AG Ferguson files lawsuit against Federal Way gun store for illegal sale of high-capacity magazines

Jordan Duncan
·2 min read
4

Attorney General Bob Ferguson on Wednesday announced a lawsuit against a Federal Way gun store and its owner for illegally selling high-capacity magazines despite the state’s ban on such products.

Federal Way Discount Guns and its owner face a maximum penalty of $7,500 for each time a high-capacity magazine was offered for sale and $7,500 for each time one was actually sold.

The lawsuit follows a statewide sweep of gun retailers conducted by Ferguson’s office. Investigators went to 25 stores across the state to see if they were complying with the law regarding high-capacity magazines.

According to Ferguson’s office, when investigators tried purchasing the illegal magazines, only two of the 25 stores attempted to sell them, one of which was Federal Way Discount Guns. The investigation into the other store is ongoing.

“Our sweep confirmed that the overwhelming majority of gun retailers in Washington are doing the right thing and complying with the law,” Ferguson said. “In contrast, Federal Way Discount Guns chose to violate a law that makes our communities safer. We will continue to proactively enforce this law, and take action against anyone who illegally sells high-capacity magazines.”

Ferguson will file a motion for a preliminary injunction to block the store from selling more of the magazines, and require the store to destroy or return any remaining magazines.

According to Ferguson’s office, investigators visited the Federal Way store four times between August and November. Each time a sale was made to investigators, the sales clerk destroyed the record of the sale or made a comment to the investigator suggesting that they knew the sale was illegal.

In one case, the store’s owner sold a 30-round magazine for an AR-15 style rifle and a 33-round magazine for a Glock 17 pistol to an investigator and threw away the receipt.

Over the course of the four visits, investigators purchased:

  • A 50-round drum magazine.

  • Two 30-round magazines for an AR-15-style rifle.

  • A 33-round magazine for a Glock 17 pistol.

  • A 22-round Glock pistol magazine.

  • A 19-round magazine for a Glock 19 pistol.

  • A 17-round magazine for a Glock 17 pistol.

  • A 17-round magazine for a Glock 19 pistol.

  • A 17-round magazine for a Sig Sauer P229 pistol.