Handing Over A Firearm
RCW 9.41.113 — every sale or transfer, including between unlicensed people, goes through a background check
Every transfer. All firearm sales or transfers in Washington are subject to background checks unless specifically exempted, including sales and transfers at gun shows, online, and between unlicensed persons.
Through a dealer. Where neither party is a licensed dealer, the seller delivers the firearm to a licensed dealer, who processes the transfer as if from its own inventory, including the background check and record keeping. The buyer completes and signs the forms the check requires.
During the check. The unlicensed seller may take the firearm away from the dealer's premises while the check runs, but both parties return and the seller delivers it to the dealer again before the transfer is completed.
Family. The section does not apply to a transfer between immediate family members, a term it limits to the relatives it names, among them spouses, domestic partners, parents, children, siblings and grandparents.
Federal law adds its own rules on transfers, including to people who live in another state, which are not on this page. Whether a particular sale, loan or gift is lawful is a question for a licensed Washington attorney.
Sources for this section (1)
- RCW 9.41.113 — Firearm sales or transfers; background checks
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Washington attorney.