"Washington State Attorney General Advisory Opinion Allows Consumers to Send Guns for Repair and Service Without Need for Background Check
The Washington State Attorney General’s Office has issued an advisory opinion in response to a request from Lewis County, Washington Prosecuting Attorney to clarify whether federally licensed manufacturers, importers and retailers or “federally licensed gunsmiths” as that term in used in Washington State law as amened by I-594 ballot initiative requiring so-called universal background checks. The prosecuting attorney’s letter was sent at NSSF’s request. The advisory opinion is attached and is summarized as follows:
A person licensed as a “dealer” under 18 U.S.C. § 923(a) is a “federally licensed gunsmith” when engaged in the business of repairing or modifying firearms, and a person licensed as a “manufacturer” or an “importer” under 18 U.S.C. § 923(a) is a “federally licensed gunsmith” when engaged in the business of repairing or modifying firearms of the type he or she manufactures or imports at the premises where he or she is licensed to manufacture or import them.
In November 2014, Washington voters approved Initiative 594, which generally requires a background check whenever a person sells or transfers a firearm unless the transfer is expressly exempted. One such exception is a transfer to or from “[a] federally licensed gunsmith who receives a firearm solely for the purposes of service or repair, or the return of the firearm to its owner by the federally licensed gunsmith[.]”
However, the term “gunsmith” is not defined and there is no such thing as a “federally licensed gunsmith” under the Gun Control Act. In its advisory opinion the Washington State Attorney General’s Office has interpreted the term “federally licensed gunsmiths” to include federally licensed dealers, manufacturers and importers provided they are engaged in the business of repairing or modifying firearms. In the case of a manufacturer and importer they must be engaged in the busines of repairing or modifying firearms “of the same type he or she manufactures” or “imports” at their premises listed on their license. The net result is that a Washington consumer may send their firearm to a dealer, manufacturer or importer to be repaired or serviced and receive it back without requiring a background check under Washington State law."
