Air gun hunting in Washington

So looking over the list, the last 'unclassified' critter is the Yellow Bellied Marmot. I look it up and think, huh, that looks like a groundhog to me. Turns out they're basically the same thing. A Yellow Bellied Marmot is basically a poorly fed groundhog. OK, technically they're different species, but otherwise, pretty close.

I also looked into the regulations regarding discharging an airpowered gun within the city limits of Yakima. It's...confusing to say the least. I asked the YPD to clarify and they submitted all the information, but I think that the laws are just vague regarding airpowered weapons.

The Cliff's Notes version is: to be absolutely legal, go to a legal shooting range within city limits. It's probably ok to shoot an airgun within city limits on private property, but the laws are vague about how they apply to airguns.

RCW 9.41 covers the firearm regulations for Washington, but nowhere does it mention air powered weapons. It very specifically states 'firearm' and the definitions for the RCW clearly defines firearm as:(9) "Firearm" means a weapon or device from which a projectile or projectiles may be fired by an explosive such as gunpowder.(10) "Gun" has the same meaning as firearm. 
If you're a physicist, or engineer, you might say, "compressed air certainly could be explosive" and I'd agree, but then later in the code it says:

(19) "Rifle" means a weapon designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and designed or redesigned, made or remade, and intended to use the energy of the explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge to fire only a single projectile through a rifled bore for each single pull of the trigger.

That statement pretty definitively eliminates air rifles I'm not sure if pistols would still be included though. The definition of pistol is even more vague.

The city of Yakima however has a separate code that states:

"...Willfully discharges any firearm, air gun, or other weapon, or throws any deadly missile in a public place, or in any place where any person might be endangered thereby. A public place shall not include any location at which firearms are authorized to be lawfully discharged..."

This would seem to me, to indicate that airpowered guns are legal to discharge, so long as it is being done responsibly, not in a threatening manner, and not on public property.

Crossman also maintains a list for each state that covers most state's airgun hunting restrictions. Some states are confusing. For example, I've learned that, even though Texas permits airgun hunting at a state level, the warden for each hunting area within TX sets restrictions that trump state laws. It's strange. I'm sure if someone were to challenge it in court, they'd win, but is it worth the effort to spend $10,000 or more for a squirrel?

I was trying to purchase my hunting license online and ran into a problem so I had to call WSFW. While I was on the phone with a guy sorting out the problem at his computer I bent his ear about hunting with airguns. He had no idea that airguns had progressed as much as they have. Before we were done, he was searching YouTube for videos. He said he'd ask about have the WA state legislature modify the hunting regs the next time that they come up for review. I suspect that the verbage in the regs about airguns hasn't been modified since the 70's. 

I finally found a page on the WDFW website for how to submit a request to change their rules. It isn't exactly an easy process though...

http://wdfw.wa.gov/about/regulations/how_to_participate.html

"The public can also petition the Fish and Wildlife Commission to change a rule or reconsider a specific rule adoption. The petition process is a more formal process. See RCW 34.05.330 for more information on petitions. If you would like to go forward with a formal petition, you can download the form at http://www.ofm.wa.gov/reports/petition.pdf."

OK, I submitted a petition to the WDFW requesting that they change WAC 232-12-047 (3) as follows:

Original wording:
(3) It is unlawful to hunt game birds or game animals, except bullfrogs, in a manner other than with a firearm, a bow and arrow, a crossbow, or by falconry.

Revised wording:
(3) It is unlawful to hunt game birds or game animals, except bullfrogs, in a manner other than with a firearm, airgun, a bow and arrow, a crossbow, or by falconry.

I don't expect this to amount to anything, but nothing ventured, nothing gained. Even if they act on the petition, it won't happen for at least 3 years as that is how long it takes between revision cycles for the WDFW.

This would open up small game and fowl hunting only. There is another line of code that explicitly requires centerfire firearms larger than .24cal for Big Game hunting. I'll need to tackle that later.

Public Place means any place where there is a reasonable chance someone might accidentally be shot. In Yakima, they just outright banned the discharge of firearms, air guns, paintball guns, slingshots, blow darts etc within city limits. It's not a big deal as its a small city and there's abundant property in the county. No weapons can be carried onto school properties, parks, city hall, etc. The state laws are very vague so you need to research your local community laws. (City/county/borough). There was one community in Washington that effectively banned the discharge of guns by saying that no guns could be discharged outdoors where some protected bird species might be present. Since there's no way to know if it might be present it means no outdoor shooting. 

I just received the response phone call from WDFW about the petition I submitted. Again, a very nice and pleasant conversation. The guy was very open to the idea of adding airguns, but he said the earliest it could happen would likely be 2018. He said there were two options: 1) I leave my petition in place and the Game Council will review it and recommend that it be included in the next round of rule making (ie 2018) or 2) I could retract my petition and he would add the requested change for the 2018 round of rule making. He said the end result is the same either way, but option 2 will have less paperwork and create less ill-will and bureaucratic hoops. He agreed that my suggested route of getting small game changes first was a sound strategy. The idea is that once there are enough people open to the idea of hunting with airguns and enough people knowledgeable about the potential of airguns then more people could back the second change required to include big game. Apparently there was already a proposed rule change in the 2015 round of rule making to allow airguns for small game, but no one publicly supported it so it was dropped. Unfortunately, I hadn't even found the web page discussing this process in the WDFW site until after the 3-year process was concluded for 2015. So for all of you in WA, whether you hunt or not, we need your voice if/when this proposed change is opened to public comments.
I'll be emailing the guy I spoke with to officially retract my petition, but he also asked that I include some links to information about airguns, calibers, ballistics data, etc. I specifically asked for the word 'airgun' rather than 'air rifle' because I wanted air shotguns to be included for hunting fowl and small game. So if any of you manufacturers are reading this and want to send me some gear to test and review for the WDFW PM me for my address Just kidding (not really). I have an airgun introduction presentation that I received from someone either on this forum or GTA. I also have some material from Chip at Crosman and some materials that I've put together on my own. If anyone wants to contribute information I'm open to whatever you've got. Just remember, I'm aiming for 'small game' only. There's a chicken vs egg problem in that there's very little public support for this change because no one can currently hunt small game with airguns in WA. Crosman's chart showing other state's airgun hunting positions should help to show that WA is behind the times in this matter. I tried to put together some material to show the HUGE differences between the 'Red Rider' era BB guns vs the Air Force Texan .45cal and .50cal Sam Yangs etc. I'd LOVE it if someone more knowledgeable than me could put together a chart comparing various FPE ratings of common air rifle calibers(.177, .20, .22, .25) vs common hunting caliber powder burners for small game (.177 HMR, .22LR, ?).

"Ropechucker"Gun powder is not an explosive. A propellent- yes. It burns and produces gases that expand and propel a projectile. The explosive -if you can it that, is the primer. 

Their definitions seem pretty weak-like they were written by someone that is clueless about what they're writing.

Washington is my home state- 40 years ago. Glad to be from there- far from there!

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Considering that all the lawmakers live and work in Olympia that makes sense. They wouldn't be able to tell an air rifle from at atlat.