Inslee signs slew of bills boosting gun restrictions in Washington

Washington’s gun laws just got tougher.

Gov. Jay Inslee on Tuesday signed a bundle of bills aiming to combat gun violence across the state.

Each measure passed, primarily along party lines, while facing objections from Republican legislators, and all were sponsored by Democratic lawmakers, who hold the majority in the House and Senate.

Rep. Timm Ormsby, D-Spokane, co-sponsored several gun-related bills and said this year’s legislation builds upon lawmakers’ previous efforts to address gun violence, which includes an assault weapon ban and background check requirement for gun purchases passed in 2023.

“We’re just getting numb to the news reports of the deaths and injuries, not just nationally, but in Washington state as well,” he said.

Between 2017-21, an average of 852 Washingtonians were killed by firearms each year – rising sharply to 896 in 2021, according a 2022 policy brief on the governor’s website.

And gun violence has been the leading cause of death for children and teens in the state for two consecutive years, according to a 2023 Alliance for Gun Responsibility report.

One of the most controversial gun-related laws passed this year creates stricter operating requirements on licensed firearm dealers and mandates that gun shop employees must be at least 21 years old. Employees are also subject to yearly background checks.

That legislation also requires dealers to have strict security features, including alarm systems, bars or gates on each window, safe storage practices and 24-hour video surveillance that must be kept for at least 90 days. Additionally, dealers are required to maintain thorough sales records and respond to all law enforcement inquiries within one day beginning July 1, 2025.

Jeremy Ball, owner of Sharp Shooting Indoor Range & Gun Shop in Spokane, said this new policy “takes a one-size-fits-all approach” to firearm retailer safety.

“If you’re a small business, you will likely not have the resources to implement this stuff as the requirements are going to be very costly,” Ball said. “If you are a very large business, there’s almost zero way to comply with it because the requirements aren’t going to be scalable.”

He stressed that these restrictions could cause dealers to stop selling firearms or move out of the state, which would reduce the availability of reputable companies and exacerbate the problem of illegal gun purchases.

Ball said this law targets the wrong group of people because licensed dealers are “the number one line of defense against illegally trafficked firearms,” as they already face a slew of regulations from the federal government .

Another new law intended to reduce the flow of illegally trafficked firearms requires gun owners to report a lost or stolen firearm to law enforcement within 24 hours. Failure to comply results in a civil infraction, carrying a fine of up to $1,000.

“This is a low bar thing,” said Ormsby, who co-sponsored the bill. “When you’ve got a deadly firearm out there that can’t be accounted for, the police agencies need to know.”

Sharp Shooting has never lost a gun or had one stolen, though if that were to happen it wouldn’t take Ball 24 hours to report to law enforcement, “it would be my number one priority,” he said.

“I don’t know a gun owner that would not contact the police instantaneously if they knew a gun was missing,” Ball said.

Open carry firearm laws also expanded on Tuesday. Public libraries, zoos, aquariums, transit stations and bus shelters are added to the list of places where open carry is prohibited. Current law already bans the open carrying of guns on State Capitol grounds, in election offices, courtrooms and certain areas of airports.

Violating this law constitutes a gross misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and/or a maximum fine of $5,000.

Ball said he believes the state should provide safe storage options for people who have to leave their guns outside of these places, similar to how the Spokane County Courthouse provides lockers in the public safety building for people who need to check their guns at the door.

Another new statute allows the Washington State Patrol and local law enforcement to transfer forfeited firearms to museums or historical societies, and it allows them to destroy firearms acquired through buy-back programs. Previously, WSP lacked the authority to destroy weapons and could sell forfeited firearms.

Rep. Liz Berry, D-Seattle, who has been a longstanding vocal advocate for stricter gun laws, said although the state government passed “four pretty significant pieces of legislation,” her work isn’t done.

“Every day I open the Seattle Times, there’s another gun death, one or two gun deaths, so we definitely have more work to do to make sure that we’re ending gun violence in our communities,” she said.

Berry’s next step is pushing a bill requiring a permit to purchase a firearm in Washington through the Legislature.