Washington State Assault Weapons Ban: Penalties and Court Status

Washington’s assault weapons ban took effect on April 25, 2023, when Governor Jay Inslee signed House Bill 1240, making it a crime to manufacture, import, distribute, sell, or offer for sale an assault weapon anywhere in the state.¹ The law does not ban possession. If you legally owned one of these firearms before that date, you can keep it. Every court challenge so far has failed to block the law, and it remains fully enforceable.²

What the Law Prohibits and What It Leaves Alone

Five commercial activities are off-limits: manufacturing, importing, distributing, selling, and offering for sale.³ Advertising or listing an assault weapon for sale counts on its own as an offer for sale and violates the statute without any completed transaction.

Possession is not on that list. You can store an assault weapon acquired before April 25, 2023, transport it within Washington, and fire it wherever discharge is otherwise lawful. There is no registration requirement, no surrender deadline, and no reporting obligation. The legislature’s approach is to shut off new supply rather than take existing firearms out of private hands.⁴

Which Firearms Count as Assault Weapons

RCW 9.41.010 defines the term in three layers: a roster of named models, a set of feature-based tests, and a rule for parts and conversion kits.

Named Models

The statute lists dozens of specific firearms by name, including all AR-15 and AK-47 platform variants, and models from Barrett, Bushmaster, and Sig Sauer, among others.⁵ A firearm on that list is an assault weapon under state law regardless of which features any particular example carries.

Feature Tests

A semi-automatic centerfire rifle shorter than 30 inches overall is an assault weapon automatically. So is any semi-automatic rifle with a fixed magazine holding more than 10 rounds.⁵

For a semi-automatic centerfire rifle that accepts a detachable magazine, the presence of any one of the following features makes it an assault weapon:

Pistol grip that protrudes visibly beneath the action
Thumbhole stock
Folding or telescoping stock
Forward or second handgrip
Flash suppressor or muzzle brake
Barrel shroud that allows the shooter to grip the barrel area without burns (a standard slide does not count)

Semi-automatic centerfire pistols with detachable magazines are covered if they have a threaded barrel, a second handgrip, a barrel shroud, or the ability to accept a magazine outside the pistol grip. Semi-automatic shotguns are covered if they have a folding or telescoping stock, a pistol grip, a thumbhole stock, a forward handgrip, a fixed magazine holding more than seven rounds, or a revolving cylinder.⁵

Parts and Conversion Kits

Conversion kits, parts, or any combination of parts that could be assembled into an assault weapon (or used to convert an existing firearm into one) are also covered, as long as those parts are in the same person’s possession or control.⁶ A completed weapon is not required to trigger the statute.

The Magazine Ban That Runs Alongside It

A separate 2022 law, RCW 9.41.370, prohibits the manufacture, import, distribution, sale, and offer for sale of any ammunition feeding device holding more than 10 rounds.⁷ It is a gross misdemeanor to violate. Three feeding devices are excluded from the definition: one permanently modified so it cannot hold more than 10 rounds, a .22 caliber tube-style device, and a tubular magazine inside a lever-action firearm.⁶ Like the assault weapons ban, this one targets commercial transactions rather than possession of magazines acquired earlier.

If You Already Own One

Grandfathered owners face no registration or surrender requirement. The friction comes when you want to part with the firearm. In-state transfers are prohibited unless the recipient is a licensed dealer, a federally licensed gunsmith performing service or repair, or a law enforcement agency taking permanent relinquishment.³ Selling to a friend, a neighbor, or any other private buyer inside Washington is not allowed.

That leaves four realistic paths: keep it, have it serviced or repaired by a licensed gunsmith, sell it through a licensed dealer to an out-of-state buyer, or surrender it to law enforcement.

Inheritance

Someone who inherits an assault weapon after the owner’s death may legally take possession, provided they can establish the chain of ownership. The inheritor then lives with the same transfer rules as any other owner: no in-state private resale, dealer-facilitated out-of-state sale only, and the option to turn the firearm in.³

Who Is Exempt

Exemptions are narrow and mostly institutional.³ Licensed manufacturers may produce, import, and sell assault weapons to any branch of the U.S. or Washington State armed forces, and to any state or local law enforcement agency in Washington for official use. Licensed dealers may acquire assault weapons for the purpose of reselling them to those same military and law enforcement buyers. An individual owner may sell through a licensed dealer to a buyer outside Washington; the statute frames this as a way for individuals to offload personal firearms, not a channel for dealers to build wholesale inventories aimed at out-of-state markets.

Retired law enforcement officers get no special carve-out under this state law. The federal Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act allows qualified retirees to carry concealed firearms across state lines but does not override state-level restrictions on assault weapons or magazine capacity.

Penalties

A violation of the sale, manufacture, import, distribution, or offer-for-sale prohibition is a gross misdemeanor.³ Gross misdemeanors in Washington carry up to 364 days in jail and a fine of up to $5,000.⁸

There is also a civil track. RCW 9.41.395 makes a violation of the assault weapons ban an unfair or deceptive practice under the Washington Consumer Protection Act, which gives the Attorney General authority to sue.⁹ Civil penalties under that Act reach up to $7,500 per violation.¹⁰ A seller who moves multiple firearms can face stacked civil penalties well beyond what the criminal side alone would produce.

Where the Law Stands in Court

HB 1240 has been challenged in state and federal court repeatedly since taking effect. Every challenge has failed so far. Federal courts have denied preliminary injunctions at least four times, and the law has remained enforceable throughout the litigation.²

The broader constitutional picture is unsettled. The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bruen requires the government to show that a firearms regulation is consistent with the nation’s historical tradition of firearm regulation. Challengers of assault weapon bans argue no such tradition supports them. As of February 2026, the Supreme Court has not granted review in any assault weapons ban case, though multiple petitions are pending. A grant of review could reshape the legal ground under Washington’s law.

Local Rules Are the Same as State Rules

Washington fully preempts local firearms regulation. Cities, towns, and counties cannot add their own assault weapon restrictions or loosen the state’s.¹¹ The rules described here apply the same way in every jurisdiction across the state.

1
Washington State Legislature. HB 1240 – 2023-24
2
Washington State Office of the Attorney General. AG Ferguson Successfully Defends Against Another Attempt to Block Washington’s Ban on the Sale of Assault Weapons
3
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9.41.390 – Assault Weapons Violations Penalty
4
Washington State Legislature. House Bill 1240
5
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41 – Firearms and Dangerous Weapons
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Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9.41.010 – Definitions
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Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9.41.370 – Large Capacity Magazines
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Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9.92.020 – Punishment of Gross Misdemeanor When Not Fixed by Statute
9
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.395 – Assault Weapons Consumer Protection Act
10
Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 19.86.140 – Civil Penalties
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Washington State Legislature. Washington Code RCW 9.41.290 – State Preemption