Washington Will Soon Fingerprint Every Resident Before They Can Buy a Gun

Washington State Patrol will take a full set of fingerprints from every single applicant who wants to buy a gun.

That fingerprint check comes stapled to a brand new state permit most residents have never had to carry.

Starting May 1, 2027, buying a firearm in Washington will look a lot more like booking than shopping.

Governor Ferguson Signs a Bill No Republican Voted For

House Bill 1163 passed the Washington Legislature on a straight party-line vote.

Not a single Republican backed it.

Democrat Governor Bob Ferguson signed it anyway, claiming the state "must put common-sense reforms in place that save lives."

Rep. Liz Berry, the Seattle Democrat who sponsored the bill, bragged she had worked on this exact legislation for ten years.

Here is what her decade of work actually costs you.

Ammoland got the breakdown straight from the Washington State Patrol: $90 to cover the permit and a separate $36 charge just to run the fingerprints.

That is $126 just for the paperwork, before you have touched a single firearm.

Radio host Jason Rantz spelled out everything the $126 does not cover: "Course fees, ammunition, range time and travel all come out of the buyer's pocket on top of the $126."

Applicants also need a state-certified safety course and a five-year permit through the Washington State Patrol, then a second background check and a 10-day waiting period at the actual point of sale.

Buying a gun in Washington will soon take weeks and cost hundreds of dollars before a single bullet gets fired.

Gun Rights Groups Say This Is Exactly the Trap They Warned About

Sen. Keith Wagoner ripped the process before the bill ever reached Ferguson's desk.

He pointed out that the Washington State Patrol, the agency now forced to run this entire permit system, never even testified on the bill.

Pete Serrano, director of the Silent Majority Foundation, called the law an infringement on constitutional gun rights that will hammer small federally licensed firearms dealers.

Serrano told reporters he expects lawsuits the moment the permit requirement takes effect.

He is not guessing.

Gun rights lawyers have already run this exact play against Newsom in California, where the Firearms Policy Coalition and the National Rifle Association sued over an 11 percent excise tax on guns and ammunition.

FPC President Brandon Combs called that tax a "modern Jim Crow law" built to target people the state's politicians dislike.

NRA official Randy Kozuch said the California tax was "a blatant and egregious attack on the rights of Californians."

Both lawsuits lean on the same Supreme Court logic: the government cannot charge a toll on a constitutional right.

Firearms Policy Coalition's lawyers cited Murdock v. Pennsylvania, a case that struck down a permit fee the government tried to charge door-to-door evangelists for exercising their First Amendment rights.

If a city cannot charge you to preach the gospel, Washington cannot charge you $126 to exercise a right the Second Amendment already guarantees you.

Democrats Built a Permission Slip Your Grandfather Never Needed

Liz Berry engineered a decade-long project that ends with the state deciding whether you deserve to buy a gun, then billing you for the privilege of asking.

Bob Ferguson signed it, fingerprint fee and all, while the agency that has to enforce it never got a seat at the table.

This is not a background check update.

A background check already exists in Washington for every handgun sale.

This is a brand new state permission system stacked on top of the background check that already existed, complete with a separate fee, a mandatory course and a five-year renewal clock.

Murdock v. Pennsylvania did not carve out an exception for guns, and the Firearms Policy Coalition knows it.

Washington just handed gun rights attorneys a test case with a dollar figure attached, a fingerprint fee, and a Democrat governor's signature on it.

Watch Olympia find out what happens when Sacramento's lawyers finish with Newsom first.

Sources:

• Jerry Rogers, "Washington to Charge Residents $126 Just to Shop for a Gun," Breitbart, October 15, 2026.
• Washington State Standard Staff, "Washingtonians Will Need State Permit to Buy Guns Under New Law," Washington State Standard, May 20, 2025.
• KPQ Staff, "Permit to Purchase Gun Bill Signed Into Law by Gov. Ferguson," KPQ, May 21, 2025.
• Bill Melugin, "New California Firearms Tax Prompts Second Amendment Lawsuit to Block Modern Jim Crow Law," Fox News, July 5, 2024.
• National Shooting Sports Foundation, "Permit to Purchase Fact Sheet," National Shooting Sports Foundation, 2021.