H-2342.1          _______________________________________________

 

                            SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1903

                  _______________________________________________

 

State of Washington              52nd Legislature             1991 Regular Session

 

By House Committee on Judiciary (originally sponsored by Representatives Scott, Miller, Cole, Riley, Ludwig, Locke, Wineberry, Appelwick, Rasmussen, Wang, Ferguson and Anderson).

 

Read first time March 6, 1991.  Requiring trigger-locking devices on handguns.


     AN ACT Relating to handgun control; amending RCW 9.41.010; adding a new section to chapter 9.41 RCW; and prescribing penalties.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

 

     NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1.  A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:

     (1) No licensed firearms dealer shall sell a handgun unless the dealer (a) offers to sell the purchaser a trigger-locking device, (b) explains the operation of the trigger-locking device, and (c) obtains from the purchaser either (i) a receipt of the sale or (ii) a signed statement from the purchaser declining to buy the device.  The receipt or the statement shall be kept with the dealer's records required by RCW 9.41.110 and retained by the dealer for six years.

     (2) This section shall not apply to sales of handguns:

     (a) To a licensed firearms dealer for bona fide resale in the ordinary course of business; or

     (b) To an official government law enforcement or armed services agency.

     (3) Violation of this section is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars or imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.

     (4) For the purposes of this section:

     (a) "Licensed firearms dealer" means a person licensed to sell firearms pursuant to RCW 9.41.110.

     (b) "Trigger-locking device" means a padlock, key lock, combination lock, or similar locking device which, when the device is locked on, around, or in the firearm, renders the firearm incapable of firing.

 

     Sec. 2.  RCW 9.41.010 and 1983 c 232 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

     (1) "Short firearm," ((or)) "pistol," or "handgun" as used in this chapter means any firearm with a barrel less than twelve inches in length.

     (2) "Crime of violence" as used in this chapter means:

     (a) Any of the following felonies, as now existing or hereafter amended:  Any felony defined under any law as a class A felony or an attempt to commit a class A felony, criminal solicitation of or criminal conspiracy to commit a class A felony, manslaughter in the first degree, manslaughter in the second degree, indecent liberties if committed by forcible compulsion, rape in the second degree, kidnapping in the second degree, arson in the second degree, assault in the second degree, extortion in the first degree, burglary in the second degree, and robbery in the second degree;

     (b) Any conviction for a felony offense in effect at any time prior to July 1, 1976, which is comparable to a felony classified as a crime of violence in subsection (2)(a) of this section; and

     (c) Any federal or out‑of‑state conviction for an offense comparable to a felony classified as a crime of violence under subsection (2) (a) or (b) of this section.

     (3) "Firearm" as used in this chapter means a weapon or device from which a projectile may be fired by an explosive such as gunpowder.

     (4) "Commercial seller" as used in this chapter means a person who has a federal firearms license.