A 2015 Seattle measure placed a $25 assessment on every modern firearm sold and up to 5 cents per round on ammo. This measure was billed as a “Gun Violence Tax”. Since enacted, according to police statistics, it has done nothing. In fact, the opposite effect has taken place. Alan Gottlieb the Executive V.P. of the Second Amendment Foundation was quoted saying. “That ‘Gun Violence Tax’ is been a monumental failure and we are challenging Mayor Ed Murray and the Seattle City Council to publicly admit it.” “You simply cannot provide better evidence than the Seattle Police Departments crime statistics of such a colossally stupid idea that has not worked.”
The idea of this tax was to raise revenue for the gunshot-victim-intervention program to raise $3-500,000 yearly, helping curb the costs. In 2014 the cost of the 253 victims exceeded 17 million dollars of which tax payers fit the bill for 12 million of those dollars. So where is that tax revenue? City leaders appear to be stalling on releasing numbers? In fact the first year this tax did not generate the $3-500,000 proponents promised but also failed to reduce gun violence which was the ultimate goal. When numbers were finally released, after the first two years the results were frightening. The city only collected $100,000. Between the attorney fees and penalties from the countless lawsuits, and the tax revenue alone from one of the biggest gun dealers packing up and leaving the city. The city was actually losing money on this deal. “The Council and Mayor Murray should be ashamed now that the dismal failure of their gun control scheme has been exposed,” said Alan Gottlieb Executive V.P. of SAF. “They deceived Seattle citizens about how much their tax would raise and what it would accomplish, and they should be held accountable.”
So what is the legality of this “Gun Violence Tax?” Gun Rights Activists (NRA, SAF, NSSF) all claim the city is breaking a 33-year-old statute which prohibits such form of taxation on firearms, calling it a Gun-Control bait and switch. All lawsuits brought against this tax are being thrown out by the Washington Superior Court, upholding this “Gun Violence Tax” even after all of it’s failure. Looking at the city wide police statistics, it seems to be a no brainer that this tax has not only failed but has ended up costing the city and taxpayers an enormous amount of money. Is the state placing political correctness above the rule of law? We as law abiding citizens and gun owners need to get more involved in Supreme Court cases like this where for all intents and purposes was sneakily pitched and passed.
-Chris Teshera
