Armed and Juvenile

Tackling Juvenile Gun Crime

The Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys (WAPA) has determined that changing our state's juvenile gun crime laws will be one of its top goals in the 2010 legislative session.

Juvenile offenders who are caught possessing a firearm can only be charged in juvenile court, where they face virtually no consequences for this crime.  Only upon the fifth felony conviction will a juvenile convicted of illegal gun possession be sent to the Juvenile Rehabilitation Administration facility (JRA).  Until that, they can receive no more than 30 days detention (i.e. "local sanctions"), and often serve that time on home detention or through deferred sentences that can easily be "wiped" from their record when they turn 18.

Prosecutors are working together to change current law in an effort to better address this serious crime the first time a kid is caught with a gun and to use the resources of JRA on the first conviction to try to keep youth from further involvement with violent crime.  To learn more about this topic and proposed changes to the law, click this link.

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