Resident permit · MO → WA
Is a Missouri Resident Permit Valid in Washington?
No — leave it holstered and cased. Your Missouri resident permit has no legal effect in Washington, and Washington offers no permitless path for visitors either.
Why
- Missouri is not on Washington's official reciprocity list.
AG list as of 2026-07-10. Permit-class limits: Idaho ENHANCED permits only; Kansas standard licenses only; Montana ENHANCED permits only (not 18-20 restricted permits); North Dakota CLASS 1 permits only; South Dakota unrestricted ENHANCED and GOLD permits only; Utah permits recognized EXCLUDING provisional (under-21) permits. RCW 9.41.073 requires the issuing state to recognize WA CPLs, not license under-21s, and require a fingerprint-based criminal and mental-health background check; holder residency in the issuing state is not a statutory condition.
The permit (Missouri)
- Permit
- Missouri Concealed Carry Permit
- Issued by
- County or city sheriff of the applicant's county of residence
- Issue policy
- Shall-issue
The destination (Washington)
- Recognition policy
- Honors a named list of 10 states
- Permitless carry
- No
- Duty to inform
- No (present permit on demand)
- Magazine limit
- No state limit
Carry rules in Washington
Your Missouri habits may not match Washington's law. Check these three areas before you carry there.
- No statutory duty to proactively tell an officer you are carrying; the CPL must be in your possession while carrying a concealed pistol and presented on demand.
- Washington sets no state magazine-capacity limit for handguns.
- Washington is not a permitless-carry state: concealed carry there requires a permit Washington recognizes.
- A loaded pistol in a vehicle requires a CPL and must be on the licensee's person, or the licensee must remain in the vehicle, or the pistol must be locked in the vehicle and concealed from view when the licensee leaves; without a CPL the pistol must be unloaded, and if left in the vehicle, locked and hidden from view (RCW 9.41.050).
Off-limits places in Washington
Washington bans carry in 6 kinds of places. The first on the list:
- Restricted areas of jails, law enforcement facilities and courthouses/courtrooms (RCW 9.41.300)
- Licensed inpatient psychiatric facilities (RCW 9.41.300)
Missouri vs Washington: what changes at the state line
Crossing from Missouri into Washington changes 2 rules: permitless carry (Yes → No); out-of-state permits honored (All states → 10 states).
| Rule | Missouri | Washington |
|---|---|---|
| Permitless carry | Yes | No |
| Duty to inform police | No | No |
| Magazine limit | None | None |
| Out-of-state permits honored | All states | 10 states |
| Open carry | Yes, no permit | Yes, no permit |
Going the other way, a Washington resident permit in Missouri: recognized — and permitless carry applies.
Permits that do work in Washington
These non-resident permits are honored in Washington, ranked by how many states honor each one. They are issued to people who live outside the issuing state, subject to its eligibility rules.
- North Dakota non-resident permit · honored in 33 states
- Ohio non-resident permit · honored in 33 states
- Idaho non-resident permit · honored in 32 states
- Utah non-resident permit · honored in 31 states
Driving on from Washington
How a Missouri resident permit fares in the states bordering Washington:
Frequently asked questions
- Does Washington honor a Missouri non-resident permit?
- Missouri does not issue non-resident carry permits (no non-resident permits, except members of the US Armed Forces stationed in Missouri and their spouses (RSMo 571.101.2). Minimum age drops to 18 for members of or honorably discharged from the Armed Forces), so the question does not arise.
- Can a Washington resident permit holder carry in Missouri?
- Recognized — and permitless carry applies. Reciprocity is decided by the destination state, so the answer in this direction depends on Missouri's law, not Washington's.
- Where does Washington publish its official reciprocity list?
- Washington publishes its recognition policy on an official state page, linked in the sources on this page. That page is the authority — check it shortly before travel, because recognition lists change without much notice.
Official sources
- Washington Attorney General — Concealed Pistol License Reciprocity (list as of 07/10/2026) — accessed 2026-08-08
- RCW 9.41.070 — Concealed pistol license — accessed 2026-08-08
- RCW 9.41.050 — Carrying firearms — accessed 2026-08-08
- RCW 9.41.300 — Weapons prohibited in certain places — accessed 2026-08-08
- RCW 9.41.370 — Large capacity magazines — accessed 2026-08-08
- RCW 9.41.240 — Possession of pistol by person from eighteen to twenty-one — accessed 2026-09-27
- Missouri Attorney General — Concealed Carry Reciprocity — accessed 2026-08-08
- RSMo 571.101 — Concealed carry permits, application requirements — accessed 2026-08-08
- RSMo 571.030 — Unlawful use of weapons, exceptions — accessed 2026-08-08
- RSMo 571.107 — Permit does not authorize concealed firearms, where — accessed 2026-08-08
- RSMo 571.121 — Duty to carry and display permit — accessed 2026-08-08
- RSMo 571.111 — Firearms safety training course requirements — accessed 2026-09-27
- RSMo 21.750 — State preemption; local regulation of open carry — accessed 2026-09-27