H-4411.1

SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 2555

ByHouse Civil Rights & Judiciary (originally sponsored by Representative Goodman)

AN ACT Relating to background check requirements for firearms classified as other under federal firearms laws; 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) Beginning on the date that is thirty days after the Washington state patrol issues a notification to dealers that a state firearms background check system is established within the Washington state patrol, a dealer shall use the state firearms background check system to conduct background checks for purchases or transfers of firearm frames or receivers in accordance with this section.

(a) A dealer may not deliver a firearm frame or receiver to a purchaser or transferee unless the dealer first conducts a background check of the applicant through the state firearms background check system and the requirements or time periods in RCW 9.41.092(1) have been satisfied.

(b) When processing an application for the purchase or transfer of a firearm frame or receiver, a dealer shall comply with the application, recordkeeping, and other requirements of this chapter that apply to the sale or transfer of a pistol.

(c) A signed application for the purchase or transfer of a firearm frame or receiver shall constitute a waiver of confidentiality and written request that the health care authority, mental health institutions, and other health care facilities release, to an inquiring court, law enforcement agency, or the state, information relevant to the applicant's eligibility to possess a firearm. Any mental health information received by a court, law enforcement agency, or the state pursuant to this section shall not be disclosed except as provided in RCW 42.56.240(4).

(d) The department of licensing shall keep copies or records of applications for the purchase or transfer of a firearm frame or receiver and copies or records of firearm frame or receiver transfers in the same manner as pistol and semiautomatic assault rifle application and transfer records under RCW 9.41.129.

(e) A person who knowingly makes a false statement regarding identity or eligibility requirements on the application to purchase a firearm frame or receiver is guilty of false swearing under RCW 9A.72.040.

(f) This section does not apply to sales or transfers of firearm frames or receivers to licensed dealers.

(2) For the purposes of this section, "firearm frame or receiver" means the federally regulated part of a firearm that provides housing for the hammer, bolt or breechblock, and firing mechanism, and which is usually threaded at its forward portion to receive the barrel.

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