May be moving to WA soon!

[wired]

Great sportsmans club and range over on Vashon too for an otherwise extremely strange island. . Mason county is also a shooting range.

 

[kalison]

If you can telework I would strongly suggest looking in Kitsap County. It's just a ferry ride to Seattle and has none of the traffic on that side of the water. Kitsap is much quieter and more rural than Everett. A traffic jam in Silverdale or Poulsbo is six cars stopped because the lead car is trying to turn left.

The Olympic Mountain range is nearby (about an hour) where you can hike, shoot, or camp all you want in the National Forest and you don't need to pay for a permit or anything like that. Build a campfire, shoot, whatever, with only a few restrictions on where. If you actually come to WA PM me for directions to a nice shooting pit up there.

If you have the scratch Bainbridge Island is nice, but when the ferry pulls in the one road out gets jammed up.

Some differences that jump out to me with regard to WA gun laws and UT's:

Open carry is lawful without a permit, but WA does not have the silly two-step thing. You may open carry with a round in the chamber even if you don't have a concealed pistol license (CPL) BUT...

WA requires you to get a CPL if you desire to carry loaded in your car. Without a CPL you need to unload when you're in (or in the case of a motorcycle- on) a vehicle. You may keep the magazine or cartridges on the seat next to the gun if you wish, but it cannot be loaded in the car, truck, bus, motorcycle, or train unless you have a CPL. NOTE that the ferry is not considered a vehicle, but an extension of the highway system.

"Loaded" in WA seems to mean cartridges in the gun, whether or not one of them is actually in the chamber. I'm not 100% on that only because I don't remember reading a definition for WA. UT defines it as one in the chamber.

To get your WA CPL you do NOT need a Weapon Familiarity Certification or any of that nonsense. You fill out the form and pay the man, then wait about 30 days and it'll show up in the mail.

Other:

You may carry concealed without a CPL IF you are on your way to or from (and during) an 'outdoor activity'. Fishing, hunting, hiking, backpacking are outdoor activities.

You may not carry a loaded long gun (rifle or shotgun) in a vehicle.

I'll keep that location in mind!

So just to clarify:
Is your car an extension of your home in WA? Can you not conceal your firearm in the vehicle regardless of loaded status?

 

[Mainsail]

No, in WA a car is a vehicle, not part of your home. You may carry loaded in a vehicle only if you have a CPL (although don't forget the 'outdoor activity' provision). There is no distinction between concealed and open carry in a vehicle- it's considered concealed as soon as you get in.

http://www.handgunlaw.us/states/washington.pdf

 

[kalison]

Thanks for the clarification. Thats something I will have to get used to/modify. They are extensions of home for us.

The other thing I am trying to figure out is the absolutely vague knife laws. lol

 

[Mainsail]

Knives don't enjoy state preemption like the gun laws, so they're different practically every 100 yards.

Of note however is a recent court ruling. Some guy got charged with carrying a concealed kitchen knife. He argued that because a knife is an 'arm' its carry was protected by the US 2nd amendment and the state's Art 1 section 24. The court ruled that it was not, and the interesting part is that they ruled it was not because it was a kitchen knife, and a kitchen knife isn't a weapon. So extrapolating from that one could assume that a switchblade or large dagger is lawful to carry because they are weapons.

We just need someone to be the test case.

 

[kalison]

Even more fun to interpret.

Yeah, it looks like if I have a 2" blade I should be okay everywhere but Seattle?

Again, use to the "Carry whatever you want, as long as you are not a restricted person", going to have to let someone hold on to some of my knives.

 

[Vendor Hidden]

If you have your choice in the state, go Spokane.

I moved to Spokane from the Seattle area in 1988. Been here ever since. Never going back, though I do miss Mt Rainier, the ocean and rainforests.

Spokane is about 4 hours east of Seattle on I-90, right next to Idaho. Not a good commute to the Puget Sound. But it is definitely gun country out here. My daughter (the liberal attorney) used to complain there are more gun stores than book stores here. I said "get a Kindle and shut up.".