Seattle passes taxes on guns, ammuntion to curb violence
The Seattle City Council passed legislation Monday to add taxes and regulations on firearms and ammunition sold in the city.
The legislation was passed unanimously last week by the Education and Governance Committee and implements a $25 tax on firearms and a 5-cent-per-round tax on ammunition. This forces gun owners to report a lost or stolen firearm within 24 hours.
Supporters believe the tax will deter criminals from buying a gun, and tax revenue would go toward violence prevention.
“In my family alone, there have been three incidences of youth being killed or injured by gunfire,” said Seattle City Councilman John Okamoto during the committee meeting, a local Fox affiliate reported. “We can’t stand idle when this is an epidemic in the city.”
Opponents say the measure would only hurt law-abiding and lower-income individuals.
Anthony Cumia’s twitter photo
“The burden of regressive taxes like the Seattle proposal falls squarely on those that are least able to afford them,” the NRA’s lobbying arm, the Institute for Legislative Action, wrote Friday. “Persons of means will simply drive outside the city to purchase firearms and ammunition, while those without such options will be forced to go forego their rights or pay the tax. This is especially egregious considering how those at the lower end of the economic scale also tend to reside in areas where violent crime is the highest. One wonders whether this type of social engineering on the downtrodden is an intended feature of the legislation rather than an unfortunate consequence.”
“By providing for gun violence research with a tax on the sale of guns and bullets, and requiring gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms, Seattle is actively responding to the gun violence that is devastating our society,” Washington Center for Gun Responsibility Executive Director Renee Hopkins said. “The human cost of gun violence has been especially clear in recent weeks, as shootings have claimed the lives of our young people and of community leaders like Donnie Chin.”
