OLYMPIA, WA – Democrats in the Washington state House on Saturday approved an overhaul of the state’s system for buying guns.
House Bill 1163 would require a state permit to purchase firearms. Majority Democrats pushed the bill through without any Republican votes. It’s a big step forward for the idea, which didn’t advance out of committee last year. The bill has attracted stiff opposition from gun owners and others who argue their constitutional right shouldn’t require a permit.
But supporters say that the permit system — which about a dozen other states have on the books — would make Washington safer.
“We know that this policy works,” Rep. Liz Berry, D-Seattle, the bill’s sponsor, said on the House floor ahead of the 58-38 vote. It will make sure guns don’t get into the wrong hands and diverted into the black market where they could be used in crimes, she said.
Rep. Darya Farivar, D-Seattle, said the new requirements will bring a greater sense of safety to neighborhoods like hers, Lake City, where gunshots can be heard nightly.
“They keep us up. They confine us to our homes as an unofficial curfew,” she said. “This legislation will lift that unofficial curfew and let us sleep.”
This policy, she said, “will ensure that everyone who decides to purchase a firearm understands the capabilities of the machinery. It will ensure people understand that this machinery can rob people of their safety, their freedom and their lives.”
In a roughly four-hour debate that ran into the overnight hours Friday and resumed midday Saturday, Republican lawmakers proposed 27 amendments, all but one of which were rejected. Among those defeated by Democrats was a proposed exemption for veterans who received an honorable discharge from any branch of the U.S. armed forces.
Rep. Jim Walsh, R-Aberdeen, said the bill violates provisions of the state constitution that protect a person’s right to due process, privacy and ability to defend themself with a firearm.
“This may be the worst bad bill we’ve seen so far this session,” said Walsh, who is also chair of the state Republican Party.
The legislation goes beyond the 10-day waiting period and background checks already enshrined in state law.
Under the legislation, prospective gun buyers would need to first apply for a five-year permit from the Washington State Patrol. To get the permit, applicants must have completed a certified firearms safety training program within the past five years, with exceptions for police officers and active military servicemembers.
The state patrol’s Firearms Background Check Program would issue the permit within 30 days, or 60 days if the applicant doesn’t have a state ID.
If the applicant has completed the safety course, the state would have to issue the permit unless the person is barred from having guns, out of custody on bond awaiting trial or sentencing on felony charges, or the subject of an arrest warrant.
The bill also requires those seeking a concealed pistol license to similarly take firearms safety training.
Prospective buyers can challenge denied applications in court. And the state can revoke a permit if the person no longer meets the conditions. The state patrol would recheck eligibility for existing permit holders each year.
The agency estimates it would receive about 100,000 permit applications annually. Previously, the agency had projected double that.
In 2024, the state patrol got about 250,000 requests for firearm background checks. Of those, troopers denied about 3,400. Approximately half were appealed. Two-thirds of those appeals were successful.
The state patrol says it will cost $13.7 million in the next state budget to handle the new program. The amount rises to nearly $20 million in the 2027-29 budget. Fees collected for fingerprinting and background checks would offset the cost of the new permit-to-purchase program, according to a fiscal analysis.
Rep. Cyndy Jacobsen, R-Puyallup, offered an amendment Friday night to delay the permit system until the state patrol has implemented a program to certify firearm safety courses.
Washington’s bill now heads to the state Senate.
The legislation is the centerpiece in a suite of bills this year aimed at curbing gun violence. On Wednesday, lawmakers in the Senate moved to expand the list of places where Washingtonians can’t carry guns.
Under that bill, which the House will now take up, it would be illegal to carry a gun or other weapon in parks “where children are likely to be present,” state or local public buildings and county fairgrounds. The measure also got no Republican votes.
Other proposals include limiting bulk purchases of firearms and ammunition, requiring gun owners to lock up their weapons in their cars and homes and adding new requirements for gun dealers.
A proposed excise tax on the sale of guns and ammo has stalled.
On a bipartisan note, senators unanimously voted this week to require a year of community custody, a status similar to probation or parole, for unlawful firearm possession convictions.
