[NavyLT]

Originally Posted by alfack

Open carry is also legal, but a good way to get harassed everywhere you go.

Complete and total FUD! :barf:

Originally Posted by Joshua

So im think of getting my first pistol and was curious about the rules or concealment laws in washington state. Is it legal to carry?

Yes. However, it is illegal to conceal a gun on the person, without a CPL (Concealed Pistol License). It is also to illegal to carry a loaded gun in a vehicle without a CPL. Without a CPL, an unloaded handgun may be carried anywhere in the vehicle so long as it is not concealed on the person. Without a CPL, a loaded or unloaded handgun may be carried outside the vehicle, so long as it is not concealed.

Is it a open carry state?

Absolutely. And we have one of the strongest state preemption laws in the country. Local cities and counties are prohibited by state law from banning any type of carry/possession of firearms beyond what state law already does.

Can you get in trouble if someone sees the weapon?

Have a small minority of people been arrested simply because someone saw them carrying a gun? YES. Have those cases been thrown out in court? YES. Do almost all of the LEO's in Washington know that open carry is legal and will NOT harrass a person for only openly carrying, even if they get a MWAG call? YES.

The actual law states that it is illegal to carry a gun in a manner, under circumstances, and at a time and place that either manifests an intent to intimidate or that WARRANTS alarm. The WA Supreme Court has upheld and ruled that a holstered firearm does not WARRANT alarm. The WA Supreme Court has also ruled that even a gun carried in the hand is not in violation of the law IF all of the other elements of the statute are not met as well.

In other words, according to the WA State Supreme Court, a person can carry a gun down the street in their hand and NOT be in violation of the law if their finger is not on the trigger, if they are not at an unusual location at an unusual time and if the gun is not pointed at anyone. See State v. Spencer. (BTW, Spencer was a convicted felon carrying two rifles down the street in his arms on a Sunday afternoon and the WA Supreme Court found him NOT GUILTY of "brandishing" a firearm!)

Any laws of weather it can be a loaded weapon?

You cannot have a loaded handgun anywhere in a vehicle without a CPL. You cannot have a loaded rifle/shotgun anywhere in a vehicle with or without a CPL.
You cannot conceal a handgun on the person without a CPL, regardless of if the handgun is loaded or not.
Open carry, outside a vehicle, is legal without a CPL, whether or not the gun is loaded.

So pretty much the whole scope.

Pretty much the whole scope can be had by reading this:

http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/at...5&d=1280151535

Here is more info:
http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/fo...131-Washington

I'm pretty sure you are required to let any LEO that pulls you over in a traffic stop that you are carrying.

No requirement exists in the state law.