BILL REQ. #: H-1080.1
State of Washington | 63rd Legislature | 2013 Regular Session |
Read first time 02/05/13. Referred to Committee on Judiciary.
AN ACT Relating to safe storage of firearms; amending RCW 9A.36.050; adding a new section to chapter 9.41 RCW; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1 RCW 9A.36.050 and 1997 c 338 s 45 are each amended to read
as follows:
(1) A person is guilty of reckless endangerment when he or she
recklessly engages in conduct not amounting to drive-by shooting but
that creates a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury to
another person.
(2) Except as otherwise provided in this section, a person is
guilty of reckless endangerment if the person stores or leaves a loaded
firearm in a location where the person knows, or reasonably should
know, that a child is likely to gain access, and a child obtains
possession of the loaded firearm.
(3) Subsection (2) of this section does not apply if:
(a) The firearm is secured in a locked box, gun safe, other secure
locked storage space, or secured with a lock or any device that
prevents the firearm from discharging;
(b) The child's access to the firearm is supervised by an adult;
(c) The child's access to the firearm was obtained as a result of
an unlawful entry; or
(d) The child's access to the firearm was in accordance with RCW
9.41.042.
(4) If a death or serious injury occurs as a result of an alleged
violation of subsection (2) of this section, the prosecuting attorney
may decline to prosecute, even though technically sufficient evidence
to prosecute exists, in situations where prosecution would serve no
public purpose, would defeat the purpose of the law in question, or
would result in decreased respect for the law.
(5) For the purposes of this section:
(a) "Child" means a person under the age of sixteen years; and
(b) The definitions in RCW 9.41.010 apply throughout this section.
(6) Nothing in this section mandates how or where a firearm must be
stored.
(7) Reckless endangerment is a gross misdemeanor.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) When selling any firearm, every dealer shall offer to sell or
give the purchaser a locked box, a lock, or a device that prevents the
firearm from discharging.
(2) Every store, shop, or sales outlet where firearms are sold,
that is registered as a dealer in firearms with the department of
licensing, shall conspicuously post, in a prominent location so that
all patrons may take notice, the following warning sign, to be provided
by the department of licensing, in block letters at least one inch in
height:
"IT IS UNLAWFUL TO STORE OR LEAVE AN UNSECURED, LOADED FIREARM
WHERE A CHILD CAN AND DOES OBTAIN POSSESSION."
(3) Every person who violates this section is guilty of a class 3
civil infraction under chapter 7.80 RCW, and may be fined up to fifty
dollars. However, no such fines may be levied until thirty days have
expired from the time warning signs are distributed by the department
of licensing.
(4) Nothing in this section mandates how or where a firearm must be
stored.