Gun owners have 24 hours to report theft or face up to $1K fine, new law says

WASHINGTON — Washington Governor Jay Inslee officially signed a bill into law Tuesday that will require gun owners to notify the police of a stolen firearm within 24 hours of when they discover the theft or loss.

As part of HB 1903, gun owners who fail to report stolen firearms within a 24 hour period would face up to a $1,000 civil infraction fine. It would also require law enforcement agencies to register stolen firearm reports with the FBI's National Crime Information Center, which is used by police to pursue suspects and locate stolen items.

Up until the bill's signing, the deadline to report a lost or stolen firearm has been five days. Proponents of the law, such as the gun control group Moms Demand Action along with King County Public Health, testified that it frustrates the ability of law enforcement to protect the community when firearms are not reported as stolen in an adequate amount of time.

"This bill would enable law enforcement to track and recover stolen firearms faster before they resurface in incidents traumatizing our families and communities," said Karyn Brownson, King County Public Health.

Prior to the bill's signing, several gun rights organizations, such as the National Rifle Association and the Washington Civil Rights Association, spoke out against the measure saying the law would unfairly target people who are already victims of a crime.

"There are plenty of reasons a person may not be able to report the loss or theft of a firearm within 24 hours," said Aoibheann Cline, National Rifle Association. "This bill would be better served to increase penalties for the actual crime of theft or prosecution for use of that firearm in a crime."

In recent times, some of Western Washington's most high-profile crimes have been committed with stolen firearms. This includes the fatal November 2022 shooting at Seattle's Ingraham High School, as well as the random June 2023 shooting and killing of a Belltown restaurant owner and her unborn child.

In July 2023, Seattle Police Chief Adrian Diaz revealed that approximately a third of the firearms seized by SPD officers were previously reported as stolen. According to statistics from Seattle police, 2023 was a record year for stolen guns being recovered, far exceeding the previous record of 1,408 firearms recovered in 2018.

According to a 2020 report by King County officials, 38% of stolen firearms were taken from motor vehicles while nearly 30% of stolen guns were taken from buildings.