Washington State Legislative Update
HB 1240, SB 5078 and Mag Ban News

NSSF^® has been working on your behalf this session to kill a multitude of anti-firearm industry bills at the legislature and inform you about all legislation impacting your business and the industry in general. During this entire legislative session, NSSF has kept you up to speed on multiple pieces of legislation that would have detrimental consequences for the firearm industry. Unfortunately, given the makeup of the legislature, it appears numerous bills will become law that negatively impact the industry.

While these developments are discouraging, rest assured if these bills do become law, NSSF will litigate and do everything we can to get a favorable ruling and immediate injunction. As a reminder the following bills are waiting for concurrence on the Washington State House and Senate floors. Once they get those (could be this week), Gov. Jay Inslee will likely sign them into law within 5 days. As a reminder, the bills are:

• HB 1240 – if passed, this bill would ban the manufacture, sale, purchase and transfer of so-called “assault rifles”.
• HB 1143 – if passed, this proposal creates an onerous permit to purchase requirement for all firearm sales in the state.
• SB 5078 – if passed, this bill would allow frivolous lawsuits to be brought against manufacturers, retailers and virtually anyone else in the supply chain.

Over the past few legislative cycles in Washington State, the firearm industry has been successful in narrowly stopping multiple efforts by the legislature to ban Modern Sporting Rifles (MSRs). But given the results of the 2022 election, the threat is very real.

NSSF needs you to contact your legislators and tell them to vote no on HB 1240, HB 1143, and SB 5078.

Click here to find your legislators

Magazine Ban Update

NSSF has received multiple reports that the Washington AG’s office is sending undercover agents to purchase “high capacity” magazines. Some FFLs have received stiff fines and as of now, selling “high capacity” magazines remains illegal in the Evergreen State. As a reminder, the law allows FFLs to acquire magazines w/ 11+ rounds and to sell them to the military or law enforcement or to sell to out of state customers. It would however be ill-advised for a Washington state FFL to sell an 11+ magazine to a resident of another state inside their licensed establishment.