OLYMPIA, WA – The Washington State Patrol is gearing up for the potential passage of a bill in Olympia that would require gun buyers to get a permit before purchasing a firearm and require gun safety training to obtain a concealed pistol license.

Kateri Candee manages the Firearms Background Division at WSP and spoke with The Center Square about Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill 1163, which passed the House of Representatives earlier this month.

On Jan. 1, 2024, WSP took over conducting firearm background checks, requiring licensed firearms dealers to use the state’s Secure Automated Firearms E-Check, or SAFE, system, and a 10-day waiting period before a firearm can be transferred.

“Last year we processed 250,000 background checks,” Candee said. “We average about a thousand checks per day coming in … we have to research, we have to verify that the information is correct and we do check out of state if there are things that could disqualify you.”

She said about 1% of background checks are denied, so of about 22,000 checks per month, 275 are denied.

“People will have domestic violence situations that cause some denials,” Candee explained. “Our number one reason is for felonies. That is where a subject had a felony in their background at some point and lost their rights to a firearm, and some people come in and give us a restoration of firearms rights, and they’re not eligible for that.”

Candee said the busiest time of year for gun purchases is mid-February. She quipped there’s no connection to Valentine’s Day. Tax returns account for the spike in gun buys.

“People tend to get money, and they like to go purchase firearms,” she said.

ESSHB 1163 is likely to increase WSP’s workload.

“The bill states people would have to fill out an application form for a permit to purchase a firearm,” Candee noted. “They would have to get fingerprinted, and they would have to complete a certified training and pay the fee for the actual permit. The background check would be completed by the State Patrol. If everything is a go you are issued a permit that is good for five years.”

Buyers would be required to go through another background check after receiving their permit at the time purchase a firearm.

Why two background checks?

“I don’t know why, that’s just how the bill was written,” Candee said. “But I can tell you the permit is only a permit to purchase,” explained Candee, who said that given the permit is for five years, someone could be granted a permit but not use it for a couple of years. “Whatever may have happened in [those] two years, they want to ensure another background is completed.”

In other words, if someone was cleared for a permit and then committed a crime but waited two years before buying a gun, WSP would need to be able to ensure that person is still allowed to possess a firearm.

When asked how the agency feels about the bill, WSP spokesperson Chris Loftis explained that WSP takes no position on pending legislation.

“We enforce the laws as written, and the Legislature makes the laws,” he said.

Candee made clear that if the permit-to-purchase bill is signed into law, WSP would have to hire additional staff to handle the workload.

“The bill does state that we are required to certify the training, so that obviously is a piece of work that needs to take place,” she said. “There’s definitely an impact on State Patrol. We do not handle permits today, so this would be a whole new piece of work that the patrol would be responsible for.”

Candee said her department currently has 45 staff members who process background checks.

“If you include the permit to purchase, that is going to increase by 24 more staff needed just to process the permits,” she said. “We have looked at the impact and it’s big, it’s huge.

According to the bill’s fiscal note, fees that buyers would pay for permits and safety training would cover the additional burden on WSP, but the amount of those fees is not specified.

“Based on how I read the bill, it says the fee would cover the cost of implementation and maintenance of the program,” Candee said. “There are certain entities named in the bill, and it says these are the ones who can provide that training.”

The Center Square contacted Dave Workman, editor-in-chief at The Gun Mag, for comment on the proposed bill. Workman said he has grave concerns about its implications.

“What about the woman, the girlfriend who wants to arm herself for protection and has to run up against this stuff? This is so discriminatory,” Workman said, noting the 30 days to get a permit, followed by the 10-day waiting period at the point of purchase, is an infringement on constitutionally protected rights.

He pointed to a case out of New Jersey where a woman applied for a permit to purchase a gun to protect herself from a violent ex-boyfriend.

“She had a restraining order against a former boyfriend. She applied to the Berlin Township, New Jersey, Police Department, for a permit to buy a handgun,” Workman said. “The police sat on that way beyond the 30 days that is provided for in state law. She called them to find out about it and the next day, she was murdered, stabbed to death by this guy who later killed himself. This statute, if it becomes law, is going to get somebody killed.”

The case Workman referred to involved 39-year-old Carol Bowne, who was stabbed to death by her ex-boyfriend, Michael Eitel, on June 3, 2015. At the time of her murder, 42 days after her permit request, Bowne had not been issued a firearm permit. The tragedy resulted in gun laws in New Jersey being altered to make it easier for domestic violence victims to obtain and carry firearms.

ESSHB 1163 passed the House on March 8 on a 58-38 vote, with no Republicans voting in support and two members excused. It has been sent to the Senate Law & Justice Committee. The bill has not yet been scheduled for a public hearing.