle City Council passed an emergency ordinance prohibiting the display of a “dangerous weapon” if done with intent to intimidate. The measure was introduced at the request of Mayor James Braman, a Republican, after members of the Black Panther Party appeared armed at Rainier Beach High School. They were there to support Black students who had reported being threatened and attacked by white students.
This was not unique to Seattle. In California the previous year, the legislature passed the Mulford Act, which banned the open carrying of loaded fi****ms in public. The law was signed by Governor Ronald Reagan and was supported by the National Rifle Association. It was introduced after the Panthers in Oakland began conducting armed patrols to monitor police interactions in their neighborhoods, and after they entered the state capitol with unloaded weapons to protest the bill.
In early 1969, members of the Seattle Panthers also went to the Washington State Capitol in Olympia to protest a proposed state law restricting the display of fi****ms. They complied with requests to unload their rifles before entering.
These episodes show how gun regulations in the late 1960s were often drafted in response to highly visible armed actions by the Black Panther Party in California and Washington.
