Z-0208.2

HOUSE BILL 1229

ByRepresentatives Peterson, Dolan, Pollet, Ryu, Berry, Valdez, Fey, Ramel, Ortiz-Self, Bateman, Hackney, Davis, Bergquist, Kloba, Wylie, Lekanoff, Macri, Stonier, and Riccelli; by request of Attorney General

AN ACT Relating to assault weapons; adding new sections 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:

For purposes of sections 2 and 3 of this act only, the following terms have the following meanings:

(1) "Assault weapon" means:

(a) Any of the following specific firearms or a copycat weapon, regardless of which company produced and manufactured the firearm:

(i) AK-47 in all forms;

(ii) AK-74 in all forms;

(iii) Algimec AGM-1 type semi-auto;

(iv) American Arms Spectre da Semiautomatic carbine;

(v) AR15, M16, or M4 in all forms;

(vi) AR 180 type semi-auto;

(vii) Argentine L.S.R. semi-auto;

(viii) Australian Automatic;

(ix) Auto-Ordnance Thompson M1 and 1927 Semi-Automatics;

(x) Barrett .50 cal light semi-auto;

(xi) Barrett .50 cal M87;

(xii) Barrett .50 cal M107A1;

(xiii) Barrett REC7;

(xiv) Beretta AR70/S70 type semi-auto;

(xv) Bushmaster Carbon 15;

(xvi) Bushmaster ACR;

(xvii) Bushmaster XM-15;

(xviii) Bushmaster MOE;

(xix) Calico models M100 and M900;

(xx) CETME Sporter;

(xxi) CIS SR 88 type semi-auto;

(xxii) Colt CAR 15;

(xxiii) Daewoo K-1;

(xxiv) Daewoo K-2;

(xxv) Dragunov Semi-Auto;

(xxvi) Fabrique Nationale FAL in all forms;

(xxvii) Fabrique Nationale F2000;

(xxviii) Fabrique Nationale L1A1 Sporter;

(xxix) Fabrique Nationale M249S;

(xxx) Fabrique Nationale PS90;

(xxxi) Fabrique Nationale SCAR;

(xxxii) FAMAS .223 Semi-Auto;

(xxxiii) Galil;

(xxxiv) Heckler & Koch G3 in all forms;

(xxxv) Heckler & Koch HK-41/91;

(xxxvi) Heckler & Koch HK-43/93;

(xxxvii) Heckler & Koch HK94A2/3;

(xxxviii) Heckler & Koch MP-5 in all forms;

(xxxix) Heckler & Koch PSG-1;

(xl) Heckler & Koch SL8;

(xli) Heckler & Koch UMP;

(xlii) Manchester Arms Commando MK-45;

(xliii) Manchester Arms MK-9;

(xliv) SAR-4800;

(xlv) SIG AMT SG510 in all forms;

(xlvi) SIG SG550 in all forms;

(xlvii) SKS;

(xlviii) Spectre M4;

(xlix) Springfield Armory BM-59;

(l) Springfield Armory G3;

(li) Springfield Armory SAR-8;

(lii) Springfield Armory SAR-48;

(liii) Springfield Armory SAR-3;

(liv) Springfield Armory M-21 Sniper;

(lv) Springfield Armory M1A;

(lvi) Smith & Wesson M&P 15;

(lvii) Sterling Mk 1;

(lviii) Sterling Mk 6/7;

(lix) Steyr AUG;

(lx) TNW M230;

(lxi) FAMAS F11; or

(lxii) Uzi 9mm carbine/rifle;

(b) A semiautomatic, centerfire, or rimfire rifle that has an overall length of less than 30 inches; or

(c) A conversion kit, part, or combination of parts, from which an assault weapon can be assembled if those parts are in the possession or under the control of the same person.

"Assault weapon" does not include antique firearms, any firearm that has been made permanently inoperable, any firearm that is manually operated by bolt, pump, lever, or slide action, or a pistol that is not identified in (a) of this subsection and does not meet the description in subsection (2) of this section.

(2) "Copycat weapon" means a semiautomatic, centerfire firearm that has the capacity to accept a detachable magazine and has one or more of the following:

(a) A pistol grip that protrudes conspicuously beneath the action of the weapon, unless the firearm is a pistol as defined in this section;

(b) Thumbhole stock;

(c) Folding or telescoping stock;

(d) Forward pistol, vertical, angled, or other grip designed for use by the nonfiring hand to improve control during a high rate of fire;

(e) Flash suppressor, flash guard, flash eliminator, flash hider, sound suppressor, silencer, or any item designed to reduce the visual or audio signature of the firearm;

(f) Muzzle brake, recoil compensator, or any item designed to be affixed to the barrel to reduce recoil or muzzle rise;

(g) Threaded barrel designed to attach a flash suppressor, sound suppressor, muzzle break, or similar item; or

(h) Grenade launcher or flare launcher.

(3) "Detachable magazine" means an ammunition feeding device that can be loaded or unloaded while detached from a firearm and readily inserted into a firearm.

(4) "Semiautomatic" means any firearm that uses a portion of the energy of a firing cartridge to extract the fired cartridge case and chamber the next round, and that requires a separate pull of the trigger to fire each cartridge.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:

(1) No person in this state may manufacture, possess, distribute, import, transfer, sell, offer for sale, purchase, or otherwise transfer any assault weapon except as authorized in this section.

(2) Subsection (1) of this section does not apply to any of the following:

(a) The possession of an assault weapon by a person who legally possessed the assault weapon on the effective date of this section, or possession of an assault weapon by a person who, on or after the effective date of this section, acquires possession of the assault weapon by operation of law upon the death of the former owner who was in legal possession of the assault weapon, provided the person in possession of the assault weapon can establish such provenance. A person who legally possesses an assault weapon under this subsection may not sell or transfer the assault weapon to any other person in this state other than to a licensed dealer, to a federally licensed gun smith for the purpose of service or repair, or to a law enforcement agency for the purpose of permanently relinquishing the assault weapon;

(b) Any government officer, agent, or employee; member of the armed forces of the United States or the state of Washington; or law enforcement officer, to the extent that such person is otherwise authorized to acquire or possess an assault weapon and does so while acting within the scope of his or her duties;

(c) The manufacture, offering for sale, sale, importation, or transfer of an assault weapon by a licensed firearms manufacturer for the purposes of sale to any branch of the armed forces of the United States or the state of Washington, or to a law enforcement agency in this state for use by that agency or its employees;

(d) The possession, offering for sale, sale, importation, or transfer of an assault weapon by a dealer that is properly licensed under federal and state law for the purpose of sale to any branch of the armed forces of the United States or the state of Washington, or to a law enforcement agency in this state for use by that agency or its employees for law enforcement purposes;

(e) The possession, offering for sale, sale, importation, or transfer of an assault weapon by a dealer that is properly licensed under federal and state law where the dealer acquires the assault weapon from a person legally authorized to possess or transfer the assault weapon under (a) of this subsection for the purpose of selling or transferring the assault weapon to a person who does not reside in this state;

(f) The transfer to and possession of a legally possessed assault weapon by a federally licensed gunsmith for the purposes of service or repair, and the return of the assault weapon to the lawful owner;

(g) The possession, offering for sale, sale, importation, or transfer of an unloaded assault weapon for the purpose of permanently relinquishing it to a law enforcement agency in this state;

(h) The importation or possession of an assault weapon for the purpose of lawfully participating in a sporting event officially sanctioned by a club or organization established in whole or in part for the purpose of sponsoring sport shooting events;

(i) The possession, importation, purchase, or transfer of an assault weapon by marshals, sheriffs, prison or jail wardens or their deputies, or other law enforcement officers of this or another state while acting within the scope of their duties, including such possession while not on duty, but specifically authorized by command staff and necessary for the performance of such duties;

(j) The possession of an assault weapon by law enforcement officers retired for service or physical disabilities, when the assault weapon in question was acquired as part of the officer's separation from service;

(k) Members of the armed forces of the United States or of the national guard or organized services, when on duty;

(l) Officers or employees of the United States duly authorized to possess assault weapons;

(m) Any persons lawfully engaged in shooting at a duly licensed, lawfully operated shooting range; or

(n) The possession or transfer of an unloaded assault weapon for the purpose of permanently relinquishing it to a law enforcement agency in this state. An assault weapon relinquished to a law enforcement agency under this subsection must be destroyed.

(3) In order to continue to possess an assault weapon that was legally possessed on the effective date of this section, the person possessing the assault weapon shall possess the assault weapon only on property owned or immediately controlled by the person, or while engaged in the legal use of the assault weapon at a duly licensed firing range, or while engaged in a lawful outdoor recreational activity such as hunting, or while traveling to or from either of these locations for the purpose of engaging in the legal use of the assault weapon, provided that the assault weapon is stored unloaded and in a separate locked container during transport.

(4) A person who violates this section is guilty of a class C felony punishable under chapter 9A.20 RCW.

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

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, a person shall not:

(a) Transport an assault weapon into Washington state; or

(b) Possess, sell, offer to sell, transfer, purchase, or receive an assault weapon.

(2)(a) A person who lawfully possessed, has a purchase order for, or completed an application to purchase an assault weapon before January 1, 2022, and who has registered the assault weapon with the Washington state patrol may:

(i) Continue to possess and transport the assault weapon; or

(ii) While carrying a court order requiring the surrender of the assault weapon, transport the assault weapon directly to a law enforcement unit, barracks, or station if the person has notified the law enforcement unit, barracks, or station that the person is transporting the assault weapon in accordance with a court order and the assault weapon is unloaded.

(b) A licensed firearms dealer may continue to possess, sell, offer for sale, or transfer an assault weapon or a copycat weapon that the licensed firearms dealer lawfully possessed on or before January 1, 2022.

(c) A person may transport an assault weapon to or from:

(i) An ISO 17025 accredited, national institute of justice–approved ballistics testing laboratory; or

(ii) A facility or entity that manufactures or provides research and development testing, analysis, or engineering for personal protective equipment or vehicle protection systems.

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