Hey there. From the KUOW Newsroom, this is Seattle Now. I'm Paige Browning. Here are today's top stories. It's Tuesday, April 9th.

Starting with use of force by police. New data shows the past three years have seen some of the lowest levels of

force by police officers in Seattle. That's according to information collected by the city's

office of inspector general. Lisa Judge heads that office. She says city police have made

major strides. We have the capabilities, we have the expertise,

we have the wherewithal to take over oversight from our federal partners

and have a robust and comprehensive system of oversight with the city of Seattle.

However, there's a big however, there are still disparities in who force is used against.

According to the Seattle Times, black residents were more than nine times as likely to experience police force than white residents in 2023.

Because of the department's use of force, SPD's been under a federal consent decree for more than a decade.

Last year, the judge in charge of that

decree said it's almost time to wind down oversight, but he still wants to see improvements

in officer discipline. Washington's ban on high-capacity magazines is getting kicked around

in court this week. It started when a Cowlitz County court ruled that the ban

is unconstitutional, but the law is going to stay in place for now. A gun store in Kelso, Washington,

is at the center of this debate. We have this story from Oregon Public Broadcasting's Troy Brennelson.

Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson alleges Gators' custom guns in Kelso sold potentially

thousands of firearms magazines that hold more than 10 rounds in spite of a state ban.

But Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Gary Bashar dealt a blow to that lawsuit this week

by ruling the 2022 law is unconstitutional. He argues the law violates

Supreme Court precedent involving the Second Amendment. After Ferguson wrote an emergency motion,

the state Supreme Court put a halt to Bashers ruling until April 17th. Ferguson's office says

...