Z-0290.1
SENATE BILL 5265
State of Washington 68th Legislature 2023 Regular Session
By Senators Kuderer, Valdez, Cleveland, Dhingra, Hunt, Liias, Nguyen,
Nobles, Pedersen, Saldaña, Salomon, Stanford, Trudeau, Wellman, and
C. Wilson; by request of Attorney General and Office of the Governor
Read first time 01/11/23. Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.
1 AN ACT Relating to establishing firearms-related safety measures
2 to increase public safety by prohibiting the manufacture,
3 importation, distribution, selling, and offering for sale of assault
4 weapons, and by providing limited exemptions applicable to licensed
5 firearm manufacturers and dealers for purposes of sale to armed
6 forces branches and law enforcement agencies and for purposes of sale
7 or transfer outside the state, and to inheritors; reenacting and
8 amending RCW 9.41.010; adding new sections to chapter 9.41 RCW;
9 creating a new section; prescribing penalties; and declaring an
10 emergency.
11 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
12 NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds and declares that
13 gun violence is a threat to the public health and safety of
14 Washingtonians. Assault weapons are civilian versions of weapons
15 created for the military and are designed to kill humans quickly and
16 efficiently. For this reason the legislature finds that assault
17 weapons are "like" "M-16 rifles" and thus are "weapons most useful in
18 military service." Assault weapons have been used in the deadliest
19 mass shootings in the last decade. An assailant with an assault
20 weapon can hurt and kill twice the number of people than an assailant
21 with a handgun or nonassault rifle. This is because the additional
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 1 features of an assault weapon are not "merely cosmetic"; rather,
2 these are features that allow shooters to fire large numbers of
3 rounds quickly. An analysis of mass shootings that result in four or
4 more deaths found that 85 percent of those fatalities were caused by
5 an assault weapon. The legislature also finds that this regulation is
6 likely to have an impact on the number of mass shootings committed in
7 Washington. Studies have shown that during the period the federal
8 assault weapon ban was in effect, mass shooting fatalities were 70
9 percent less likely to occur. Moreover, the legislature finds that
10 assault weapons are not suitable for self-defense and that studies
11 show that assault weapons are statistically not used in self-defense.
12 The legislature finds that assault weapons are not commonly used in
13 self-defense and that any proliferation is not the result of the
14 assault weapon being well-suited for self-defense, hunting, or
15 sporting purposes. Rather, increased sales are the result of the gun
16 industry's concerted efforts to sell more guns to a civilian market.
17 The legislature finds that the gun industry has specifically marketed
18 these weapons as "tactical," "hyper masculine," and "military style"
19 in manner that overtly appeals to troubled young men intent on
20 becoming the next mass shooter. The legislature intends to limit the
21 prospective sale of assault weapons, while allowing existing legal
22 owners to retain the assault weapons they currently own.
23 Sec. 2. RCW 9.41.010 and 2022 c 105 s 2 and 2022 c 104 s 2 are
24 each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
25 Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in
26 this section apply throughout this chapter.
27 (1) "Antique firearm" means a firearm or replica of a firearm not
28 designed or redesigned for using rim fire or conventional center fire
29 ignition with fixed ammunition and manufactured in or before 1898,
30 including any matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type
31 of ignition system and also any firearm using fixed ammunition
32 manufactured in or before 1898, for which ammunition is no longer
33 manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the
34 ordinary channels of commercial trade.
35 (2)(a) "Assault weapon" means:
36 (i) Any of the following specific firearms regardless of which
37 company produced and manufactured the firearm:
38 AK-47 in all forms
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1 AK-74 in all forms
2 Algimec AGM-1 type semiautomatic
3 American Arms Spectre da semiautomatic carbine
4 AR15, M16, or M4 in all forms
5 AR 180 type semiautomatic
6 Argentine L.S.R. semiautomatic
7 Australian Automatic
8 Auto-Ordnance Thompson M1 and 1927 semiautomatics
9 Barrett .50 cal light semiautomatic
10 Barrett .50 cal M87
11 Barrett .50 cal M107A1
12 Barrett REC7
13 Beretta AR70/S70 type semiautomatic
14 Bushmaster Carbon 15
15 Bushmaster ACR
16 Bushmaster XM-15
17 Bushmaster MOE
18 Calico models M100 and M900
19 CETME Sporter
20 CIS SR 88 type semiautomatic
21 Colt CAR 15
22 Daewoo K-1
23 Daewoo K-2
24 Dragunov semiautomatic
25 Fabrique Nationale FAL in all forms
26 Fabrique Nationale F2000
27 Fabrique Nationale L1A1 Sporter
28 Fabrique Nationale M249S
29 Fabrique Nationale PS90
30 Fabrique Nationale SCAR
31 FAMAS .223 semiautomatic
32 Galil
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 1 Heckler & Koch G3 in all forms
2 Heckler & Koch HK-41/91
3 Heckler & Koch HK-43/93
4 Heckler & Koch HK94A2/3
5 Heckler & Koch MP-5 in all forms
6 Heckler & Koch PSG-1
7 Heckler & Koch SL8
8 Heckler & Koch UMP
9 Manchester Arms Commando MK-45
10 Manchester Arms MK-9
11 SAR-4800
12 SIG AMT SG510 in all forms
13 SIG SG550 in all forms
14 SKS
15 Spectre M4
16 Springfield Armory BM-59
17 Springfield Armory G3
18 Springfield Armory SAR-8
19 Springfield Armory SAR-48
20 Springfield Armory SAR-3
21 Springfield Armory M-21 sniper
22 Springfield Armory M1A
23 Smith & Wesson M&P 15
24 Sterling Mk 1
25 Sterling Mk 6/7
26 Steyr AUG
27 TNW M230
28 FAMAS F11
29 Uzi 9mm carbine/rifle
30 (ii) A semiautomatic rifle that has an overall length of less
31 than 30 inches;
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 1 (iii) A conversion kit, part, or combination of parts, from which
2 an assault weapon can be assembled or from which a firearm can be
3 converted into an assault weapon if those parts are in the possession
4 or under the control of the same person; or
5 (iv) A semiautomatic, center fire rifle that has the capacity to
6 accept a detachable magazine and has one or more of the following:
7 (A) A grip that is independent or detached from the stock that
8 protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon. The
9 addition of a fin attaching the grip to the stock does not exempt the
10 grip if it otherwise resembles the grip found on a pistol;
11 (B) Thumbhole stock;
12 (C) Folding or telescoping stock;
13 (D) Forward pistol, vertical, angled, or other grip designed for
14 use by the nonfiring hand to improve control;
15 (E) Flash suppressor, flash guard, flash eliminator, flash hider,
16 sound suppressor, silencer, or any item designed to reduce the visual
17 or audio signature of the firearm;
18 (F) Muzzle brake, recoil compensator, or any item designed to be
19 affixed to the barrel to reduce recoil or muzzle rise;
20 (G) Threaded barrel designed to attach a flash suppressor, sound
21 suppressor, muzzle break, or similar item;
22 (H) Grenade launcher or flare launcher; or
23 (I) A shroud that encircles either all or part of the barrel
24 designed to shield the bearer's hand from heat, except a solid
25 forearm of a stock that covers only the bottom of the barrel;
26 (v) A semiautomatic, center fire rifle that has a fixed magazine
27 with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds;
28 (vi) A semiautomatic pistol that has the capacity to accept a
29 detachable magazine and has one or more of the following:
30 (A) A threaded barrel, capable of accepting a flash suppressor,
31 forward handgrip, or silencer;
32 (B) A second hand grip;
33 (C) A shroud that encircles either all or part of the barrel
34 designed to shield the bearer's hand from heat, except a solid
35 forearm of a stock that covers only the bottom of the barrel; or
36 (D) The capacity to accept a detachable magazine at some location
37 outside of the pistol grip;
38 (vii) A semiautomatic shotgun that has any of the following:
39 (A) A folding or telescoping stock;
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 1 (B) A grip that is independent or detached from the stock that
2 protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon. The
3 addition of a fin attaching the grip to the stock does not exempt the
4 grip if it otherwise resembles the grip found on a pistol;
5 (C) A thumbhole stock;
6 (D) A forward pistol, vertical, angled, or other grip designed
7 for use by the nonfiring hand to improve control;
8 (E) A fixed magazine in excess of seven rounds; or
9 (F) A revolving cylinder shotgun.
10 (b) For the purposes of this subsection, "fixed magazine" means
11 an ammunition feeding device contained in, or permanently attached
12 to, a firearm in such a manner that the device cannot be removed
13 without disassembly of the firearm action.
14 (c) "Assault weapon" does not include antique firearms, any
15 firearm that has been made permanently inoperable, or any firearm
16 that is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action.
17 (3) "Assemble" means to fit together component parts.
18 (((3))) (4) "Barrel length" means the distance from the bolt face
19 of a closed action down the length of the axis of the bore to the
20 crown of the muzzle, or in the case of a barrel with attachments to
21 the end of any legal device permanently attached to the end of the
22 muzzle.
23 (((4))) (5) "Bump-fire stock" means a butt stock designed to be
24 attached to a semiautomatic firearm with the effect of increasing the
25 rate of fire achievable with the semiautomatic firearm to that of a
26 fully automatic firearm by using the energy from the recoil of the
27 firearm to generate reciprocating action that facilitates repeated
28 activation of the trigger.
29 (((5))) (6) "Crime of violence" means:
30 (a) Any of the following felonies, as now existing or hereafter
31 amended: Any felony defined under any law as a class A felony or an
32 attempt to commit a class A felony, criminal solicitation of or
33 criminal conspiracy to commit a class A felony, manslaughter in the
34 first degree, manslaughter in the second degree, indecent liberties
35 if committed by forcible compulsion, kidnapping in the second degree,
36 arson in the second degree, assault in the second degree, assault of
37 a child in the second degree, extortion in the first degree, burglary
38 in the second degree, residential burglary, and robbery in the second
39 degree;
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 1 (b) Any conviction for a felony offense in effect at any time
2 prior to June 6, 1996, which is comparable to a felony classified as
3 a crime of violence in (a) of this subsection; and
4 (c) Any federal or out-of-state conviction for an offense
5 comparable to a felony classified as a crime of violence under (a) or
6 (b) of this subsection.
7 (((6))) (7) "Curio or relic" has the same meaning as provided in
8 27 C.F.R. Sec. 478.11.
9 (((7))) (8) "Dealer" means a person engaged in the business of
10 selling firearms at wholesale or retail who has, or is required to
11 have, a federal firearms license under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 923(a). A
12 person who does not have, and is not required to have, a federal
13 firearms license under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 923(a), is not a dealer if that
14 person makes only occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of
15 firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby,
16 or sells all or part of his or her personal collection of firearms.
17 (((8))) (9) "Detachable magazine" means an ammunition feeding
18 device that can be loaded or unloaded while detached from a firearm
19 and readily inserted into a firearm.
20 (10) "Distribute" means to give out, provide, make available, or
21 deliver a firearm or large capacity magazine to any person in this
22 state, with or without consideration, whether the distributor is in-
23 state or out-of-state. "Distribute" includes, but is not limited to,
24 filling orders placed in this state, online or otherwise.
25 "Distribute" also includes causing a firearm or large capacity
26 magazine to be delivered in this state.
27 (((9))) (11) "Family or household member" has the same meaning as
28 in RCW 7.105.010.
29 (((10))) (12) "Federal firearms dealer" means a licensed dealer
30 as defined in 18 U.S.C. Sec. 921(a)(11).
31 (((11))) (13) "Federal firearms importer" means a licensed
32 importer as defined in 18 U.S.C. Sec. 921(a)(9).
33 (((12))) (14) "Federal firearms manufacturer" means a licensed
34 manufacturer as defined in 18 U.S.C. Sec. 921(a)(10).
35 (((13))) (15) "Felony" means any felony offense under the laws of
36 this state or any federal or out-of-state offense comparable to a
37 felony offense under the laws of this state.
38 (((14))) (16) "Felony firearm offender" means a person who has
39 previously been convicted or found not guilty by reason of insanity
40 in this state of any felony firearm offense. A person is not a felony
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 1 firearm offender under this chapter if any and all qualifying
2 offenses have been the subject of an expungement, pardon, annulment,
3 certificate, or rehabilitation, or other equivalent procedure based
4 on a finding of the rehabilitation of the person convicted or a
5 pardon, annulment, or other equivalent procedure based on a finding
6 of innocence.
7 (((15))) (17) "Felony firearm offense" means:
8 (a) Any felony offense that is a violation of this chapter;
9 (b) A violation of RCW 9A.36.045;
10 (c) A violation of RCW 9A.56.300;
11 (d) A violation of RCW 9A.56.310;
12 (e) Any felony offense if the offender was armed with a firearm
13 in the commission of the offense.
14 (((16))) (18) "Firearm" means a weapon or device from which a
15 projectile or projectiles may be fired by an explosive such as
16 gunpowder. "Firearm" does not include a flare gun or other
17 pyrotechnic visual distress signaling device, or a powder-actuated
18 tool or other device designed solely to be used for construction
19 purposes.
20 (((17))) (19)(a) "Frame or receiver" means a part of a firearm
21 that, when the complete firearm is assembled, is visible from the
22 exterior and provides housing or a structure designed to hold or
23 integrate one or more fire control components, even if pins or other
24 attachments are required to connect the fire control components. Any
25 such part identified with a serial number shall be presumed, absent
26 an official determination by the bureau of alcohol, tobacco,
27 firearms, and explosives or other reliable evidence to the contrary,
28 to be a frame or receiver.
29 (b) For purposes of this subsection, "fire control component"
30 means a component necessary for the firearm to initiate, complete, or
31 continue the firing sequence, including any of the following: Hammer,
32 bolt, bolt carrier, breechblock, cylinder, trigger mechanism, firing
33 pin, striker, or slide rails.
34 (((18))) (20) "Gun" has the same meaning as firearm.
35 (((19))) (21) "Import" means to move, transport, or receive an
36 item from a place outside the territorial limits of the state of
37 Washington to a place inside the territorial limits of the state of
38 Washington. "Import" does not mean situations where an individual
39 possesses a large capacity magazine when departing from, and
40 returning to, Washington state, so long as the individual is
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 1 returning to Washington in possession of the same large capacity
2 magazine the individual transported out of state.
3 (((20))) (21) "Intimate partner" has the same meaning as provided
4 in RCW 7.105.010.
5 (((21))) (22) "Large capacity magazine" means an ammunition
6 feeding device with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds of
7 ammunition, or any conversion kit, part, or combination of parts,
8 from which such a device can be assembled if those parts are in
9 possession of or under the control of the same person, but shall not
10 be construed to include any of the following:
11 (a) An ammunition feeding device that has been permanently
12 altered so that it cannot accommodate more than 10 rounds of
13 ammunition;