Yet more aftermath of the Battle of Seattle: In December, 1999, a company called Gas Masks, Inc. launched a suit against the Seattle municipal government. Gas Masks, Inc. (a gas mask retailer based in Maine) alleged that when the city took the extraordinary measure of banning the civilian purchase, sale and use of gas masks during the WTO protests, it violated several Federal laws that permit Americans to use gas masks.

The firm's founder and president, Mark Miclette, stated that he believed a fundamental principle of American citizenship - the right to self-protection - was under attack. The city claimed the ban was meant to ensure that "disruptive protestors" could not use the masks to resist police orders to disperse. Seattle's mayor, Paul Schell, issued the ban after declaring a state of emergency in the city.

Many journalists covering the WTO ignored Mayor Schell's directive and wore masks in the course of observing events in the streets; police are said to have confiscated at least one correspondent's mask. Gas Masks, Inc. advised the Editor when he contacted them by e-mail for an update that the suit had been dropped. Well, it was worth a try anyway, wasn't it?