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On Thursday, the Washington State Senate passed a magazine ban by eight votes on Wednesday night. The vote was 28-20 in favor of the new legislation.

The bill that passed Wednesday night was officially known as Senate Bill 5078 in Washington. This bill would prohibit the sale of magazines with a capacity of more than 10 rounds, along with the manufacturing, distribution, possession, import, sale or purchase of standard capacity magazines in Washington state.

In the bill the authors define high-capacity magazine as an “ammunition feeding device with the capacity to accept more than 10 rounds of ammunition, or any conversion kit, part, or combination of parts that can be assembled to allow someone to carry more than 10 rounds.” If this bill should become law, standard capacity magazines would therefore be grandfathered in. Owners who are grandfathered in would have restrictions on the sale or transfer of these magazines under the law. If a grandfathered owner was caught in violation of this law it could result in a gross misdemeanor charge.

This bill will affect rifles and pistols equally. Most modern pistols have magazines with a capacity of 12-18 rounds of ammunition for standard magazines. Which would ban a wide array of pistol magazines. While also restricting what pistols could be potentially sold in the state. Firearm manufacturers would have to begin to sell Washington compliant magazines with their firearms to continue business in that state.

The new bill allows for exemptions to certain parties to buy and possess standard capacity magazines. Those who are exempt from this law would be: government agencies, officers, employees, contractors, law enforcement, corrections, and military.

Previously, similar bills introduced in 2020 and 2021 have failed to pass out of the Washington State Senate.

To read all of Senate Bill 5078, click here.

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