Washington prohibits any person from carrying any firearm onto, or possessing a firearm on, public or private elementary or secondary school premises, school-provided transportation, or in areas of other facilities while being used exclusively by public or private schools.¹

Exceptions Include:

• Involvement in a convention, showing, demonstration, lecture, or firearms safety course authorized by school authorities in which the firearms of collectors or instructors are handled or displayed;

• Engagement in military, law enforcement, or school district security activities;

• Participation in a firearm or air gun competition approved by the school or school district;

• Possession of a handgun pursuant to state licensing requirements (or otherwise exempt) while picking up or dropping off a student;

• Lawful possession of a firearm by any non-student at least age 18 who has secured the firearm within an attended vehicle or concealed from view within a locked unattended vehicle while conducting legitimate business at the school; and

• Lawful possession of an unloaded firearm by any non-student at least age 18 who has secured the firearm in a vehicle while conducting legitimate business at the school.²

Elementary or secondary school students violating this gun-free schools law are subject to expulsion from the state’s public schools.³

State administrative regulations may prohibit the possession of firearms on particular college or university campuses.

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1. Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 9.41.280(1)(a). Any person convicted of violating this provision shall have his or her concealed pistol license revoked for a period of three years, and is prohibited from applying for a concealed pistol license for a period of three years. Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 9.41.280(2).[↩]
2. Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 9.41.280(3).[↩]
3. Id. See also Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 28A.600.420(1), which requires expulsion for not less than one year for any elementary or secondary school student who is determined to have carried a firearm onto, or to have possessed a firearm on, public elementary or secondary school premises, public school-provided transportation, or areas of facilities while being used exclusively by public schools. School district superintendents may modify such expulsion on a case-by-case basis. Id. Expelled students may receive educational services in an alternative setting by a school district or similar entity. Wash. Rev. Code Ann. § 28A.600.420(4).[↩]