guardian arms v washington (SHB1240)

On April 25, 2023, Governor Jay Inslee signed SHB1240, banning "assault weapons" under Chapter 9.41 RCW, Firearms and Dangerous Weapons ("Washington Uniform Firearms Act").  SHB1240 unconstitutionally and categorically bans the manufacture, importation, distribution, sale or offer for sale of any "assault weapon."  Any violation of the provisions of SHB 1240 is categorized as a gross misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment in the country jail for up to 364 days, or a fine of not more than $5,000, or by both imprisonment and fine.

Silent Majority Foundation immediately filed a Motion for Temporary Restraining Order  and Preliminary Injunction in Grant County Superior Court as SHB1240 immediately and directly infringes on our right to bear arms protected under Article I, Section 24 of the Washington State Constitution.  SMF represents several individuals, as well as Guardian Arms, a local FFL, who are standing for their Second Amendment rights guaranteed in the Washington State Constitution and U.S. Constitution.  On May 12, 2023, the State filed a Motion to Transfer Venue to Thurston County, which was granted. 

On Friday, July 12, 2024, the Superior Court for Thurston County heard our motion to transfer venue back to Grant County. We made our motion based on RCW 4.12.030(3), which provides that venue can be transferred if it will forward convenience of the witnesses or the ends of justice. While the Court denied our motion, in essence we prevailed on the substantive points made in our motion and the State's arguments were both refuted by the Court. 

The Court also explicitly stated that it still wields the discretion to make such a decision regarding transfer of venue. This is important because the State argued that the public officer venue statute, which was used to transfer this case from Grant County to Thurston County, is mandatory and that the Court no longer has the discretion to transfer the case. So, while our motion was denied, in effect we are still able to bring this motion again after the summary judgment phase if a trial is still necessary. The Court stated that the denial was without prejudice, acknowledging that we may bring this motion at a later date. If neither party prevails completely in our cross-motions for Summary Judgment, which are due around mid-September, then we will move to transfer the trial to Grant County. 

On 11/17/2023, SMF attended a hearing on the State’s Motion to Compel Discovery in Guardian Arms. The State is seeking broad discovery including records of sales from our FFL plaintiffs dating back to 2005. The state claimed the need for those records as 2004 was the year the Federal “assault weapons ban” terminated; the state then claimed that those records would show how popular the prohibited firearms were as they became popular after the Sandy Hook shooting (December 14, 2012).

Before the hearing, the State asked the Court to strike (terminate ahead of time) the hearing as SMF filed the Response 44 minutes late. The reason for the slightly late filing: Pete was on a plane with no Wifi and Austin was on a call with the Marine Corps—of course, serving our country is not an excuse for the state when it comes to it’s wishes. The Judge did not entertain the notion to strike the hearing—she simply said that the state was not harmed due to a 44 minute delay.

The outcome of the hearing is that SMF/the Plaintiffs will provide “reasonable” discovery. Reasonable discovery means that the state will get some information, but SMF will protect other information. We believe we will be able to provide the information that the state needs to make its case while not divulging unnecessary/unrelated information. This was a positive outcome in this matter as the judge was a neutral decision-maker, and she slapped the state around a bit. When the state is going after Constitutional rights, a slapping around is warranted.

This case is currently in discovery.  Silent Majority Foundation will continue to provide updates to our Members.