H-4174              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 1875

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              50th Legislature                              1988 Regular Session

By Representatives Locke, Basich and Armstrong

Read first time 1/27/88 and referred to Committee on Judiciary.

AN ACT Relating to plastic firearms; amending RCW 9.41.190 and 9.41.200; and adding a new section to chapter 9.41 RCW.

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

        Sec. 1.  Section 1, chapter 64, Laws of 1933 as amended by section 2, chapter 47, Laws of 1982 1st ex. sess. and RCW 9.41.190 are each amended to read as follows:

          It is unlawful for any person to manufacture, own, buy, sell, loan, furnish, transport, or have in possession or under control, any plastic firearm as defined in RCW 9.41.200(1), or any machine gun as defined in RCW 9.41.200(2), or any part thereof capable of use or assembling or repairing any machine gun:  PROVIDED, HOWEVER, That such limitation shall not apply to any peace officer in the discharge of official duty, or to any officer or member of the armed forces of the United States or the state of Washington:  PROVIDED FURTHER, That this section does not apply to a person, including an employee of such person, who or which is exempt from or licensed under the National Firearms Act (26 U.S.C. section 5801 et seq.), and engaged in the production, manufacture, or testing of weapons or equipment to be used or purchased by the armed forces of the United States, and having a United States government industrial security clearance.

        Sec. 2.  Section 2, chapter 64, Laws of 1933 and RCW 9.41.200 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) A plastic firearm means any firearm, as defined in RCW 9.41.010(3), which consists of less than ten ounces of metal excluding ammunition or bullets.

(2) For the purpose of RCW 9.41.190 through 9.41.220 a machine gun is defined as any firearm or weapon known as a machine gun, mechanical rifle, submachine gun, and/or any other weapon, 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 such weapon, mechanism, or instrument, and fired therefrom at the rate of five or more shots per second.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.  A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:

          A plastic firearm, as defined in RCW 9.41.200(1), is not subject to the prohibition of RCW 9.41.190 if, upon appeal to the Washington state patrol by a manufacturer or a licensed dealer, the state patrol determines that the weapon is readily detectable as a firearm by metal detection equipment and x-ray equipment commonly used at airports.  The determination of whether a firearm is readily detectable by metal detection machines and x-ray machines shall be within the discretion of the Washington state patrol.