SPOKANE, Wash. -- Starting next year, Washingtonians will have to wait longer to buy guns at the store.
House Bill 1143 passed this year to help prevent gun violence. It requires gun dealers to do a background check and wait 10 extra days before handing guns over to buyers.
The law is met with mixed reactions, with some gun shops saying it might not work the best for customers.
"It's just an arbitrary period of time that we are going to sit on guns for no reason whatsoever," said Jeremy Ball, owner of Sharp Shooting Indoor Range & Gun Shop in Spokane.
Jeremy Ball says he's seen an increase in gun sales during this year's holiday season.
"There are definitely people that are attempting to get background checks started before this goes into effect," Ball said.
Currently, the 10-day waiting period only applies to semi-automatic weapons. But the new law will require a 10-day waiting period for all guns.
"We have a lot of internal process changes that will accompany this, and it will also essentially turn us into a short-term storage facility. Even when a customer has a background check that has been approved say, like three or four business days. We are going to have to hold on to that gun now," Ball said.
According to the Department of Health, more than 70% of gun deaths are by suicide.
"Last you want is firearms ending up in the hands of somebody who's having a mental health crisis," said Dylan O'Connor, government affairs director for the Alliance for Gun Responsibility.
Local gun violence prevention advocates believe this new law can help save lives.
"When we are talking about mitigating impulsive behavior, coming in contact with immediate availability in an acquisition of firearms, a waiting period just makes sense," O'Connor said. "10-day waiting period is a buffer period to make sure that it is not the motivation behind somebody owning a firearm."
Future gun owners now have to go through Washington State Patrol's firearm background check system.
"This swiss cheese system was resulting in extremely long waiting times for folks to get their background check, bringing in one umbrella does make sense," O'Connor said.
However, others disagree.
"Are we going to see a delay issue due to Washington State Patrol being able to keep up with a volume of these inquiries?" Ball said.
Gun owners must show they have passed a safety training program when purchasing guns. The new law goes into effect on New Year's Day, or next Monday.
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