State Legality Matrix / Assault Weapon Feature Bans / Washington
Statute-cited, last verified 2026-07-10
Yes. Named list plus a feature test; manufacture, import, distribution, and sale are banned, but possession remains legal with no registration requirement. Effective 2023-04-25.
Controlling law: RCW 9.41.390 (HB 1240, 2023)
Triggering features: folding stock, telescoping stock, pistol grip, thumbhole stock, forward grip, flash suppressor, threaded barrel, barrel shroud, grenade launcher.
Bans manufacture, importation, distribution, sale, and offer for sale of assault weapons. Unlike most AWB states it does not ban or register possession, so existing owners keep their firearms and may transfer to an FFL or inherit.
There has been no federal assault weapons ban since the 1994 ban expired in 2004; no feature restrictions apply federally to semi-automatic rifles or pistols. The 2023 ATF pistol-brace rule was vacated by the Fifth Circuit and is not enforced, so braced pistols are not SBRs under federal law. Cargill v. Garland (2024) made bump stocks federally legal. Feature bans are entirely a matter of state law.
Scope: State laws restricting semi-automatic rifles, pistols, and shotguns by configuration features: threaded barrels, pistol grips, folding or telescoping stocks, flash suppressors, forward grips, and similar. Magazine capacity limits are tracked as a separate class.
Yes. Named list plus a feature test; manufacture, import, distribution, and sale are banned, but possession remains legal with no registration requirement. Effective 2023-04-25. Controlling law: RCW 9.41.390 (HB 1240, 2023).
The controlling law is RCW 9.41.390 (HB 1240, 2023). Named list plus a feature test; manufacture, import, distribution, and sale are banned, but possession remains legal with no registration requirement.
Washington's rule took effect 2023-04-25. Bans manufacture, importation, distribution, sale, and offer for sale of assault weapons. Unlike most AWB states it does not ban or register possession, so existing owners keep their firearms and may transfer to an FFL or inherit.
There has been no federal assault weapons ban since the 1994 ban expired in 2004; no feature restrictions apply federally to semi-automatic rifles or pistols. The 2023 ATF pistol-brace rule was vacated by the Fifth Circuit and is not enforced, so braced pistols are not SBRs under federal law. Cargill v. Garland (2024) made bump stocks federally legal. Feature bans are entirely a matter of state law.
In a feature-ban state, swapping the pistol grip for a featureless grip is the cheapest path to a compliant rifle that keeps its detachable magazine. These grips are purpose-built for that test.
Wider fin-style featureless grip with a fuller palm shelf for shooters who want more support than the Simple grip.
Fin-style featureless grip that replaces the protruding pistol grip on a feature-restricted AR-15 build.
Billet aluminum featureless grip for California AR-15 builds that keeps a standard magazine release.
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Full picks and fitment notes: Featureless AR Build Guide