As it stands currently, a person who wants to purchase (legally) a handgun from another person
In WA state, must complete a federal ATF form 4473 and a WA state Pistol Transfer Application (PTA), then
undergo a background check before taking possession of the handgun. Whether the purchaser has
a Concealed Pistol License (CPL) or not has some bearing on the exact procedure, and may induce a waiting
period if a CPL is not held by the purchaser. The FFL must record the firearm coming in and going out, check
identification, complete the 4473 form and PTA, log the PTA information electronically in the state online licensing system, and store the 4473 for up to 20 years. For 45-60 minutes of work, the FFL is awarded
the fee collected at the time of transfer. Some charge upwards and beyond $50, my shop charges significantly less, in the interest of reducing the impact of I-594 on my fellow gun owners.
Back in March,
velillen reported on HB 1501 in this thread:
http://www.waguns.org/viewtopic.php?f=137&t=79121&hilit=1501Along comes WA House Bill 1501, passed by the legislature and signed by our liberal governor, to take effect July 23. Without quoting the entire bill here, let me throw in some highlights, taken from the bill as passed. The bill will eventually by codified into the RCW’s.
“AN ACT Relating to protecting law enforcement and the public from persons who illegally attempt to obtain firearms; reenacting and amending RCW 42.56.240; adding a new section to chapter 9.41 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 36.28A RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 43.43 RCW.”
A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW as follows:
(1) A dealer shall report to the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs [WHO are these jokers?] information on each instance where the dealer denies an application for the purchase or transfer of a firearm….as the result of a background check or completed and submitted firearm purchase or transfer application that indicates the applicant is ineligible to possess a firearm under state or federal law. The dealer shall report the denied application information to the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs within five days of the denial in a format as prescribed by the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs [duplicated work and forms sent to another psuedo government agency]. The reported information must include the identifying information of the applicant, the date of the application and denial of the application, and other information or documents as prescribed by the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs. In any case where the purchase or transfer of a firearm is initially denied by the dealer as the result of a background check that indicates the applicant is ineligible to possess a firearm, but the purchase or transfer is subsequently approved, the dealer shall report the subsequent approval to the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs within one day of the approval. [Each of these steps is already a requirement of the state Firearms Licensing System, except for the shortened time frame to 1 day, which adds to the FFL’s burdensome work load.]
(2) Upon denying an application for the purchase or transfer of a firearm as a result of a background check or completed and submitted firearm purchase or transfer application that indicates the applicant is ineligible to possess a firearm under state or federal law, the dealer shall:
(a) Provide the applicant with a copy of a notice form generated and distributed by the Washington State Patrol (WSP) under section 3(5) of this act, informing denied applicants of their right to appeal the denial; and [no doubt this will be yet another form that the WSP requires, but cannot manage to distribute or log correctly].
(b) Retain the original records of the attempted purchase or transfer of a firearm for a period not less than six years.
But wait..the fun continues…
A new section is added to chapter 36.28A RCW to read as follows:
(1) Subject to the availability of amounts appropriated for this specific purpose, the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs must create and maintain an electronic portal for a dealer, as defined in RCW 9.41.010, to report the information as required pursuant to section 1 of this act pertaining to persons who have applied for the purchase or transfer of a firearm and were denied as the result of a background check or completed and submitted firearm purchase or transfer application that indicates the applicant is ineligible to possess a firearm under state or federal law. [Yet another poorly designed and run state database that will not be maintained, and will be fraught with bugs and the inability to log the information]
(2) Upon receipt of information from a dealer pursuant to section 1 of this act that a person originally denied the purchase or transfer of a firearm as the result of a background check that indicates the applicant is ineligible to possess a firearm has subsequently been approved for the purchase or transfer, the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs must purge any record of the person's denial in its possession and inform the Washington state patrol and any local law enforcement agency… [Is anyone fooled into thinking this will actually be carried out in an accurate and speedy fashion?]
The bill goes on to discuss information sharing between WSP and the various Indian tribes and other law enforcement agencies. There is a section pertaining to public records requests and redacted data. But in essence, all this bill does is place more work on the heads of gun dealers and duplicate work which the state and federal laws already in place are supposed to accomplish. This is a fine example of how the state continues to infringe on your gun rights.
With the increased burden in forms, record storage, and electronic entries required by the new bill, you can bet the cost will be passed along to the customer. Not many of us can afford to work for free, and FFL’s were already under a burdensome work load when processing a pistol transfer.
Look for an increase in those transfer fees, they will be coming to a dealer near you.