I also gave the SIL a 9mm Beretta PX4 Storm compact model with two factory 15 round mags to take with him for my daughter so when the law was passed I read it to see if the mags for both pistols were going to be a problem.
The way I understood the law is if you already have factory magazines that hold greater than 10 rounds you can legally keep and use them for like range shooting but you can't have them in a firearm that you're carrying for defense.
Of course it was in lawyerize so I may have misunderstood the actual meaning.
Here is a link to the actual magazine ban law
RCW 9.41.370: Large capacity magazines—Exceptions—Penalty.
It only prohibits, sale, purchase, importation, or manufacturing. No prohibition against ones we already own - or any restrictions on using ones legally owned - including using them for concealed carry.
And a link to the concealed carry law
RCW 9.41.050: Carrying firearms.
Which also doesn't say anything about magazine capacity restrictions for concealed carry.
It is blatantly un-Constitutional to pass a new law that imposes penalties retro-actively on citizens who were in compliance with all existing PRIOR laws. Our government is prohibited from passing Ex Post Facto laws. They aren't allowed to pass a new law and then punish people for behavior that was LEGAL prior to the passage of the new law that declared that behavior as ILLEGAL. In other words, the government can't pass a NEW law, and then prosecute anyone for breaking that laws before it was passed or enacted.
The bump-stock ban was an example of them trying that - and it got overturned.
That is why the 10-round magazine "ban" doesn't apply to any magazines that WE THE PEOPLE of Washington owned BEFORE our legislators decided to impose this un-Constitutional restriction on our 2nd Amendment rights.
Read point #5, sub point #4 of the link below.
Firearm High-Capacity Magazine Restrictions in Washington – State Regs Today
While it seems to say that those in possession of standard capacity magazines have to prove that they possessed them PRIOR to the effective date of the magazine ban, if anyone were ever prosecuted under this un-Constitutional law, the reality is that State would have to prove that person DIDN'T already own the standard capacity magazines before the magazine capacity ban was in effect.
So, if Washington State ever actually tried to prosecute someone for violating the magazine capacity "ban", the fundamental legal presumption of "innocent until proven guilty" would mean that the State would have to prove that the magazines were purchased/imported/manufactured AFTER the ban took effect. That's a pretty high standard of proof for the State to meet unless they have some sort of record to prove it - like a sales receipt, or magazines for guns that didn't exist before the ban, or a manufacturing date stamp on the magazine itself (I've never seen any marked that way, but it is possible)
Isn't it curious that in nearly 3 years no one has been prosecuted for breaking this law? I think the reason is that if the State ever tried to enforce these un-Constitutional laws, they would be challenged and appealed until they were overturned.
Another really great example of this is I-1639 that passed way back in 2018. I-1639 required that ALL of us law-abiding citizens submit to a state BGC to purchase a firearm - even for private gun sales. How many criminals have been prosecuted for not following the "universal back-ground checks" required by this law?
AFAIK there has been only ONE prosecution under this new law - WAY back in 2019 or 2020. And that was a case where a guy made a straw purchase for his nephew - who was a felon - and then the nephew used the gun to commit a murder. So how many criminals have actually been affected by the new law? ONE over the last 9 years.
But how many law-abiding gun owners have been affected? THOUSANDS of us - we law-abiding gun owners are the ones who actually try to FOLLOW these asinine, ridiculous laws. The criminals just ignore them - just like they ignore ALL of the other laws that law-abiding citizens do our best to try to follow.
These laws are just another example of "feel good" legislation pushed and passed by the anti-gun folks. They don't really DO anything to deter crime, but it gives the anti-gun crowd supporters a "feel good" for having DONE SOMETHING (even if that SOMETHING that they've done is wrong and/or totally ineffective).
It seems like we're living in a clown-world where the law is putting more and more restrictions on the rights of the law-abiding and the criminals are taking full advantage of that fact as they run amok.
