Ability Of A Pawnbroker To Return To Its Owner An Assault Weapon In Pawnbroker’s Possession As Pledge For A Loan, Or Sell An Unredeemed Assault Weapon

FIREARMS—STATUTES—Ability Of A Pawnbroker To Return To Its Owner An Assault Weapon In Pawnbroker’s Possession As Pledge For A Loan, Or Sell An Unredeemed Assault Weapon

The restriction on the manufacture, import, distribution, sale, and offer of sale on “any assault weapon” in SHB 1240 does not preclude pawnbrokers holding assault weapons as pledged articles from returning the firearms to their owners.

The restriction on the manufacture, import, distribution, sale, and offer of sale on “any assault weapon” in SHB 1240 limits a pawnbroker’s ability to sell an unredeemed assault weapon. But pursuant to § 3(2)(b), pawnbrokers, like other licensed firearms dealers, may sell assault weapons to armed forces or law enforcement agencies.

October 6, 2023

Dear Senator Fortunato and Representative Walsh:

            By letters previously acknowledged, you have requested our opinion on the following questions:

1.         If a pawnbroker receives in pledge as security for a loan an “assault weapon,” as defined in Substitute H.B. 1240 (SHB 1240), 68th Leg., Reg. Sess. (Wash. 2023), does SHB 1240 permit the pawnbroker to return the firearm to the owner on repayment of the loan?

2.         If the owner of an assault weapon pledged as security for a pawnbroker loan does not redeem the pledged firearm, does SHB 1240 permit the pawnbroker to sell the firearm?

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BRIEF ANSWERS

            1.         Yes. The legislature’s express intent in enacting SHB 1240 was to allow existing legal owners to retain the assault weapons they currently own. Within the term of a pawnbroker loan, the pledgor retains ownership of the pledged article and retains the right to redeem the pledge at any time. See RCW 19.60.061.

            2.         No, with limited exceptions applicable to pawnbrokers who are licensed firearm dealers. If the pawnbroker acquired ownership rights to the assault weapon prior to January 1, 2023, the pawnbroker was permitted to sell the assault weapon out of state for a limited period of 90 days after April 25, 2023. Additionally, pawnbrokers may sell assault weapons to the armed forces or to a state law enforcement agency for use by that agency or its employees for law enforcement purposes. Aside from these limited exceptions, SHB 1240’s general prohibition on selling or distributing assault weapons applies to pawnbrokers and would prohibit them from selling assault weapons they receive as security to a loan.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

            SHB 1240 was signed into law by the governor on April 25, 2023, and became effective immediately. Its stated purpose is to “limit the prospective sale of assault weapons, while allowing existing legal owners to retain the assault weapons they currently own.” Laws of 2023, ch. 162, § 1. To that end, section 3 of the bill enacts the following prohibition: “No person in this state may manufacture, import, distribute, sell, or offer for sale any assault weapon, except as authorized in this section.” Laws of 2023, ch. 162, § 3(1). However, there are several enumerated exceptions, discussed in relevant part below. A violation of section 3 is both a gross misdemeanor and an unfair or deceptive act or practice or unfair method of competition in the conduct of trade or commerce under the Consumer Protection Act, RCW 19.86. Laws of 2023, ch. 162, §§ 3(4), 4(2).

            You have asked us to address SHB 1240’s effects on pawnbrokers holding assault weapons as pledged security for loans. Before answering your questions, it is helpful to briefly review the statutes governing pawnbrokers’ business activities in the context of pledged firearms.

            Pawnbrokers engage in the business of loaning money on the security of pledges of personal property. See RCW 19.60.010(6) (defining “pawnbroker”). The term of a pawnbroker loan is ninety days. RCW 19.60.061(1). The customer may redeem their pledged property at any time during the loan period upon repayment of the loan principal, interest, and associated fees. See RCW 19.60.061(2)-(3) (“A pawnbroker shall not sell any property received in pledge, until a minimum of ninety days has expired[,]” and the pawnbroker “shall inform the pledgor of the pledgor’s right to redeem the pledge at any time within the term of the loan.”). After the term of the loan, unredeemed property becomes the property of the pawnbroker:

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[I]f a pledged article is not redeemed within the ninety-day period of the term of the loan, the pawnbroker shall have all rights, title, and interest of that item of personal property. The pawnbroker shall not be required to account to the pledgor for the proceeds received from the disposition of that item.

RCW 19.60.061(2).

            Any pawnbroker that receives firearms in pledge as security for loans must have a federal firearms license. 18 U.S.C. § 923(a) (“No person shall engage in the business of . . . dealing in firearms . . . until he has filed an application with and received a license to do so . . . .”); 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(11)(C) (defining “dealer” to include “any person who is a pawnbroker”); 18 U.S.C. § 921(a)(12) (“The term ‘pawnbroker’ means any person whose business or occupation includes the taking or receiving, by way of pledge or pawn, of any firearm as security for the payment or repayment of money.”); see also RCW 9.41.120 (“No person other than a duly licensed dealer shall make any loan secured by a mortgage, deposit or pledge of a pistol. . . . .”). For the purposes of our analysis, we assume that the pawnbroker in question has a federal firearms license, and is therefore also a “licensed dealer” as that term is defined in RCW 9.41.010. See Laws of 2023, ch. 162, § 2(27).

ANALYSIS

1.         If a pawnbroker receives in pledge as security for a loan an “assault weapon,” as defined in SHB 1240, does SHB 1240 permit the pawnbroker to return the firearm to the owner on repayment of the loan?

            A court’s objective in interpreting statutes is to ascertain and carry out the legislature’s intent, as derived from the statute’s plain meaning. Dep’t of Ecology v. Campbell & Gwinn, L.L.C., 146 Wn.2d 1, 9, 43 P.3d 4 (2002). Plain meaning is discerned “from ‘all the terms and provisions of the act in relation to the subject of the legislation, the nature of the act, the general object to be accomplished and consequences that would result from construing the particular statute in one way or another.’” State v. Evergreen Freedom Found., 192 Wn.2d 782, 790, 432 P.3d 805 (2019) (quoting Burns v. City of Seattle, 161 Wn.2d 129, 146, 164 P.3d 475 (2007)). Enacted statements of legislative intent are included in the plain reading of a statute. G-P Gypsum Corp. v. Dep’t of Revenue, 169 Wn.2d 304, 310, 237 P.3d 256 (2010). If a statute defines a particular term, courts will use that definition to ascertain the statute’s meaning. Am. Legion Post 32 v. City of Walla Walla, 116 Wn.2d 1, 8, 802 P.2d 784 (1991). For undefined terms, we look to dictionary definitions to discern the meaning. Id. (“In the absence of a legislative definition, courts may resort to the applicable dictionary definition to determine a word’s plain and ordinary meaning unless a contrary intent within the statute appears.”). In addition, the statute should be construed to

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avoid absurd results. Spokane County v. Dep’t of Fish & Wildlife, 192 Wn.2d 453, 458, 430 P.3d 655 (2018).

            SHB 1240 states that “[n]o person in this state may manufacture, import, distribute, sell, or offer for sale any assault weapon, except as authorized in” section 3 of the bill. Laws of 2023, ch. 162, § 3(1). A pawnbroker’s return of a pledged firearm to the owner falls straightforwardly outside the statutory definitions of “manufacture,” “import,” and “sell.” See Laws of 2023, ch. 162, § 2(30), (21), (35). The more difficult legal question is whether, in returning a pledged assault weapon, the pawnbroker “distributes” the firearm to its owner.

            “Distribute” is a defined term in RCW 9.41.010, meaning to “give out, provide, make available, or deliver a firearm or large capacity magazine to any person in this state, with or without consideration, whether the distributor is in-state or out-of-state.” Laws of 2023, ch. 162, § 2(10). The term “includes, but is not limited to, filling orders placed in this state, online or otherwise[,]” as well as “causing a firearm or large capacity magazine to be delivered in this state.” Laws of 2023, ch. 162, § 2(10).

            As defined by SHB 1240, “distribute” cannot be reasonably read to include a pawnbroker’s return of an item to its rightful owner. Unless and until the ownership of an assault weapon transfers to the pawnbroker pursuant to RCW 19.60.061(2), the pawnbroker merely holds the weapon as a bailee. The pawnbroker’s returning of property in which it no longer retains a security interest therefore does not fit comfortably within any common-sense meaning of “give out,” “provide,” or “make available.”

            The relevant dictionary definitions of “deliver” are “to take and hand over to or leave for another : convey,” or to “hand over, surrender.” Deliver, Merriam-Webster.com, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/deliver (last visited Aug. 9, 2023). In isolation, this definition could reasonably be read to mean that the return of a pledged assault weapon is included as a “delivery,” and therefore a distribution under SHB 1240. But we think the better reading, interpreting the term within the plain meaning of the full statutory scheme, excludes redemption of pledged assault weapons from the ban on distribution.

            The legislature’s stated intent in enacting SHB 1240 confirms this reading. The stated purpose of SHB 1240 is “to limit the prospective sale of assault weapons, while allowing existing legal owners to retain the assault weapons they currently own.” Laws of 2023, ch. 162, § 1. This enacted statement is included within the plain reading of the statute. See G-P Gypsum Corp., 169 Wn.2d at 310. As RCW 19.60.061 makes clear, the pledgor remains the “existing legal owner[]” of the assault weapon during the loan period, and thus, consistent with the legislature’s explicit intent, remains entitled “to retain the assault weapons they currently own.” Laws of 2023, ch. 162, § 1.

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            Thus, we conclude that section 3 of SHB 1240 does not prohibit pawnbrokers from returning a pledged assault weapon to the owner on repayment of the secured loan.^[1]

2.         If the owner of an assault weapon pledged as security for a pawnbroker loan does not redeem the pledged firearm, does SHB 1240 permit the pawnbroker to sell the firearm?

            SHB 1240’s prohibition on the sale of assault weapons prohibits pawnbrokers from selling weapons acquired pursuant to RCW 19.60.061(2), except to the armed forces or law enforcement agencies. Laws of 2023, ch. 162, § 3(1).

            SHB 1240 contains three exceptions under which licensed dealers may sell assault weapons. Laws of 2023, ch. 162, § 3(2)(b)-(d). One exception is for the sale of an assault weapon to or by a properly licensed firearms dealer

where the dealer acquires the assault weapon from an individual legally authorized to possess or transfer the assault weapon for the purpose of selling or transferring the assault weapon to a person who does not reside in this state. The purpose of this section is to allow individuals who no longer wish to own an assault weapon to sell their assault weapon and is not intended to allow Washington dealers to purchase assault weapons wholesale for the purpose of selling a stock or inventory of assault weapons online or in person to nonresidents[.]

Laws of 2023, ch. 162, § 3(2)(c). Here, a pawnbroker initially acquires a pledged assault weapon

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not for the purpose of selling or transferring it to a nonresident, but to hold as security for a loan. Similarly, the owner does not transfer their assault weapon to the pawnbroker for the purpose of sale because they no longer wish to own an assault weapon. Instead, the owner retains ownership and retains the right to redeem the pledged firearm upon repayment of the loan. If an owner fails to redeem the pledged firearm and ownership transfers to the pawnbroker by virtue of RCW 19.60.061(2), the pawnbroker has still not specifically acquired the weapon for purposes of selling or transferring it to a nonresident—they have instead acquired the weapon by operation of law. Nor has the owner sold their assault weapon to the pawnbroker; instead, they have forfeited ownership by operation of law. Accordingly, a pawnbroker may not lawfully sell or offer for sale an unredeemed assault weapon under this exception.^[2]

            SHB 1240 contains a second exception for “[t]he out-of-state sale or transfer of the existing stock of assault weapons owned by a licensed dealer that was acquired prior to January 1, 2023[.]” Laws of 2023, ch. 162, § 3(2)(d). We conclude that a pawnbroker’s sale of an unredeemed assault weapon to a person who does not reside in Washington falls within this exception, provided that the pawnbroker acquired ownership of the firearm prior to January 1, 2023. An assault weapon held in pledge on or after January 1, 2023, would not qualify, however, because the pawnbroker would not yet have acquired “all rights, title, and interest of” the firearm before the statutory cutoff date. RCW 19.60.061(2). Additionally, pawnbrokers may only sell assault weapons under this exception “for the limited period of 90 days after” April 25, 2023, the effective date of SHB 1240. Laws of 2023, ch. 162, § 3(2)(d). Thus, a pawnbroker’s ability to legally sell an unredeemed assault weapon under this subsection lapsed on July 24, 2023.

            SHB 1240 contains a third exception for the offer for sale or sale by a properly licensed firearms dealer “for the purpose of sale to any branch of the armed forces of the United States or the state of Washington, or to a law enforcement agency in this state for use by that agency or its employees for law enforcement purposes[.]” Laws of 2023, ch. 162, § 3(2)(b). We conclude that pawnbrokers, like other licensed firearms dealers, may qualify for this exception.

            In sum, we conclude that pawnbrokers generally may not sell assault weapons acquired through an owner’s failure to redeem a pledged firearm. However, if the pawnbroker acquired ownership rights to the assault weapon prior to January 1, 2023, the pawnbroker could have sold the assault weapon out of state for a limited period of 90 days after April 25, 2023. Additionally, pawnbrokers may sell assault weapons to the armed forces or to a state law enforcement agency for use by that agency or its employees for law enforcement purposes.

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            Finally, although “[o]pinions of the Attorney General are entitled to considerable weight,” it is important to note that they are not binding on courts. Wash. Fed’n of State Emps., Council 28, AFL-CIO v. Off. of Fin. Mgmt., 121 Wn.2d 152, 164, 849 P.2d 1201 (1993). Courts “give less deference to such opinions when they involve issues of statutory interpretation,” as here. Id. Thus, while we offer our considered legal analysis, we cannot provide binding guidance to pawnbrokers or the public about the meaning of this important legislation—only a court can do that.

            We trust that the foregoing will be useful to you.

ROBERT W. FERGUSON

   Attorney General

David Moon

DAVID MOON

   Assistant Attorney General

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