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Request to be notified before release of firearms to a family member
The King County Sheriff’s Office may obtain guns from people for several reasons, such as when a court orders the person to surrender them, or the person is suicidal, or at the scene of a domestic violence incident. The Sheriff’s Office may eventually have to return the gun to the person. In 2015, the state legislature passed a law that allows “Family or household members” to ask the Sheriff’s Office to notify them before the Sheriff’s Office returns a firearm.
You may ask for notification if:
- You are “family or household member” of the person who will get the gun back, or
- You are “family or household member” of a victim of a domestic violence incident or the protected party in a court ordered protection or no-contact order involving the person who will receive the guns.
“Family or household members” include spouses, former spouses, parents and children, grandchildren, stepchildren, people who are related by blood or marriage, people who have a child in common even if they have not been married or lived together, people who live together or have lived together, and people 16 years of age or older who have or have had a dating relationship. A full list of “family or household members” is in RCW 26.50.010.
We will hold the guns for 72 hours after we notify you that we are going to release the gun. We cannot withhold the gun once we determine the person is eligible to get it back unless we receive a court order preventing release before we release the gun.
Please fill it out as completely as possible or we might not be able to notify you. We must have current contact information when the decision to release the gun is made.
We must receive your request before we determine that the person is eligible to get the gun back. We often run background checks several days before actually releasing a firearm.