Senate Bill 5350 repeals a set of existing statutes and session-law sections that establish Washington’s firearms background check system. The bill specifically repeals RCW 43.43.580, 43.43.585, 43.43.590, and 9.41.1135, along with related session-law citations and uncodified sections from 2020 and 2024. The text names the Washington background check advisory board, the state firearms background check system account, the Washington State Patrol firearms background check system, and the firearms background check program/automated system as being affected by those repeals. The bill includes an emergency clause and states it takes effect immediately. This is a repeal of existing statutory law (a change to remove those provisions); it does not create a new crime, change penalties, or add procedural details in the provided text. The document excerpts do not include the language of the repealed statutes, any replacement provisions, fiscal or implementation details, or enforcement mechanisms, so the practical effects of removing those provisions and how background checks would be handled afterward are not determinable from the provided material. The bill was read for the first time on 01/17/25, sponsored by Senator Fortunato, and referred to the Senate Committee on Law & Justice.

If enacted, this bill would remove the state laws that set up and fund Washington’s automated firearms background check program, its advisory board, and the account that paid for it, and because it has an emergency clause those repeals would take effect right away. Practically, that would likely eliminate the explicit legal authority and designated funding stream for the background check system and its oversight, creating an immediate risk that the Washington State Patrol and the advisory board could no longer operate the program as currently authorized. The people and organizations most affected would be the Washington State Patrol, the background check advisory board, firearms dealers and purchasers who rely on the checks, and any state budgeting lines tied to the named account. The change could interrupt operations, shift costs or legal responsibility elsewhere, or leave a gap in oversight and enforcement; however, the extracted text does not include the original statutory language or any replacement plan, so it is unclear exactly how background checks, funding, or responsibilities would be handled after the repeal.