Washington Democrat Gov. Bob Ferguson on Tuesday signed House Bill 1163, which will require all future gun buyers to obtain a permit to purchase firearms after it takes effect in May 2027, but the announcement already has Evergreen State gun owners furious as the gun prohibition lobby cheers.
Alan Gottlieb, founder and executive vice president of the Second Amendment Foundation (SAF) and chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA) said, “Our legal team is already working on potential challenges.”
“Fortunately,” Gottlieb noted, “the law doesn’t take effect until May 2027, which gives us plenty of time.”
Between now and then, the statute will undoubtedly be carefully dissected to determine the best legal strategy. Nothing needs to happen overnight.
Former Washington state Senator Lynda Wilson commented on social media, “Today, one of our most fundamental and inalienable rights has been demoted to the status of a privilege—subject to permission, payment, and government approval.
“The right to keep and bear arms—the right that secures all others—has now been reduced to something you must apply for, pay for, and qualify for, under criteria determined by the very government it is meant to restrain,” she added. “Rights that require permission are not rights at all. They are privileges—and privileges can be revoked.”
According to a report at KING 5 News, the Seattle-based NBC affiliate, “A permit to purchase a firearm may be revoked if the permit holder commits any act or becomes subject to a condition that would have prevented the issuance of the permit in the first place.”
Veteran Second Amendment advocate Jane Milhans posted on the anti-gun-rights Alliance for Gun Responsibility’s Facebook page, “Celebrating taking away a woman’s right to protect herself and making her an unarmed, unprotected, defenseless target for criminals, abusers and those who attack women.”
Ferguson, who is closely allied with the Seattle-based Alliance for Gun Responsibility—the billionaire-backed gun prohibition lobbying group—was surrounded by representatives from that organization. The Alliance Facebook post claims, “Washington is continuing to be a national leader in the gun violence prevention movement.”
But recent headlines say otherwise. According to Washington State Homicide, a popular site on “X,” so far this year, Seattle has seen a dozen homicides, including three this past weekend. Tacoma has logged 11, and Federal Way—located in between—has posted six killings. Overall, Washington has recorded 91 murders so far this year.
Over at the Washington 2025 Legislative Action Group’s page, veteran gun rights advocate and firearms retailer Daniel Mitchell declared, “See ya in court!” Mitchell is founder of the Washington Civil Rights Association, and during testimony earlier this year against HB 1163, he famously promised the Senate Law & Justice Committee, “F— Around and Find Out.” Mitchell vowed to be the “first person to challenge this in federal court.”
Mitchell, a member of the SAF Board of Directors, said via private message, “Democrat legislators in the state of Washington, followed Everytown for Gun Safety, lobbyists legislative agenda to the letter. They passed an unconstitutional permit to purchase, that will result in excessive delays and costs to the citizens of Washington…This will be challenged in court, and we will win as the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has already struck down aspects of Hawaii’s permit to purchase scheme.”
Mitchell is also proprietor of Sporting Systems, a large southwest Washington firearms retailer. On Tuesday, the store posted this statement:
“We have some time, May 1, 2027 is a long ways off. The team is evaluating case law in the 9th circuit and the best way to stop the law cold.
“Second, we will do everything we can to bring a free class to the market. No right shall be converted to a privilege and a fee associated with that right. That’s a Supreme court statement from 1960. We will hang our hats on that.
“We will not stand by and watch companies try profit off the passage of an unconstitutional law.
“Even more so, if those same companies did nothing to fight the passage of the bill. This won’t make us popular in many circles, but we don’t care. Not trying to make industry friends, just trying to protect your 2A rights.”
Expected to line up against the measure when legal action is taken are such organizations as SAF, CCRKBA, the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America, National Association for Gun Rights and local groups.
Critics say the new law will effectively turn a constitutionally protected right into a government-regulated privilege. The argument will likely center on the Second Amendment and Article I, Section 24 of the state constitution. Both provisions specifically protect a right to keep and bear arms, and rights do not require government permission before they can be exercised, gun rights activists insist.
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About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
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