It is legal for me to purchase a handgun for my wife as a present?  it makes sense that it would be but with the transfer laws I want to make sure I'm in the clear.

Well, I can tell you that if you buy ME a handgun, your street cred will soar!


And, the answer to your question is..... Yes.

RCW 9.41.113
Firearm sales or transfers—Background checks—Requirements—Exceptions.
(1) All firearm sales or transfers, in whole or part in this state including without limitation a sale or transfer where either the purchaser or seller or transferee or transferor is in Washington, shall be subject to background checks unless specifically exempted by state or federal law. The background check requirement applies to all sales or transfers including, but not limited to, sales and transfers through a licensed dealer, at gun shows, online, and between unlicensed persons.
....
(4) This section does not apply to:

(a) A transfer between immediate family members, which for this subsection shall be limited to spouses, domestic partners, parents, children, siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, first cousins, aunts, and uncles, that is a bona fide gift;

Perfect.  Thank you.

She has never been around guns and My whole family does competition shooting so I want to get her introduced to them (so I can go to the range and shoot more often).  Looks like I can use Christmas as the perfect excuse to put my plan into action.

Methinks you didn't read all of the quoted RCW. You can.

federal law states

"Are you the actual transferee/buyer of the firearm(s) listed on this form? Warning: You are not the actual buyer if you are acquiring the firearm(s) on behalf of another person. If you are not the actual buyer, the dealer cannot transfer the firearm(s) to you"

So if your intent is to buy it for her you are doing a straw purchase.

TOTALLY WRONG!

Jesus people, how many times do we have to go over this.
Federal Law:  You can buy a firearm as a gift for ANYONE*.  On the 4473, you are the actual buyer, you are the one buying the gun.  The gift recipient didn't give you they money to pay for it.  Just because you intend to give it to someone else as a gift does NOT make it a straw purchase.  Hell, even if they are standing right there and say "I like that one!", it is still a gift, and still NOT a straw purchase.

WA I-594: Because of I-594, you can't give a gift of a firearm to just anybody any more without a 4473/NICS/ATP form, the exceptions being a gift to a spouse, sibling, son, daughter, etc. as defined by the RCW*.  If it isn't one of those classes of people, then you can still give it to them, but that transfer has to be done at a dealer with the 4473/NICS/ATP forms.

*They have to be non-prohibited persons in the first place.

So, can the OP give his wife a gun for Christmas?
YES!
Will he be violating any Federal laws?
NO!
Will he be violating any State laws?
NO!

Straw purchase does not apply to gifts for family members not otherwise precluded by law from owning firearms.

4473 - Page 4 - Question 11.a - Clarification for the term "Actual Transferee/Buyer"