Brad Shannon of The Olympian writes:

One dispute arising in the political fight over Initiative 594’s expansion of background checks is whether it creates a registry of Washington gun owners that could threaten gun rights.

The short answer is no. Washington does not have a gun registry, and I-594 does not create one.

. . .

Background checks on handgun sales are done by local police departments, which tap into NICS, state criminal databases and DOL records to ensure that buyers are not ineligible to purchase or own guns. But the police do not keep records of transactions; it is gun dealers who keep applications and share the information with either the FBI or DOL.

Background checks also are required today on sales of rifles and other long guns from licensed dealers, but those data are not collected by the state, and the FBI does not keep a permanent record of any sales handled by licensed dealers.

Read the full article here.