Washington State Legislature to Introduce “Large Capacity” Magazine Ban
What You Need to Know About SB 5078
Over the past few legislative cycles in Washington State, the firearm industry has been successful in narrowly stopping multiple efforts by the legislature to ban “large capacity magazines” and modern sporting rifles (MSRs) or what is being termed as “assault rifles.”
It appears 2021 will be more of the same in the Evergreen State. NSSF’s Government Relations – State Affairs team learned SB 5078 has been prefilled. If enacted, SB 5078 would make it a criminal offense to manufacture, possess, distribute, import, sell, purchase or transfer a magazine with a capacity greater than 10 rounds.
Additionally, SB 5038 was introduced and while mostly focused on banning an individual’s right to open carry, it also contains a troubling provision for retailers. It gives municipalities some authority to use zoning ordinances for the purposes of limiting the lawful commerce and location of firearm retailers.
NSSF®’s Government Relations – State Affairs team is committed to defeating all egregious bills this session and will provide updates on the situation as the session unfolds. As we get more information in the coming days, we’ll follow up this alert with ways you can help us defeat this anti-industry bill. In the interim:
Please contact your legislator and tell them to vote no on SB 5078! You can find yourlegislator by clickinghere.
The legislature convenes Monday. This year will present additional challenges after the 2020 election and due to COVID-19. Washington plans to conduct the 2021 session mostly remotely and in other states, we’ve seen testimony on our side limited.
For information on the 2021 Washington Legislative Session can be found here.
