Gun store in Federal Way faces $3M fine for selling high-capacity mags

Federal Way Discount Guns has agreed to pay a $3 million fine for selling high-capacity magazines that could hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition, a violation of Washington’s Consumer Protection Act, according to Attorney General Bob Ferguson.

In March 2022, the Washington Legislature passed a law — requested by Ferguson — banning the sale of ammunition magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

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This ruling aligns with King County Superior Court Judge Wyman Yip’s similar ruling last April that Federal Way Discount Guns and its owner, Mohammed Baghai, violated state law.

“Federal Way Discount Guns chose to violate a critical law aimed at combating mass shootings,” Ferguson said in a prepared statement. “Washington businesses are following the law and stopped selling high-capacity magazines. This resolution provides accountability for someone who flagrantly violated the law and will increase law enforcement resources to combat gun violence.”

Ferguson’s investigation found the store sold 3,625 high-capacity magazines between the date the law went into effect, July 1, 2022, and when Ferguson filed his lawsuit in December of that year. According to the Office of the Attorney General, the store also displayed large numbers of high-capacity magazines for public sale, another violation of the law. The store continued to illegally sell high-capacity magazines for approximately one month after the suit was filed.

“There is no way a gun retailer would not have known. It was certainly in violation of the law,” Dave Workman, a gun journalist and senior editor specializing in firearms-related news, told MyNorthwest. “I’m not the best judge of this sort of thing, but economically for a small business, and Federal Way Discount Guns is a small business, do they have that amount of money? This could put him out of business.”

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Federal Way Discount Guns has to pay its $3 million fine within 30 days. $2 million from the fine is expected to go towards local law enforcement agencies for efforts to reduce gun violence.

According to the Attorney General’s Office, Baghai sold Federal Way Discount Guns to his son, Andrew, after the lawsuit was filed and retired to Nevada with his wife.

Frank Sumrall is a content editor at MyNorthwest. You can read his stories here and you can email him here.