The bill amends RCW 43.43.580 to require the Washington State Patrol (WSP) to establish a centralized firearms background check program and an automated electronic background check system for firearm sales and transfers. The system must provide dealer access by web portal/electronic means and telephone, notify dealers of request receipt, assign a unique identifier, return an automated permit/deny/indeterminate response, and include data integrity, confidentiality and performance tracking features. WSP is directed to check NICS and additional state and local record sources, perform equivalency analysis for foreign criminal charges against Washington law definitions, and is authorized to hold delivery of a firearm under circumstances referenced in RCW 9.41.090. The bill creates administrative and procedural requirements: dealers must use the WSP system beginning 30 days after WSP notifies them of the system’s existence and must charge each purchaser/transferee a fee designed to reasonably cover WSP direct and indirect costs, with fees transmitted to the state treasurer for deposit in the state firearms background check system account (RCW 43.43.590). Pawnbroker receipt or redemption of pawned firearms is exempt from the fee. WSP must establish an appeal procedure for persons denied transfers, work with the Administrative Office of the Courts to link court records to the background check system, consult the Washington background check advisory board (RCW 43.43.585), report the average time from request to final decision to appropriate legislative committees by July 1, 2025 and annually thereafter, exempt background-check records from public disclosure under chapter 42.56 RCW, and adopt necessary rules. For purposes of the section, “dealer” is defined by reference to RCW 9.41.010. This is an administrative and procedural change rather than a new crime or penalty change: it modifies existing law by creating a centralized background check process, fee mechanism, reporting and appeal procedures, and records exemptions. The provided text includes two overlapping amendment versions with differing references to subsections of RCW 9.41.090 and a truncated section, so it is unclear from these extracts which amendment language is final. The extracts also state Section 1 expires May 1, 2027 and Section 2 takes effect May 1, 2027.

If enacted, the Washington State Patrol would run a single, automated background-check service that all firearm dealers must use starting 30 days after they are notified. Dealers would be responsible for collecting a fee from buyers or transferees to cover the patrol’s costs (with an explicit exemption when pawnbrokers are receiving or redeeming pawned guns), and the patrol would pull records from courts and law enforcement systems, perform equivalency checks for foreign convictions, notify dealers quickly of approvals or denials, and report average processing times to the Legislature by July 1, 2025 and each year after. Records used in these checks would be kept from public inspection, and the patrol must consult the state advisory board and may adopt rules to run the system. Section 1 of the act would expire May 1, 2027 and Section 2 would take effect that same date. The groups most affected are the Washington State Patrol (which takes on the new operational, reporting, and coordination duties and is funded in part by the new fee), licensed firearm dealers (who must switch to the system and collect the fee from customers), and purchasers/transferees (who will likely pay that fee except in the pawnbroker situations). The Administrative Office of the Courts and the advisory board will need to cooperate with data links and consultations. Important details remain unclear in the provided text—there are two differing amendment versions and a truncated section—so the exact scope of when delivery can be held, how the new fee interacts with any existing fee, and some implementation deadlines are not fully determinable from these extracts.