Nickels reportedly plans concealed-weapons ban at festivals

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels plans to ban concealed weapons at festivals after a shooting at Northwest Folklife injured three people.

Sarah Thorsnes, who was shot in the leg, said Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske told her Friday the mayor would issue a ban shortly.

The mayor's office and Police Department declined to comment Friday. They have scheduled a news conference Monday to discuss an executive order on concealed weapons, but did not provide any details, such as how a ban would be enforced and whether festival officials would be held responsible for violations.

Thorsnes said a ban would affect events funded or sponsored by the city. She did not know any other specifics.

Joshua Penaluna, her boyfriend, who was shot in the arm, called a ban a good idea. "At a public area like that, the only people that should have weapons should be cops and security."

On May 25, the two Renton residents were hit by stray gunfire after a fight erupted between two men. A bullet shattered Penaluna's wrist and then entered Thorsnes' thigh. A third man, Henry Morris, who was struggling with the gunman, suffered powder burns on the upper lip and nose when the gun discharged close to his face.

It was the first shooting in the festival's 37-year history.

A 22-year-old Snohomish man, Clinton Chad Grainger, has been charged with second-degree assault. Grainger, a house painter, has a history of drug addiction and schizophrenia, prosecutors say.

"Honestly, I'm glad it will hopefully stop this [from happening] in the future, but I still feel like there could have been more done at the festival in the first place," Thorsnes said.

She said police standing nearby could have stopped the fight earlier.

"The real concern is whether they had a better way of assessing people's mental health before they let them have a concealed-weapon permit in the first place," she said.

Grainger received his permit from the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office in January 2007, even though federal and state law should have prevented him from having one.

Nickels has urged the Legislature to pass a law denying guns to anyone who has been involuntarily committed to a mental-health facility.

Thorsnes and Penaluna said money has been a real worry since the shooting two weeks ago. Although both have health insurance, neither has been able to work.

Thorsnes, 21, just graduated from the University of Washington-Tacoma and had been searching for a job in broadcast journalism or public relations while working as a nanny.

Now on crutches, she said, she can't work. Even walking around a grocery store is exhausting.

"The bullet wound has healed up really nicely, but it's still in my leg and there's quite a large bump over where the bullet is now," she said.

Penaluna, who was a plumbing assistant at a countertop-installation company, says he won't be able to pursue his plumbing career with the damage done to his wrist. The 18-year-old is now considering returning to school to pursue a business degree instead.

"It's been very, very inconvenient for us, to put it lightly," Penaluna said.

Sharon Pian Chan: 206-464-2958 or schan@seattletimes.com