H-0702.1  _______________________________________________

 

                          HOUSE BILL 1335

          _______________________________________________

 

State of Washington      54th Legislature     1995 Regular Session

 

By Representatives Thompson, McMorris, Sherstad, Lisk, Hargrove, Koster, D. Schmidt, Buck, Talcott, Blanton, B. Thomas, Sheldon, Johnson and Mulliken

 

Read first time 01/23/95.  Referred to Committee on Law and Justice.

 

Revising provisions relating to firearm dealer licenses.



    AN ACT Relating to firearm dealers; amending RCW 9.41.110; and reenacting and amending RCW 9.41.010.

 

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

 

    Sec. 1.  RCW 9.41.010 and 1994 sp.s. c 7 s 401 and 1994 c 121 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

    Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter.

    (1) "Firearm" means a weapon or device from which a projectile may be fired by an explosive such as gunpowder.

    (2) "Pistol" means any firearm with a barrel less than twelve inches in length, or is designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand.

    (3) "Rifle" means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger.

    (4) "Short-barreled rifle" means a rifle having one or more barrels less than sixteen inches in length and any weapon made from a rifle by any means of modification if such modified weapon has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches.

    (5) "Shotgun" means a weapon with one or more barrels, designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed shotgun shell to fire through a smooth bore either a number of ball shot or a single projectile for each single pull of the trigger.

    (6) "Short-barreled shotgun" means a shotgun having one or more barrels less than eighteen inches in length and any weapon made from a shotgun by any means of modification if such modified weapon has an overall length of less than twenty-six inches.

    (7) "Machine gun" means any firearm known as a machine gun, mechanical rifle, submachine gun, or any other mechanism or instrument not requiring that the trigger be pressed for each shot and having a reservoir clip, disc, drum, belt, or other separable mechanical device for storing, carrying, or supplying ammunition which can be loaded into the firearm, mechanism, or instrument, and fired therefrom at the rate of five or more shots per second.

    (8) "Antique firearm" means a firearm or replica of a firearm not designed or redesigned for using rim fire or conventional center fire ignition with fixed ammunition and manufactured in or before 1898, including any matchlock, flintlock, percussion cap, or similar type of ignition system and also any firearm using fixed ammunition manufactured in or before 1898, for which ammunition is no longer manufactured in the United States and is not readily available in the ordinary channels of commercial trade.

    (9) "Loaded" means:

    (a) There is a cartridge in the chamber of the firearm;

    (b) Bullets are in a clip that is locked in place in the firearm;

    (c) There is a cartridge in the cylinder of the firearm, if the firearm is a revolver; or

    (d) There is a cartridge in the tube, magazine, or other compartment of the firearm.

    (10) "Dealer" means a person ((engaged in the business of selling firearms or ammunition at wholesale or retail)) who has, or is required to have, a federal firearms license under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 923(a).  ((A person who does not have, and is not required to have, a federal firearms license under 18 U.S.C. Sec. 923(a), is not a dealer if that person makes only occasional sales, exchanges, or purchases of firearms for the enhancement of a personal collection or for a hobby, or sells all or part of his or her personal collection of firearms.))

    (11) "Crime of violence" 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, assault of a child in the second degree, extortion in the first degree, burglary in the second degree, residential burglary, 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 (a) of this subsection; and

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

    (12) "Serious offense" means any of the following felonies or a felony attempt to commit any of the following felonies, as now existing or hereafter amended:

    (a) Any crime of violence;

    (b) Child molestation in the second degree;

    (c) Controlled substance homicide;

    (d) Incest when committed against a child under age fourteen;

    (e) Indecent liberties;

    (f) Leading organized crime;

    (g) Promoting prostitution in the first degree;

    (h) Rape in the third degree;

    (i) Sexual exploitation;

    (j) Vehicular assault;

    (k) Vehicular homicide, when proximately caused by the driving of any vehicle by any person while under the influence of intoxicating liquor or any drug as defined by RCW 46.61.502, or by the operation of any vehicle in a reckless manner;

    (l) Any other class B felony offense with a finding of sexual motivation, as "sexual motivation" is defined under RCW 9.94A.030;

    (m) Any other felony with a deadly weapon verdict under RCW 9.94A.125; or

    (n) Any felony offense in effect at any time prior to July 1, 1994, that is comparable to a serious offense, or any federal or out-of-state conviction for an offense that under the laws of this state would be a felony classified as a serious offense.

 

    Sec. 2.  RCW 9.41.110 and 1994 sp.s. c 7 s 416 are each amended to read as follows:

    (1) No dealer may sell or otherwise transfer, or expose for sale or transfer, or have in his or her possession with intent to sell, or otherwise transfer, any ((pistol)) firearm without being licensed as provided in ((this section)) 18 U.S.C. Sec. 923(a).

    (2) ((No dealer  may sell or otherwise transfer, or expose for sale or transfer, or have in his or her possession with intent to sell, or otherwise transfer, any firearm other than a pistol without being licensed as provided in this section.

    (3) No dealer  may sell or otherwise transfer, or expose for sale or transfer, or have in his or her possession with intent to sell, or otherwise transfer, any ammunition without being licensed as provided in this section.

    (4) The duly constituted licensing authorities of any city, town, or political subdivision of this state shall grant licenses in forms prescribed by the director of licensing effective for not more than one year from the date of issue permitting the licensee to sell firearms within this state subject to the following conditions, for breach of any of which the license shall be forfeited and the licensee subject to punishment as provided in RCW 9.41.010 through 9.41.810.  A licensing authority shall forward a copy of each license granted to the department of licensing.  The department of licensing shall notify the department of revenue of the name and address of each dealer licensed under this section.

    (5)(a) A licensing authority shall, within thirty days after the filing of an application of any person for a dealer's license, determine whether to grant the license.  However, if the applicant does not have a valid permanent Washington driver's license or Washington state identification card, or has not been a resident of the state for the previous consecutive ninety days, the licensing authority shall have up to sixty days to determine whether to issue a license.  No person shall qualify for a license under this section without first receiving a federal firearms license and undergoing fingerprinting and a background check.  In addition, no person ineligible to possess a firearm under RCW 9.41.040 or ineligible for a concealed pistol license under RCW 9.41.070 shall qualify for a dealer's license.

    (b) A dealer shall require every employee who may sell a firearm in the course of his or her employment to undergo fingerprinting and a background check.  An employee must be eligible to possess a firearm, and must not have been convicted of a crime that would make the person ineligible for a concealed pistol license, before being permitted to sell a firearm.  Every employee shall comply with requirements concerning purchase applications and restrictions on delivery of pistols that are applicable to dealers.

    (6)(a) Except as otherwise provided in (b) of this subsection, the business shall be carried on only in the building designated in the license.  For the purpose of this section, advertising firearms for sale shall not be considered the carrying on of business.

    (b) A dealer may conduct business temporarily at a location other than the building designated in the license, if the temporary location is within Washington state and is the location of a gun show sponsored by a national, state, or local organization, or an affiliate of any such organization, devoted to the collection, competitive use, or other sporting use of firearms in the community.  Nothing in this subsection (6)(b) authorizes a dealer to conduct business in or from a motorized or towed vehicle.

    In conducting business temporarily at a location other than the building designated in the license, the dealer shall comply with all other requirements imposed on dealers by RCW 9.41.090, 9.41.100, and 9.41.110.  The license of a dealer who fails to comply with the requirements of RCW 9.41.080 and 9.41.090 and subsection (8) of this section while conducting business at a temporary location shall be revoked, and the dealer shall be permanently ineligible for a dealer's license.

    (7) The license or a copy thereof, certified by the issuing authority, shall be displayed on the premises in the area where firearms are sold, or at the temporary location, where it can easily be read.

    (8)))(a) No pistol may be sold:  (i) In violation of any provisions of RCW 9.41.010 through 9.41.810; nor (ii) may a pistol be sold under any circumstances unless the purchaser is personally known to the dealer or shall present clear evidence of his or her identity.

    (b) ((A dealer who sells or delivers any firearm in violation of RCW 9.41.080 is guilty of a class C felony.  In addition to any other penalty provided for by law, the dealer is subject to mandatory permanent revocation of his or her dealer's license and permanent ineligibility for a dealer's license.

    (c) The license fee for pistols shall be one hundred twenty-five dollars.  The license fee for firearms other than pistols shall be one hundred twenty-five dollars.  The license fee for ammunition shall be one hundred twenty-five dollars.  Any dealer who obtains any license under subsection (1), (2), or (3) of this section may also obtain the remaining licenses without payment of any fee.  The fees received under this section shall be deposited in the account under RCW 69.50.520.

    (9)(a))) A true record in triplicate shall be made of every pistol sold, in a book kept for the purpose, the form of which may be prescribed by the director of licensing and shall be personally signed by the purchaser and by the person effecting the sale, each in the presence of the other, and shall contain the date of sale, the caliber, make, model and manufacturer's number of the weapon, the name, address, occupation, and place of birth of the purchaser and a statement signed by the purchaser that he or she is not ineligible under RCW 9.41.040 to possess a firearm.

    (((b))) (c) One copy of each record of a pistol sale shall within six hours be sent by certified mail to the chief of police of the municipality or the sheriff of the county of which the purchaser is a resident; the duplicate the dealer shall within seven days send to the director of licensing; the triplicate the dealer shall retain for six years.

    (((10))) (3) Subsection((s)) (2) ((through (9))) of this section ((shall)) does not apply to sales at wholesale.

    (((11) The dealer's licenses authorized to be issued by this section are general licenses covering all sales by the licensee within the effective period of the licenses.  The department shall provide a single application form for dealer's licenses and a single license form which shall indicate the type or types of licenses granted.

    (12))) (4) Except as provided in RCW 9.41.090, every city, town, and political subdivision of this state is prohibited from requiring the purchaser to secure a permit to purchase or from requiring the dealer to secure an individual permit for each sale.

   

 


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