Washington CPL Training — Start Online

Two Washington requirements get confused constantly, so start here. A Washington Concealed Pistol License has no training requirement — RCW 9.41.070 sets standards for eligibility, fees and the issuing agency, but it does not ask you to take a course. The training requirement people hit is a different one: under RCW 9.41.090, a dealer may not deliver a firearm to you until you show proof of a recognized firearms safety training program completed within the last five years.

What that program must contain is set out in RCW 9.41.1132: eight subjects including safe handling, secure storage, suicide prevention, state and federal firearms law, Washington deadly-force law, and avoiding or managing a violent confrontation. It must be sponsored by a law enforcement agency, a college or university, a nationally recognized firearms training organization, or a school whose instructors are certified by one — and the proof is a certification made under penalty of perjury that the training met those minimums.

The bigger change is dated, and it reaches both credentials. From 1 May 2027, RCW 9.41.070(1)(h) makes it a disqualifier for a concealed pistol license to fail to produce a certificate from a certified concealed carry firearms safety training program completed within the last five years. Subsection (5)(a) spells out what that program must include: live-fire shooting exercises on a firing range, a demonstration of safe handling and shooting proficiency, and a minimum of 50 rounds fired under an instructor's supervision. A parallel certified-training requirement applies to the new permit to purchase under RCW 9.41.1132. In other words, a Washington CPL does require training from that date — it simply does not today.