Okay folks, so I know most of you have been 'round and 'round on this one. I tried to take a look at the RCWs http://apps.leg.wa.gov/rcw/default.aspx?cite=9.41.010 that I think apply.

I am still a bit confused as to whether or not letting friends use my firearms while we (as in I am physically present as well) go shooting qualifies as a "transfer."

From the .gov website here is the definition: "(25) "Transfer" means the intended delivery of a firearm to another person without consideration of payment or promise of payment including, but not limited to, gifts and loans. "


So, if I go shooting a let a friend try my firearm, is that a "loan?"

Has there been any more clarity provided anywhere that I missed in my searching?

Any help would be appreciated. I am looking to be able to go shooting in future with a bunch of guys from church and it would be really nice to actually be able to try each others and share without fear of arrest/citation.

Take a look at RCW 9.41.113

It says in part;



The words without limitation seem to be rather bold.  It seems that there is no limit on how brief the transfer is.  To make matters worse there is no definition of a temporary transfer in the RCW's.  Just allowing a person to hold your firearm seems to be a transfer of some sort now.

Subsection (4) contains exceptions, but unless you are for example in a Game Management Unit or at an established shooting area, the exception does not apply to you when handing over a gun to someone not related to you or who is in danger.

None of this stuff made it into the description of the initiative in the voter's guide prior to the election and I've been unable to find out why or who wrote it.  We reap what we sow.

On the other hand it seems that this is the most ignored gun control law in the state.  I doubt that anyone would be arrested for allowing their friends to handle/shoot a gun that doesn't belong to them.  The police it seems are unwilling to arrest people for these brief transfers as shown in a rally in Olympia shortly after the new law went into effect.

Randy

594 will never be enforced. It's meant to scare regular gun owners like us into giving up the hobby, or deciding out of fear not to share it with new shooters. Do what you're going to do, nobody is going to stop you, but if they do, feel free to be the test case that brings the law down.

There is no clarity in 594. It was designed to be obscure. AG Ferguson and the DOL have refused to clarify if temporary transfers are covered or not. The 594 supporters claimed they were not, so you have an interesting defense right there if you did get into trouble.

IANAL but your chances of arrest for loaning a firearm at the range are approaching zero.

Thanks for the responses. I was hoping that there had been some clarification made by AG or someone else since the law went into effect 7-8 months ago. I guess that was just asking for too much (actually define a law that was so poorly written no one has a hope of understanding it).


Well, I've got a couple things on my side (NRA certified instructor for handgun) and I believe we'd be going to the suicide pit or similar (a recognized shooting area). I figured no one had really been bothered by LE on this one, just wanted to see if anyone out there had actually made an attempt to make sense out of nonsense. After all, isn't that what the libs do most of the time?

Thanks again.

This should be intersting as myself, family, friends and coworkers all go shooting togther at times. We all switch are guns around all the time. We will see what the Ranger says next time he see's us.

Don't invite The Man into your life.

Ignore it.  Practice Irish democracy.  Give Seattle the finger and continue being a free American.

It's really the only reasonable thing to do at this point in my opinion.

there is an exemption for competitions but zero definition for what constitutes a competition. Bring a notepad with you, keep score, and pass around all the guns you want. No one said it had to be sanctioned by ANYONE or any group.

I will do that.