Washington’s new gun laws, enacted in a wave of legislation starting in 2022, ban assault weapons and magazines over 10 rounds, require a safety-training certificate and a background check for every firearm transfer, impose a 10-business-day waiting period on all purchases, outlaw untraceable “ghost” guns, create liability for unsafe storage, and expand the list of places where carrying is prohibited. Most of the restrictions are prospective, meaning they target new sales rather than firearms you already owned, but the rules that govern buying, carrying, and storing a gun today apply to everyone.
What Buying a Firearm Looks Like Now
Three requirements stack on top of every retail purchase in Washington, whether you are buying a handgun, rifle, or shotgun.
A Safety Training Certificate, First
Before a dealer can even start a background check, you have to show proof that you completed a certified firearms safety course within the last five years.1Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.1132 – Firearm Sales and Transfers – Firearms Safety Training Program – Exceptions The curriculum is set by statute and covers secure storage, suicide prevention, state and federal firearms law, prohibited locations and transfers, the legal framework for using deadly force in self-defense, criminal penalties for unsafe storage, conflict de-escalation, and live-fire exercises demonstrating safe handling.
The live-fire component is the catch: a purely online course will not satisfy the requirement. Qualifying programs must be run by a law enforcement agency, a college, a nationally recognized firearms training organization, or a training school with certified instructors.1Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.1132 – Firearm Sales and Transfers – Firearms Safety Training Program – Exceptions Course prices generally run from about $175 to $350.
A Background Check on Every Transfer
Every firearm sale or transfer in Washington runs through a licensed dealer and a background check. That includes gun shows, online sales, and sales between private individuals.2Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.41.113 – Firearm Sales and Transfers If a friend wants to sell you a rifle, the two of you still have to bring it to a licensed dealer, who runs the check and handles the paperwork as though selling from their own inventory. If the buyer fails the check, the dealer returns the firearm to the seller. Dealers typically charge a fee of roughly $25 to $75 for this service.
A 10-Business-Day Waiting Period
House Bill 1143 set a uniform 10-business-day waiting period for every firearm purchase.3Washington State Legislature. HB 1143 – Concerning Requirements for the Purchase or Transfer of Firearms The clock starts when the dealer submits the background check request to the Washington State Patrol Firearms Background Check Program. Even if the check clears in two days, the dealer cannot release the firearm until the full 10 business days have passed and the dealer has a “proceed” notification confirming you are eligible. Because weekends and holidays do not count, plan on roughly two calendar weeks between the sale and taking the gun home.
The Assault Weapons Ban
House Bill 1240, signed on April 25, 2023, bans the manufacture, import, distribution, and sale of firearms classified as assault weapons.4Washington State Legislature. HB 1240 – 2023-24 – Establishing Firearms-Related Safety Measures to Increase Public Safety The statute names dozens of models including the AR-15, AK-47, and M16 and their variants. It also defines assault weapons by features: a semiautomatic centerfire rifle with a detachable magazine qualifies if it also has a pistol grip, thumbhole stock, folding or telescoping stock, flash suppressor, or a muzzle brake designed to reduce recoil.5Washington State Legislature. House Bill 1240 Similar feature tests apply to semiautomatic pistols and shotguns. Conversion kits and parts that would assemble a firearm into a restricted configuration are covered too.
If you owned one of these firearms before April 25, 2023, you can keep it. The law is prospective and targets commercial sales, not existing owners.5Washington State Legislature. House Bill 1240 You cannot sell or transfer it to another person inside Washington.
A violation is a gross misdemeanor, and the legislature also designated it as a per se violation of the Consumer Protection Act, exposing sellers to civil penalties of up to $7,500 for each individual sale or offer for sale.6Washington State Office of the Attorney General. AG Ferguson Files Lawsuit Against Federal Way Gun Retailer and Its Owner for Unlawfully Selling High-Capacity Magazines Limited exceptions exist for licensed manufacturers producing for the military or law enforcement, for active-duty military personnel transferred to Washington, and for military retirees moving to the state who legally possessed the firearm before arriving.7Washington State Legislature. House Bill Report SHB 1240
The 10-Round Magazine Limit
Senate Bill 5078 took effect on July 1, 2022. It prohibits manufacturing, importing, distributing, selling, or offering for sale any ammunition feeding device holding more than 10 rounds.8Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.41.370 – Large Capacity Magazines – Exceptions – Penalty The structure mirrors the assault weapons ban. If you owned a larger magazine before that date, you can keep it, but you cannot buy new ones or sell what you have to another Washington resident.9Washington State Legislature. SB 5078 – 2021-22
A violation is a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to 364 days in jail, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, and each sale or offer for sale can trigger a separate Consumer Protection Act penalty of up to $7,500.8Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.41.370 – Large Capacity Magazines – Exceptions – Penalty
Ghost Guns and Unserialized Firearms
HB 1705 banned untraceable firearms, defined as any gun manufactured after July 1, 2019 that lacks a serial number affixed by a federally licensed manufacturer, importer, or dealer.10Washington State Legislature. House Bill Report HB 1705 It also bans unfinished frames and receivers. Manufacturing, assembling, selling, or purchasing these items became illegal after June 30, 2022, and simple possession, transport, and receipt became illegal after March 10, 2023.
Penalties escalate with repeat offenses. A first violation is a civil infraction with a $500 penalty, a second is a misdemeanor, and a third or subsequent violation is a gross misdemeanor. Possessing three or more untraceable firearms at once is a gross misdemeanor regardless of prior history.
If you already have an unserialized firearm, a federally licensed dealer can engrave it with a serial number to bring it into compliance, using the dealer’s abbreviated federal license number plus a unique serial.10Washington State Legislature. House Bill Report HB 1705 Antique firearms and guns manufactured before 1968 are exempt.
Secure Storage and Owner Liability
Washington’s storage law under RCW 9.41.360 does not dictate a specific safe or lock. It creates liability. If you store or leave a firearm where you know or should know a prohibited person could get it, and that person does get it, you can be charged based on what happens afterward.11Washington State Legislature. RCW 9.41.360 – Unsafe Storage of a Firearm
Unsafe storage in the first degree is a Class C felony and applies when the prohibited person uses the firearm to cause personal injury or death. Second-degree unsafe storage is a gross misdemeanor and applies when the person discharges the firearm, displays it in a threatening manner in public, or uses it in a crime.
You have a defense if the firearm was kept in secure gun storage or secured with a trigger lock. You are also protected if the firearm was taken in an unlawful break-in, provided you report the theft to law enforcement within five days of discovering it. Using a safe or lock is what gives you a clear legal defense if the worst happens.
Where You Cannot Carry
Senate Bill 5444, signed in 2024, added several public spaces to Washington’s list of locations where carrying a firearm is illegal: public libraries, accredited zoos and aquariums, transit stations and facilities, and park areas where children are likely to be present.12Washington State Legislature. Washington Code 9.41.300 – Weapons Prohibited in Certain Places These join the existing restricted locations, which include courthouses, jails, commercial airport security areas, bars, and mental health facilities.
Concealed pistol license holders are exempt from the new location restrictions, as are correctional personnel.13Washington State Legislature. SB 5444 – Senate Bill Report The restriction primarily affects people carrying openly or carrying without a CPL. Municipalities are responsible for posting signage at the perimeter of park facilities designating them as weapon-free zones. Knowingly carrying a weapon into a prohibited location is a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to 364 days in jail, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.
Dealer Trace Reporting
Starting July 1, 2025, retail gun dealers in Washington with average monthly sales above $1,000 must submit annual reports to the Attorney General’s office detailing any trace requests they receive from law enforcement.14Washington State Office of the Attorney General. Firearms – Washington State Reports are due by March 15 each year for the preceding calendar year. This rule applies to dealers rather than individual buyers, but it is part of the same package reshaping the firearm market in the state.