Washington state gun sales spike, then plummet as new laws take effect

State lawmakers have required gun dealers to run annual background checks on their employees and implement video surveillance and security measures and required gun owners to report lost or stolen guns within 24 hours.

In recent years, Washington has enacted enhanced background checks and extreme-risk protection orders, allowing guns to be temporarily taken from people who a judge deems a significant risk of harm to themselves or others. It has also banned high-capacity magazines and prohibited open carry of guns at public demonstrations.

Multiple national groups rank Washington among the top 10 strictest states in the nation for gun laws.

Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Bellevue-based Second Amendment Foundation, said last year's sales surge was almost certainly driven by the looming ban on AR-15-style weapons, but disputed that the 10-day waiting period and mandatory training were having much effect.

Two things spur gun sales, said Gottlieb: crime rates and the possibility of new gun laws.

"Crime goes up, they want to buy a gun," said Gottlieb, whose organization has sued the state over the semiautomatic-rifle ban and other gun legislation. "And the push for legislation, when people think they're not going to be able to buy one."

Background check data is a close, but not perfect, proxy for gun sales. Every legal gun sale in Washington, including those between two private individuals, requires a background check, which is logged by the FBI.

But not every background check results in a gun sale. About 1% of background checks result in a denial, and thus no sale, according to state data.

And one background check can result in multiple gun purchases — you can buy more than one gun on the same visit, with just one background check performed.

Washington began using a new background check system on Jan. 1 — a bipartisan initiative, unlike most gun legislation — a change invisible to gun buyers. The new system aims to run the same checks as the prior one, but is centralized and more streamlined.

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