Washington State Gun Laws, can't find the info

F

FieldTester

New member
I am moving to Washington in a few months and am having trouble finding information pertaining to gun and ammo laws. I currently reside in California and have no problem finding stuff here. Everywere I look I can only come up with conceal carry and how to apply. I am pretty much an expert on that now. lol, after 90 days I will be applying.

I pretty much want to know what weapons are illegal to own. I can only find machine guns, but that is Federal. I want to know which weapons are outlawed by State Regulation.

Also Ammo. I want to know what ammo is illegal as well as Magazines. In CA, a 10 round mag is the most I can own outside of Law Enforcement etc... I've search Google under ammo capacity for the state, as well as clip capacity (I know it's wrong, but not everyone always uses the correct verbage), as well as other veriations.

So can anyone help me out here? Also I'll be moving to the Seattle area and would love some shooting buddies as well as some people I can rely on when I have a question. I don't mind traveling to meet new friends once I move up there.

Thanks all!
 
Well I don't have all the answers to your questions but I may be able to help. First off, where exactly are you moving? I lived about 40 minutes southeast of Seattle for 18 years but I currently live in Spokane.

You'll find that getting your CCW here is really easy and fast compared to California (from what I have read) though it does take longer in lets say Seattle than it would in a small town. For example, I applied for mine in Cheney (small college town near Spokane) and received it the very next day.

As far as I know without doing any research, most all semi-auto guns are allowed, all FMJ and JHP ammo, some silencers (at least that's what the seller at the gun show claimed), and I do not believe clip capacity is limited as I have a 14 round clip for my S&W .40VE and my Dad has a Glock 19 with a 15+1 clip.

Anyway, I hope you end up liking Washington a little better than Cali, and I hope I was of some use!

John
 
I don't know exactly where in Seattle I'm going to live yet. I'm moving towards the end of July-ish, but nothing is set in stone. I'm still looking for work, which will probably determine where I live. I have friends a bit to the South of Seattle, I might look towards Redmond (Looking at Microsoft, but I don't really care where I work. Would love to become involved and employed by the firearms industry).

All this info is great to hear! It's leaps and bounds over CA. So not much in the way of restrictions huh? So I could for instance have a 30 round mag? 50 round drum on a .22? Just want to make sure I don't come away with a felony.

Silencers are legal to own, but illegal to attach and shoot? I love wacky laws like that! Look but don't touch, lol. I don't see me using one, I don't see how I ever would need one, but still *wink wink* Does that apply to muzzle breaks? I know some states don't specify between the two.

Yes I am looking forward to the move. I can't wait. I love the rain and cooler weather. Looking forward to a white X-Mas for the first time. I get to reinvent myself up there. So much outdoors stuff to do. I suffer from the heat here during the summer. I'm in San Diego (La Mesa to be exact).

Any other odd laws, or anything else I should know would be great.

Now I just need a good Irish Pub, a few shooting buddies, and I'll be set.

Thank again everyone, you've made me feel extremly welcome!
 
No magazine limits.

Muzzle breaks are fine, the prohibition is on the use of specifically silencers.

The pamphlet I linked to earlier pretty much explains everything and the RCW's I linked to are all the firearms laws. We have very strong state preemption, so local cities/counties cannot enact their own laws, except in very limited circumstances.

I've open carried getting my Washington State ID Card, registering my vehicles and riding the WA State Ferries. Try that in Kalifornia!
 
Well I wouldn't bank on a white Christmas... Washington is a little unpredictable. Last winter just about everywhere in the state had at least a foot of snow (Spokane had 59 inches) yet this year we haven't any more than a few inches in the Spokane area.

As far as the unlimited mags, I would check with your local PD when you move here just to avoid any irritations lol.

Redmond is a really nice place with a price tag to boot. Though it might be comparable to SoCal. As far as shooting buddies, I'm in the same boat, yet driving 4 hours to shoot a few rounds is a stretch :laugh:
 
NavyLT,

I just got a new Hard Drive and wipped my computer. I am unable to open the link
Link Removed

Does it use Adobe? I need to download it anyways.

So from what I gather from the laws while transporting are as follows. Can't be loaded, but the mag can. As long as the mag is not in the firearm, I am fine. Does the firearm have to be locked? Does the ammo have to be in a seperate compartment. Sorry for all the questions, but I don't want to be ignorant on the subject.

In Cali you have to lock the weapon with a gun lock, transport the ammo and gun in seperate compartments. IE gun in the trunk and ammo in the cab.

Rick, maybe a trip after a few months of being there. I have a friend in Spokane. I am going to visit him for the weekend anyways.

Anything else I should know?
 
I've not heard anything about certain "silencers"/suppressors being restricted. As far as I know suppressors are a federal licence issue and have nothing to do with the state. from what I've learned it's only a matter of the 200$ federal license and if you want to do it the easy (and I've been told you can then hand it down in you family in your will), set up a trust which cost around 200$ (at the one stop shop I was at) then the cost of the suppressor. I don't know if there is a federal restriction to what you can put a suppressor on.
 
Rice8644 said:
I just meant that they would know better than me
Click to expand...

Haha! Well, I would not count on that all the time!

FieldTester said:
NavyLT,

I just got a new Hard Drive and wipped my computer. I am unable to open the link
Link Removed

Does it use Adobe? I need to download it anyways.

So from what I gather from the laws while transporting are as follows. Can't be loaded, but the mag can. As long as the mag is not in the firearm, I am fine. Does the firearm have to be locked? Does the ammo have to be in a seperate compartment. Sorry for all the questions, but I don't want to be ignorant on the subject.

In Cali you have to lock the weapon with a gun lock, transport the ammo and gun in seperate compartments. IE gun in the trunk and ammo in the cab.

Rick, maybe a trip after a few months of being there. I have a friend in Spokane. I am going to visit him for the weekend anyways.

Anything else I should know?
Click to expand...

Yes, the Washington Gun Rights Pamphlet needs Adobe Acrobat Reader.

For transporting in a vehicle in Washington, without a recognized CPL:
The gun must be unloaded. (Rifles/shotguns can never be carried loaded in a vehicle, regardless of CPL.) The gun cannot be concealed on the person. The gun may be concealed anywhere else in the vehicle, or openly carried anywhere in the vehicle or openly carried on the person. Magazines may be loaded, just not locked in place in the firearm (so, technically, it could be in the handgrip, if not inserted all the way, but I personally wouldn't push that one.) Firearms are not required to be locked in any way, but if you leave a pistol in a vehicle unattended, at least the vehicle must be locked and the pistol must be concealed from view.

Once you get your CPL, a pistol can be carried anyway/anywhere you want to in a vehicle.

Ammo can be anywhere - and it actually is not a requirement in California to carry the ammo seperately.

Once you are outside the vehicle, you can fully load the gun and open carry, even without a CPL.
 
jtp said:
Right, but if you have a tax stamp issued by the ATF (which I guess I wasn't clear that I was talking about) then there's nothing the state can do. isn't that correct?
Click to expand...

Nope. Owning a noise suppressor is fine, but using it is a crime.
There's a state legislator that keeps fighting for being able to use a noise suppressor every year, but he gets turned down every year as well. Owning and using are completely different. I would not recommend being the test case against that law...
 
Link Removed

Only things you can not legally own/possess in WA are...
DDs, MGs. SBRs and SBSs.
 
jtp said:
Right, but if you have a tax stamp issued by the ATF (which I guess I wasn't clear that I was talking about) then there's nothing the state can do. isn't that correct?
Click to expand...

The state can put you into a state penitentiary and fine you for violating RCW 9.41.250. The proper NFA paperwork has nothing to do with that.
 
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