A bill exempting museums from criminal background checks when accepting firearms was passed unanimously by the state Senate on Thursday.
The legislation, Senate Bill 5436, is sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Wilson, R-Longview. The bill makes changes to Washington’s firearms transfer law, which requires, with some exceptions, criminal background checks when guns are sold, gifted, loaned or otherwise “transferred.”
According to Wilson, current law poses a challenge for museums, as they don’t have criminal histories that can be checked.
“I know how silly this sounds, but the plain language of the law prevents museums from accepting weapons that are loaned to them for display or are given to them,” Wilson said. “The problem is that you have to be a person in order to have a criminal background check, and museums aren’t people.”
Washington’s current firearm transfer law was passed by ballot initiative in 2014 and has caused difficulties for museums creating historical and military displays. Representatives of Washington state museums testified the law has made it impossible to loan or gift firearms, or return weapons to their owners when displays conclude.
“Technically speaking, the state’s gun transfer law would be a problem for any corporation,” Wilson explained. “No matter what the U.S. Supreme Court says, where criminal background checks are concerned, corporations aren’t people.”
This is the second time the bill has passed, as the bill was also passed unanimously by the state Senate during the 2022 legislative session but did not receive a vote in the state House.
The bill now goes to the House for consideration.
