Gun Laws in Seattle: Ownership, Carry, and Storage

Gun laws in Seattle come almost entirely from Washington state, with a short list of city-only rules layered on top. You must be at least 21 to buy a pistol or semiautomatic rifle, every sale or transfer runs through a licensed dealer with a background check, and a concealed pistol license is required to carry a hidden handgun outside your home or business. Seattle adds a per-firearm and per-round tax at the register, a safe storage requirement, and a 24-hour deadline to report a lost or stolen gun.

Who Can Own a Firearm

The minimum age to purchase a pistol or a semiautomatic assault rifle in Washington is 21.¹ Adults between 18 and 20 may possess those firearms only in narrow situations: at home, at a fixed place of business, on property they control, while hunting or sport shooting, at a licensed shooting facility, or while traveling directly to and from those activities. Long guns that are not semiautomatic assault rifles follow the federal rule of 18 to purchase from a licensed dealer.

Several categories of people cannot legally possess a firearm at all. Washington’s list includes anyone convicted of a serious offense (which sweeps in most felonies), people convicted of certain domestic violence misdemeanors, stalking, harassment, or fourth-degree assault against a family or household member, and anyone currently subject to a protection order or extreme risk protection order.² Federal law layers on more categories, including fugitives from justice, people dishonorably discharged from the military, unlawful users of controlled substances, and people involuntarily committed for mental health treatment.

Illegal possession after a serious-offense conviction is a class B felony carrying up to 10 years in prison and a $20,000 fine. For other prohibited categories, unlawful possession is a class C felony, punishable by up to five years and $10,000.³

Buying a Firearm in Seattle

Every firearm sale or transfer in Washington has to go through a licensed dealer, including private sales between individuals. The dealer runs the buyer through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System just as if it were selling from its own inventory. Knowingly skipping this step is a gross misdemeanor, and transferring a firearm to someone you know is prohibited can rise to a class C felony.⁴

A dealer cannot release a firearm until the background check clears or 10 business days have passed since it was requested, whichever comes first.⁵ Buyers under 21 face an additional investigation period of up to 10 business days while authorities check for disqualifying juvenile records.

Seattle also charges its own tax on retail firearm and ammunition sales inside city limits: $25 per firearm, $0.02 per round for .22 caliber and smaller ammunition, and $0.05 per round for larger calibers. The Washington Supreme Court upheld this tax as a revenue measure rather than a firearms regulation.⁶ When you use a dealer to run a private-party transfer, expect a separate service fee that varies by shop.

Carrying a Firearm in Public

Concealed Pistol License

Outside your home or fixed place of business, carrying a concealed pistol requires a Concealed Pistol License.⁷ You have to keep the license on you whenever you carry and show it to a police officer on request.⁸ Applications go through local law enforcement and involve a fingerprint-based background check. The initial license costs $48, renewals are $32, and each license is valid for five years.

Open Carry and Vehicles

Open carry is legal without a license, but how you carry matters. Displaying a firearm in a way that would alarm a reasonable person or suggest intent to intimidate is a gross misdemeanor.⁹ A holstered pistol on a sidewalk is generally lawful; a slung rifle in a crowded café is the kind of thing that draws charges.

Vehicle rules trip up people who assume owning a gun means they can drive with it loaded. You cannot keep a loaded pistol in a vehicle unless you hold a CPL, and even then the pistol must be on your person or you must stay in the vehicle the whole time the pistol is loaded. Without a CPL, any pistol in a vehicle must be unloaded and either locked in a container or stored in the trunk.⁷

Where Firearms Are Prohibited

A CPL is not a universal pass. State law bars firearms from a long list of places even for license holders:

Restricted-access areas of jails and law enforcement facilities
Courtrooms, jury rooms, judges’ chambers, and adjacent corridors used for court business
Restricted-access areas of inpatient mental health facilities
Any portion of an establishment classified as off-limits to people under 21, including bars
Airport areas beyond TSA screening checkpoints
Public libraries established under state library authority
Accredited zoos and aquariums, and those in species survival programs
Transit stations and facilities, including bus stations and light rail platforms

All of these restrictions come from a single state statute.¹⁰ Libraries, zoos, and transit facilities are recent additions, and CPL holders who last checked the list a few years ago may not know they apply. Violating any of these is a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in jail and a $5,000 fine.

Schools have their own statute. Possessing a firearm on public or private K-12 school grounds, on school-provided transportation, or in building areas used exclusively by schools is a separate offense.¹¹ Private property owners can also prohibit firearms by posting signs, and refusing to leave after being told you are armed and unwelcome can lead to criminal trespass charges.

Banned Weapons and Magazines

Washington bans the manufacture, import, and sale of assault weapons. The definition is broad: semiautomatic rifles with detachable magazines that also have features like pistol grips, folding or telescoping stocks, flash suppressors, or threaded barrels; semiautomatic rifles under 30 inches overall; and a list of named models.¹²

If you legally owned an assault weapon before April 25, 2023, you can keep it, and you can inherit one from a deceased owner who legally possessed it. But a grandfathered weapon cannot be sold or transferred inside Washington except to a licensed dealer, a gunsmith for repair, or law enforcement for permanent surrender.

Magazines holding more than 10 rounds are also banned from sale, manufacture, import, and transfer. Exceptions cover .22 caliber tube-fed magazines, tubular magazines in lever-action firearms, and magazines permanently altered to hold 10 rounds or fewer.¹³ Possessing a large-capacity magazine you acquired before the ban is still legal; selling or transferring one is not.

Unserialized firearms carry their own risk. Federal law requires any privately made firearm to be serialized by a licensed dealer before it can be transferred to a new owner.¹⁴

Safe Storage in Seattle

Seattle requires firearms to be stored in a locked container whenever they are not in the owner’s direct possession or control.¹⁵ Possession or control means on your person or within immediate reach. Locking up a firearm before you leave the house or go to bed meets the rule; leaving a loaded pistol on a nightstand while you are at work does not.

Penalties escalate with the consequences:

A basic violation is a civil infraction with a fine up to $500.
If a prohibited person, at-risk person, or minor gains access to the unsecured firearm, the fine rises to $1,000.
If that person uses the firearm to injure or kill someone, or commits a crime with it, the fine can reach $10,000 per victim.¹⁶

Reporting a Lost or Stolen Firearm

Seattle gun owners must report any lost or stolen firearm to the Seattle Police Department within 24 hours of discovering the loss or theft.¹⁷ Washington enacted a parallel statewide reporting requirement in 2024, so the same obligation now applies anywhere in the state. Failing to report is a civil infraction under both the city ordinance and state law.

Extreme Risk Protection Orders

Washington’s red flag law lets a court temporarily strip firearms from someone who poses a significant danger to themselves or others. Family members, household members, law enforcement, and certain other individuals can petition for an extreme risk protection order under Chapter 7.105.¹⁸

A judge can issue a temporary order on an emergency basis if the evidence shows immediate danger. A full hearing follows, and if the court finds sufficient grounds, it issues a one-year order requiring the person to surrender all firearms and prohibiting new purchases. Orders can be renewed at the end of the year. Failing to surrender firearms under an active order is a separate offense, and possessing a firearm while subject to an order qualifies as unlawful possession.²

1
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.240 – Persons Under Twenty-One, Possession of Pistols or Semiautomatic Assault Rifles
2
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.040 – Unlawful Possession of Firearms
3
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9A.20.021 – Maximum Sentences for Crimes Committed July 1, 1984, and After
4
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.113 – Firearm Sales or Transfers, Background Checks, Requirements, Exceptions
5
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.090 – Dealer Deliveries Regulated
6
Washington Courts. Watson v. City of Seattle
7
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.050 – Carrying Firearms
8
Washington State Attorney General. Firearms FAQ
9
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.270 – Weapons Apparently Capable of Producing Bodily Harm, Unlawful Carrying or Handling, Penalty, Exceptions
10
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.300 – Weapons Prohibited in Certain Places
11
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.280 – Possessing Dangerous Weapons on School Facilities, Penalty, Exceptions
12
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.390 – Assault Weapons, Manufacture, Importation, Distribution, Sale, or Offer for Sale Prohibited
13
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.370 – Large Capacity Magazines, Exceptions, Penalty
14
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Definition of Frame or Receiver and Identification of Firearms
15
Seattle Municipal Code. Seattle Municipal Code 10.79.020 – Safe Storage of Firearms
16
Seattle Municipal Code. Seattle Municipal Code 10.79.040 – Penalties
17
Seattle Municipal Code. Seattle Municipal Code 10.78.010 – Reporting Theft or Loss of Firearm
18
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 7.105.330 – Temporary Protection Orders, Extreme Risk Protection Orders