Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Washington Concealed Carry Laws: Overview
Updated
Washington Concealed Carry Laws: Overview
Washington is a licensed carry state, and the license is shall-issue. Outside your own home or your fixed place of business, you cannot carry a pistol concealed on your person without a Concealed Pistol License (CPL) unless one of the statutory exceptions applies. RCW 9.41.050(1)(a) sets that rule, and RCW 9.41.070 gives the issuing agency no room to say no to a qualified applicant: the chief of police of a municipality or the sheriff of a county "shall within thirty days after the filing of an application of any person, issue a license to such person to carry a pistol concealed on his or her person within this state for five years from date of issue." The statute then adds: "The applicant's constitutional right to bear arms shall not be denied, unless" one of seven listed disqualifiers applies.
Two things surprise people coming from other states. First, no training of any kind is a condition of the Washington license. RCW 9.41.070(1) frames its list as exclusive, saying the right "shall not be denied, unless" one of the listed grounds applies, and training is not among them. Second, training is a condition of buying a gun. Those are different rules in different statutes.
Getting and keeping the license
Under RCW 9.41.070(13) you apply to the municipality or the county where you live, to your county if you live in an unincorporated area, or anywhere in the state if you are a nonresident. The Attorney General's Office says you must apply in person at a local law enforcement office. There is no statewide permit office, and under RCW 9.41.070(1) the issuing authority "shall not refuse to accept completed applications for concealed pistol licenses during regular business hours."
The thirty-day clock stretches to sixty days if you do not hold a valid permanent Washington driver's license or state identification card, or if you have not been a Washington resident for the previous consecutive ninety days.
The statutory fees sit in RCW 9.41.070(5) through (7) and (9). The original, renewal, and replacement fees are all nonrefundable.
- Original five-year license: thirty-six dollars, plus FBI charges passed through to you. No other state or local branch or unit of government may impose an additional charge on the applicant for issuing the license.
- Renewal: thirty-two dollars.
- Replacing a lost or damaged license: ten dollars.
- Late renewal penalty: ten dollars on top of the renewal fee. You may renew within ninety days before or after the expiration date.
RCW 9.41.070(2) sends you through the national instant criminal background check system, the Washington State Patrol electronic database, and the Health Care Authority electronic database. A first-time license also requires a fingerprint-based national FBI check.
The seven disqualifiers in RCW 9.41.070(1) are ineligibility to possess a firearm under RCW 9.41.040 or 9.41.045 or under federal law, a CPL in revoked status, being under twenty-one, being subject to a firearms-related court order or injunction from the statutes it lists, being free on bond or personal recognizance pending trial, appeal, or sentencing for a felony, an outstanding felony or misdemeanor warrant, and a firearm forfeiture ordered under RCW 9.41.098(1)(e) within the year before you apply.
RCW 9.41.075 requires immediate revocation on several triggers, including a conviction that makes you ineligible under RCW 9.41.040, and a third conviction under chapter 9.41 RCW within five calendar years.
What the license covers, and who does not need one
The CPL is a pistol license. RCW 9.41.010 defines a pistol as "any firearm with a barrel less than 16 inches in length, or is designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand," and the Attorney General's Office states that Washington licenses are only issued for the concealed carry of pistols.
Practical rules from RCW 9.41.050:
- Carry the license. A licensee must have it in immediate possession whenever the license is required, and must display it on demand to any police officer. Violating that is a class 1 civil infraction under chapter 7.80 RCW.
- A loaded pistol in a vehicle requires a CPL plus one of three conditions: the pistol is on your person, you are in the vehicle at all times the pistol is there, or you are away from the vehicle and the pistol is locked in it and concealed from view from outside. A violation is a misdemeanor.
- An unloaded pistol left in a vehicle by a person at least eighteen must be locked in the vehicle and concealed from view from outside. A violation is a misdemeanor.
Where chapter 9.41 RCW does not name a grade for an offense, RCW 9.41.810 supplies one: any violation of the chapter is a misdemeanor "except as otherwise provided."
RCW 9.41.060 lists ten categories that RCW 9.41.050 does not apply to at all. They include law enforcement and correctional personnel meeting its subsection (1) conditions, armed forces and national guard members on duty, anyone carrying a pistol "unloaded and in a closed opaque case or secure wrapper," target-shooting and firearm-collecting club members at or traveling to and from their activities, and people engaged in a lawful outdoor recreational activity such as hunting, fishing, camping, or hiking.
Open carry
The Attorney General's Office puts it this way: "No Washington statute directly prohibits openly carrying a firearm." Three statutes limit it.
RCW 9.41.270(1) makes it unlawful to carry, exhibit, display, or draw a firearm or other weapon capable of producing bodily harm "in a manner, under circumstances, and at a time and place that either manifests an intent to intimidate another or that warrants alarm for the safety of other persons." That is a gross misdemeanor, and a conviction costs you your CPL. The statute does not reach acts in your abode or fixed place of business, or acts protecting yourself or another against presently threatened unlawful force.
RCW 9.41.300(2) makes it unlawful to knowingly open carry a firearm or other weapon while knowingly at a permitted demonstration, whether on your person or in a vehicle. It also reaches open carry within 250 feet of the perimeter of one, but only after a law enforcement officer advises you of the demonstration and directs you to leave until you no longer possess or control the firearm, and not on private property you own or lease. That subsection expressly does not apply to lawful concealed carry by a valid CPL holder, and law enforcement and military personnel are exempt from it.
RCW 9.41.305 bars knowingly open carrying on the west state capitol campus grounds, in the capitol buildings it lists, at state legislative offices and public legislative hearings, and in municipal buildings used for governing-body meetings, unless you fall within its own exemptions. A first violation is a misdemeanor and second and subsequent violations are a gross misdemeanor.
Places where carry is barred
RCW 9.41.300(1) lists restricted areas of jails and law enforcement facilities, court areas, restricted areas of certain mental health facilities, the portion of an establishment the state liquor and cannabis board classifies as off-limits to persons under 21, restricted areas of commercial service airports, libraries, accredited zoos and aquariums, and transit stations and facilities. A violation of subsection (1) or (2) is a gross misdemeanor. A CPL matters here: RCW 9.41.300(14) exempts a licensee from the library, zoo, and transit restrictions, and RCW 9.41.300(9) lets a licensee into the restricted access areas of a jail or law enforcement facility after directly and promptly obtaining written permission from the administrator or checking the firearm.
RCW 9.41.280 makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly carry a firearm onto public or private elementary or secondary school premises, school transportation, or facility areas in exclusive school use. A second violation is a gross misdemeanor, and a firearm conviction costs a licensee three years of CPL revocation plus three years of ineligibility to reapply. Licensees get narrow exceptions, including picking up or dropping off a student. The child care premises and voting facility restrictions sit in RCW 9.41.282 and RCW 9.41.284, each with its own exception for licensees.
Buying a firearm is a separate track from carrying one
A CPL does not exempt you from Washington's purchase and transfer rules.
- Background checks apply beyond dealer sales. RCW 9.41.113(1) subjects all firearm sales and transfers in whole or part in this state to background checks unless state or federal law specifically exempts them, and says the requirement applies to all sales or transfers, including but not limited to "sales and transfers through a licensed dealer, at gun shows, online, and between unlicensed persons." Where neither party is a licensed dealer and no exception in RCW 9.41.113(4) applies, the parties must complete the transfer through a licensed dealer. Knowingly violating RCW 9.41.113 is a gross misdemeanor under RCW 9.41.115, a knowing violation after a previous finding of guilt under that section is a class C felony, and each firearm sold or transferred without the check is a separate offense.
- Training is required to buy. Under RCW 9.41.090(1)(a), a dealer may not deliver a firearm until the purchaser provides "proof of completion of a recognized firearm safety training program within the last five years that complies with the requirements in RCW 9.41.1132," or proof of exemption. RCW 9.41.1132 spells out eight required topics and requires the course be sponsored by a law enforcement agency, a college or university, a nationally recognized organization that customarily offers firearms training, or a firearms training school with instructors certified by such an organization. Peace officers and qualifying active military are exempt under RCW 9.41.1132(4).
- Waiting period. RCW 9.41.092 bars delivery until all required background checks are back clean and, in its own words, "Ten business days have elapsed from the date the licensed dealer requested the background check."
- Age. RCW 9.41.240(1) bars anyone under twenty-one from purchasing a pistol or a semiautomatic assault rifle.
- Sales bans. RCW 9.41.390 prohibits manufacturing, importing, distributing, selling, or offering for sale an assault weapon, except as that section authorizes. A violation is a gross misdemeanor. That ban took effect April 25, 2023 under 2023 c 162. RCW 9.41.370 carries the same prohibition, the same exception clause, and the same grading for large capacity magazines. Both reach commerce rather than possession, and the Attorney General's Office states that Washington law does not ban possession of either.
There is no permit to purchase in Washington today. The background check fee that the Washington State Patrol charges through dealers under RCW 43.43.580(4) is set by the agency at an amount "reasonably calculated to cover the direct and indirect costs," not by a figure in the statute.
What changes on May 1, 2027
These are enacted and dated, and none of them is in force now. Do not plan around them as current requirements.
2025 c 370 (E2SHB 1163) takes effect May 1, 2027 except for its section 6, which is Washington State Patrol rulemaking authority effective July 27, 2025. On that date RCW 9.41.121 creates a permit to purchase issued by the State Patrol, and RCW 9.41.070 gains a new disqualifier at subsection (1)(h), which will read "Has failed to produce a certificate of completion from a certified concealed carry firearms safety training program within the last five years," backed by a new subsection (5) requiring a program certified under RCW 43.43.575 that includes "live-fire shooting exercises on a firing range" and "a minimum of 50 rounds of ammunition firing training at a firing range under the supervision of an instructor." RCW 43.43.575 is itself not yet law either. Until then, the license has no training condition.
Who may not possess a firearm at all
RCW 9.41.040 defines unlawful possession of a firearm. First degree, which includes possession after a conviction or insanity acquittal for a serious offense, is a class B felony. Second degree is a class C felony. Restoration runs through RCW 9.41.041, which permanently bars petitioning after a felony sex offense, a class A felony, or a felony carrying a maximum sentence of at least twenty years, and otherwise requires a set number of consecutive conviction-free years in the community before you may petition a superior court.
Preemption and the narrow local carve-outs
RCW 9.41.290 is broad. Washington "fully occupies and preempts the entire field of firearms regulation within the boundaries of the state," and local ordinances that are "inconsistent with, more restrictive than, or exceed the requirements of state law" are preempted and repealed regardless of home rule status. Cities, towns, and counties may enact only what state law specifically authorizes. RCW 9.41.300(3) is that authorization: they may restrict discharge where people, animals, or property are reasonably likely to be jeopardized, and may restrict possession in a municipally operated stadium or convention center, except that those restrictions cannot reach a pistol carried by a CPL holder or someone exempt under RCW 9.41.060. RCW 9.41.300(4) separately lets them zone firearms businesses.
Out-of-state licenses
Washington recognizes another state's license only on the conditions in RCW 9.41.073, and only while the holder is not a Washington resident. The Attorney General publishes the qualifying list under RCW 9.41.073(2); the current publication is dated 07/10/2026. Once you become a Washington resident you need a Washington CPL. The reciprocity page covers the list and the conditions.
Use of force
Washington's use of force rules are statutory. RCW 9A.16.020(3) makes force lawful when used by a party about to be injured, or by another lawfully aiding that party, in preventing or attempting to prevent an offense against the person, "in case the force is not more than is necessary." RCW 9A.16.050(1) makes homicide justifiable in lawful defense of yourself or the people it lists when there is reasonable ground to apprehend a design by the person slain to commit a felony or do some great personal injury, and imminent danger of that design being accomplished. RCW 9A.16.110 directs the state to reimburse defense costs for the crimes it lists when a defendant is found not guilty by reason of self-defense and the trier of fact finds the claim sustained by a preponderance of the evidence.
Federal law still applies
RCW 9.41.070(4) requires the license and the application to carry a warning substantially as follows: "Although state and local laws do not differ, federal law and state law on the possession of firearms differ. If you are prohibited by federal law from possessing a firearm, you may be prosecuted in federal court. A state license is not a defense to a federal prosecution." RCW 9.41.090(3)(b) requires a dealer to give a firearm purchaser a parallel caution, that state permission to purchase a firearm is not a defense to a federal prosecution. A Washington CPL does not change your status under 18 U.S.C. 922(g).
Before you rely on this page
This is general information, not legal advice. Check the current text of any RCW section at app.leg.wa.gov before you rely on it, watching the effective-date heading above the text you are reading, and take specific questions to a Washington attorney.
Last verified:2026-08-31