Olympia, Washington Washington is two years away from enacting a contentious law requiring a permit to purchase firearms, but a new firearms-related law went into effect last month.
On July 1, House Bill 2118 became operative.
It creates more stringent guidelines for authorized gun dealers. By placing stricter security measures, record-keeping standards, and reporting obligations on federal guns permits, the law seeks to improve gun safety and prevent gun crime.
Attorney and U.S. LawShield president Kirk Evans studied these legislation and their possible effects.
He conjectured that some gun sellers might be holding off to see if legal action could result in an injunction that would temporarily halt HB 2118’s provisions.
What will you do, even the large retailers? Will you invest the funds in this infrastructure? Will you watch and see what occurs? You know, will there be an injunction on that one, and will you even be allowed to sell firearms after the new law takes effect? Evans pondered.
Since HB 2118 went into effect, Dave Workman, editor-in-chief of TheGunMag, said he has not heard of any notable consequences.
He stated that the client is not yet complaining loudly and that costs are passed on to them. To be honest, the 10-day waiting period appears to have affected weekend gun shows, and this onerous law was created to drive FFLs out of business. Gun restrictions don’t work because bad people don’t follow them.
Evans pointed out that House Bill 1163, the permit-to-purchase law, is now in place even though it will take effect on May 1, 2027.
“People tend to rush out and get permits or acquire firearms before whatever restrictions or things come online whenever they see a surge or buildup in restrictions,” Evans told The Center Square. Every single individual who wishes to purchase a firearm will need to obtain a purchasing permit.
A record number of people in Washington applied for concealed carry permits in the first half of 2025, according to a new study from The Center Square.
According to Department of Licensing Communications Consultant Rob Wieman, as of the end of June, 709,334 Washington ians held a current concealed pistol license, which included a record growth of over 1,400 new licenses every month.
Anyone wishing to buy a firearm will have to complete a state-approved safety training course and submit to a background investigation by the Washington State Patrol once HB 1163 goes into effect.
A second background check and a 10-day waiting period before obtaining the freshly acquired firearm will come next.
According to Evans, there is little doubt that this will result in a massive backlog at the state level. Additionally, there will be training backlogs as a result of the need to find enough trainers capable of completing the certification for the several levels that will be necessary in order to obtain that buy permission.
Evans stated that training for a concealed carry permit will not be seen as the same as training for a purchase permit when it comes to guns safety.
“The certified training for the purchase permit will be different from the training for the carry permit,” he stated. They have made it obvious that the certification and the course [are] going to be different and most likely not going to qualify you for that buy permit in the future, even if you may have gone out and done the course to obtain your carry permit.
Evans expressed his worry that the gun buyer may suffer terrible outcomes as a result of the delays and extra expenses.
Thus, he continued, “imagine that you’re not a gun owner, but all of a sudden you’re dealing with a stalker or a domestic abuse situation.” After the new law was passed, you’re trapped in the backlog because a million people are waiting, and somewhere in the thick of that, you’re confronted by the stalker you’re trying to get ready to deal with. There are simply too many possible places where this may go wrong.
Kevin Baird is the assistant commander of the Washington State Patrol’s Firearms Background Division.
The Center Square inquired about the difficulties in putting HB 1163 into practice.
According to his email, E2SHB 1163 mandates that WSP set up a program to certify firearms safety training programs that satisfy RCW 9.41.070 (concealed pistol license) and RCW 9.41.1132 (firearm transfers). Additionally, the program must require certified firearms safety programs to recertify every five years. We can only do very minimal planning at this time because the bill’s funding does not start until July 1, 2026.
The ultimate objective, he added, is to establish a procedure that will enable [curricula] that are presented to us to be certified as fulfilling the legislation’ requirements and offer a means of demonstrating that the applicant has completed training or that an exemption is permitted. The law includes a fiscal note that discusses the expected FTEs and costs, for which a precise response is currently unavailable.
