Washington requires a license to carry a pistol concealed. RCW 9.41.050(1)(a) states the prohibition: "Except in the person's place of abode or fixed...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Washington requires a license to carry a pistol concealed. RCW 9.41.050(1)(a) states the prohibition: "Except in the person's place of abode or fixed place of business, a person shall not carry a pistol concealed on his or her person without a license to carry a concealed pistol." That license is the concealed pistol license (CPL), issued under RCW 9.41.070.
RCW 9.41.050 states no grade for that offense. RCW 9.41.810 supplies one for the chapter: "Any violation of any provision of this chapter, except as otherwise provided, shall be a misdemeanor and punishable accordingly." A CPL covers pistols and nothing else. RCW 9.41.010(37) defines "pistol" as any firearm with a barrel under 16 inches, or one designed to be held and fired by the use of a single hand.
RCW 9.41.070(1) directs the chief of police of a municipality or the sheriff of a county to issue, within 30 days of the filing of an application, a license to carry a pistol concealed anywhere in the state for five years, "for the purposes of protection or while engaged in business, sport, or while traveling." The authority gets up to 60 days if you lack a valid permanent Washington driver's license or state ID card, or have not been a resident for the previous 90 consecutive days.
Issuance is not discretionary. The statute says the applicant's constitutional right to bear arms "shall not be denied, unless" one of seven things is true: ineligibility under RCW 9.41.040 or RCW 9.41.045 or federal law, a CPL already in revoked status, being under 21, a firearms related court order or injunction, release on bond or personal recognizance pending trial, appeal, or sentencing for a felony, an outstanding arrest warrant, or a firearm forfeiture order under RCW 9.41.098(1)(e) within one year before applying.
Training is not on that list. That version of RCW 9.41.070(1) sets out the complete set of grounds for refusing a license, and no training or shooting qualification is among them. That changes in 2027, and only in 2027.
RCW 9.41.050(1)(b) requires a licensee to have the CPL "in his or her immediate possession at all times that he or she is required by this section to have a concealed pistol license" and to display it on demand to any police officer, or to any other person when required by law. A violation is a class 1 civil infraction under chapter 7.80 RCW, not a crime.
RCW 9.41.050(2)(a) says a person "shall not carry or place a loaded pistol in any vehicle" unless the person has a CPL and one of three conditions holds:
A violation is a misdemeanor (RCW 9.41.050(2)(b)). "Loaded" is defined at RCW 9.41.010(31) and reaches a cartridge in the chamber, in a clip locked in place, in a revolver's cylinder, in a tube or magazine inserted in the action, or a ball in the barrel of a capped or primed muzzle loader.
Unloaded pistols have a separate rule that binds licensees and everyone else alike. Under RCW 9.41.050(3)(a), a person at least 18 in possession of an unloaded pistol may not leave it in a vehicle unless it is locked within the vehicle and concealed from view from outside. That is also a misdemeanor.
RCW 9.41.060 lifts RCW 9.41.050 entirely for a listed set of people and situations. Four of the ten:
The remaining exemptions are mostly occupational: qualifying law enforcement and corrections personnel, armed forces on duty, authorized federal officers, the firearms trade, and officers retired for service or physical disability (subsection (10)). Subsection (5) is not: it covers regularly enrolled members of any organization duly authorized to purchase or receive pistols from the United States or from this state.
RCW 9.41.040 grades unlawful possession in two degrees. First degree, a class B felony, covers owning, accessing, having in custody, control, or possession, or receiving any firearm after a conviction or an insanity finding for any serious offense, and also covers an untraceable or undetectable firearm while the person is subject to an order described in RCW 9.41.040(2)(a)(ii). Second degree, a class C felony, covers the rest: other felony convictions, listed domestic violence offenses, qualifying protection and no contact orders, involuntary commitment for a mental disorder, incompetency dismissals, being under 18, and pretrial release on a serious offense. Each firearm is a separate offense. Possession after filing a voluntary waiver of firearm rights under RCW 9.41.350 is a class 4 civil infraction (RCW 9.41.040(7)).
There is no licensed path for anyone aged 18 to 20. A CPL requires 21, and RCW 9.41.240(2) confines a person at least 18 but under 21 to possessing a pistol in the person's abode, at the person's fixed place of business, or on real property under his or her control, unless an exception under RCW 9.41.042, 9.41.050, or 9.41.060 applies.
RCW 9.41.050 reaches concealed carry. Open carry of a pistol by a person who may lawfully possess it is not licensed in Washington. But how you carry is regulated regardless.
RCW 9.41.270(1), in the version in force until May 1, 2027, makes it unlawful to "carry, exhibit, display, or draw" a firearm or other weapon apparently 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." Either branch is enough: intent to intimidate, or circumstances that warrant alarm. A violation is a gross misdemeanor, and on conviction the person "shall lose his or her concealed pistol license, if any" (RCW 9.41.270(2)). Subsection (3) takes five things outside the rule, among them acts in your own abode or fixed place of business and acting to protect yourself or another "against the use of presently threatened unlawful force."
Two statutes ban open carry specifically, and both are written against open carry only. RCW 9.41.305 covers the west state capitol campus grounds and buildings, legislative offices and hearings, and municipal governing body meeting buildings and locations; a violation is a misdemeanor under subsection (4)(a), and a gross misdemeanor on a second or subsequent violation under subsection (4)(b). RCW 9.41.305(5) says nothing in that section applies to lawful concealed carry by a person who has a valid CPL. RCW 9.41.300(2) covers permitted demonstrations, and the area within 250 feet of one after an officer directs you to leave. RCW 9.41.300(2)(e) says "Nothing in this subsection applies to the lawful concealed carry of a firearm by a person who has a valid concealed pistol license."
RCW 9.41.300(1) makes it unlawful to enter certain places while knowingly possessing or having under your control a weapon. Its eight categories cover restricted access areas of jails and law enforcement facilities, court proceeding areas, restricted access areas of inpatient public mental health facilities, the portion of an establishment the state liquor and cannabis board classifies as off limits to persons under 21, restricted access areas of a commercial service airport, and the premises of libraries, accredited zoos or aquariums, and transit stations. A violation of subsection (1) or (2) is a gross misdemeanor (RCW 9.41.300(16)).
A CPL matters for four of those eight and does nothing about the other four. RCW 9.41.300(14) says the library, zoo or aquarium, and transit categories do not apply to a person licensed under RCW 9.41.070. RCW 9.41.300(9) lets a licensee into a jail or law enforcement facility if, on entering, the licensee directly and promptly proceeds to the administrator or the administrator's designee and obtains written permission or checks the firearm, then reclaims it on leaving and departs immediately.
The four the license does not touch are court areas, inpatient mental health areas, airport restricted areas, and the bar. On the last one there is no license exception at all: no subsection of RCW 9.41.300 exempts a license holder from the portion classified as off limits to persons under 21, and RCW 9.41.300(11) lifts it only for the proprietor of the premises and employees while engaged in their employment. RCW 9.41.300(7) separately lifts that category for law enforcement personnel, for security personnel while engaged in official duties, and for a person engaged in military activities sponsored by the federal or state governments while engaged in official duties.
Local governments have little room to add to this. RCW 9.41.290 states that Washington "fully occupies and preempts the entire field of firearms regulation." One authorized local restriction reaches licensees: RCW 9.41.300(3)(b) lets a municipality restrict firearms in a stadium or convention center it operates, but not as to "Any pistol in the possession of a person licensed under RCW 9.41.070 or exempt from the licensing requirement by RCW 9.41.060."
RCW 9.41.280(1) makes it unlawful to knowingly carry onto, or possess on, public or private elementary or secondary school premises, school provided transportation, and facilities while used exclusively by schools or for official school board meetings, any firearm or listed dangerous weapon. A first violation is a misdemeanor; second and subsequent violations are a gross misdemeanor. A conviction on the firearm branch, subsection (1)(a), revokes a CPL for three years and bars applying for one for three years.
A CPL does not lift the school ban. RCW 9.41.280(3)(e) is narrow: a licensee, or a person exempt under RCW 9.41.060, in possession of a pistol is outside subsection (1) only while picking up or dropping off a student, or while attending official school board meetings held off district owned or leased property. Two vehicle exceptions cover a nonstudent at least 18 on legitimate business at the school: (3)(f) for a firearm secured in an attended vehicle or concealed from view in a locked unattended one, and (3)(g) for an unloaded firearm secured in a vehicle. Read RCW 9.41.280(6) before assuming the pickup exception reaches further: except for (3)(b), (c), (f), and (h), "firearms are not permitted in a public or private school building," and (3)(e) is not on that list.
Child care premises and voting facilities have their own statutes: RCW 9.41.282, a gross misdemeanor, and RCW 9.41.284, a misdemeanor that becomes a gross misdemeanor on a second violation. A conviction on the firearm branch of either revokes a CPL for three years and bars applying for three years. Each carries its own license exception. RCW 9.41.282(3)(b) covers a CPL holder, or a person exempt under RCW 9.41.060, in possession of a pistol while picking up or dropping off a child, and RCW 9.41.284(4) leaves concealed carry by a RCW 9.41.070 licensee outside the ban at voting centers, student engagement hubs, and county elections offices, though not at a ballot counting center.
18 U.S.C. 922(q)(2)(A) makes it unlawful to knowingly possess a firearm affecting interstate commerce at a place the individual knows or has reasonable cause to believe is a school zone. Subparagraph (B)(ii) exempts a person licensed by the state in which the school zone sits, where that state's law requires law enforcement to verify the person is qualified before issuing. RCW 9.41.070(2)(a) directs the Washington issuing authority to run those checks, so on its own terms that exemption reads on a Washington CPL holder inside Washington. It does nothing about RCW 9.41.280.
The Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act operates independently of a CPL. 18 U.S.C. 926B lets a qualified law enforcement officer carrying the agency photographic identification carry concealed notwithstanding state law, and 18 U.S.C. 926C does the same for a qualified retired officer who separated in good standing and has met the annual firearms qualification standard. Both carve back: subsection (b) of each preserves state laws letting private property owners restrict concealed firearms, and state laws that "prohibit or restrict the possession of firearms on any State or local government property, installation, building, base, or park."
Under RCW 9.41.075(1), in the version in force until May 1, 2027, a law enforcement agency revokes a CPL immediately on discovery that the licensee was ineligible under RCW 9.41.070 when applying or renewing, on a conviction, insanity finding, or commitment making the person ineligible under RCW 9.41.040, on "conviction of the licensee for a third violation of this chapter within five calendar years," on a firearm forfeiture order under RCW 9.41.098(1)(d), or on receipt of an order to surrender and prohibit weapons or a non-ex-parte extreme risk protection order. Forfeiture revocations run one year, then two, then five. Separately, RCW 9.41.070(12) makes a person who knowingly makes a false statement about citizenship or identity on an application guilty of false swearing under RCW 9A.72.040, a gross misdemeanor, revokes that person's license, and makes the person permanently ineligible for another one, and the convictions described above under RCW 9.41.270, 9.41.280, 9.41.282, and 9.41.284 carry their own losses.
A superseding version of RCW 9.41.070 takes effect May 1, 2027. Until that date it is not law and the framework above is unchanged.
It adds a denial ground at subsection (1)(h) for an applicant who "has failed to produce a certificate of completion from a certified concealed carry firearms safety training program within the last five years ... or proof that the applicant is exempt from the training requirement." Its subsection (5)(a) requires that program to include "live-fire shooting exercises on a firing range ... including a minimum of 50 rounds of ammunition firing training at a firing range under the supervision of an instructor." RCW 43.43.575, which directs certification of those programs, also first takes effect May 1, 2027.
| Conduct | Statute | Grade |
|---|---|---|
| Carrying a pistol concealed without a CPL | RCW 9.41.050(1)(a) with RCW 9.41.810 | Misdemeanor |
| CPL not in immediate possession, or not shown on demand | RCW 9.41.050(1)(b) | Class 1 civil infraction |
| Loaded pistol in a vehicle outside the licensed conditions | RCW 9.41.050(2) | Misdemeanor |
| Unloaded pistol left in a vehicle unlocked or in view | RCW 9.41.050(3) | Misdemeanor |
| Weapon carried or displayed so as to intimidate or warrant alarm | RCW 9.41.270(2) | Gross misdemeanor, plus loss of the CPL |
| Weapon in a place listed in RCW 9.41.300(1); open carry at a permitted demonstration | RCW 9.41.300(16) | Gross misdemeanor |
| Open carry on capitol grounds or at a municipal meeting, first violation | RCW 9.41.305(4)(a) | Misdemeanor |
| Open carry on capitol grounds or at a municipal meeting, second and subsequent | RCW 9.41.305(4)(b) | Gross misdemeanor |
| Firearm on school premises, first violation | RCW 9.41.280(2)(a) | Misdemeanor |
| Firearm on school premises, second and subsequent | RCW 9.41.280(2)(b) | Gross misdemeanor |
| Unlawful possession of a firearm, first degree | RCW 9.41.040(1)(b) | Class B felony |
| Unlawful possession of a firearm, second degree | RCW 9.41.040(2)(b) | Class C felony |
| Possession after a voluntary waiver of firearm rights | RCW 9.41.040(7)(b) | Class 4 civil infraction |
An out-of-state license buys very little here. RCW 9.41.073(1) recognizes one only while the holder is not a Washington resident, and only on the three conditions that section sets.
Then read the current text of any section above at app.leg.wa.gov and check the effective date line at the top of it. Several chapter 9.41 sections show the version in force and a 2027 replacement on one page.
This page covers one part of our Washington concealed carry guide.
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