Seattle Moves to Tax Guns, Ammunition

By Michael Grass, Route Fifty

11 August 15

Gun-rights activists have previously said that they�re ready for a court challenge.

embers of the Seattle City Council on Monday afternoon unanimously approved a controversial proposal that would tax gun and ammunition sales inside the city limits, a plan that opponents have decried as illegal, unfair to law-abiding gun owners and ripe for a challenge in the courts.

�The only purpose is to run gun stores out of the city,� gun shop owner Sergey Solyanik said during public comments before the vote during the council�s session at City Hall.

The proposal, introduced by Council President Tim Burgess, would add a $25 tax for every firearm sold and a 5-cent-per-bullet tax on most types of ammunition. A companion bill that also passed on a unanimous vote would require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms to the Seattle Police Department within 24 hours.

�A gun violence tax will give us revenue to provide broad-based benefits through research and prevention programs,� Burgess said in a statement released following the council votes. �Mandatory reporting provides the police information critical to investigations. I�m grateful for my colleagues� full support for both of these measures.�

During the meeting, Councilmember Sally Bagshaw cited the lack of legislative action on the federal level as a primary reason why municipalities like Seattle need to take their own action. �We cannot rely on our federal government to do what�s right here.�

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray has previously voiced his support for the proposal.

�We know the people of Seattle demand action on this issue, not more talk. Last year at the ballot box, voters approved greater accountability in background checks for gun sales,� Murray said in a July statement. �This proposal builds on that momentum by funding more tools to reduce the devastating impacts that guns have on our community.�

Before the council vote, Burgess joined members of Grandmothers Against Gun Violence for a 2.5 mile walk to City Hall.

The new gun measures in Seattle would help �the police trace guns used in crimes, it will help the police return guns to their rightful owners [and] perhaps most importantly, it will prevent gun owners from being falsely implicated in crimes,� Burgess said in an interview last month.

As Route Fifty reported last month, gun rights activists have been preparing for a legal challenge should the taxing proposal becomes law.

�We've already sued the city of Seattle in the past,� Alan Gottlieb, executive vice president of the Bellevue, Washington-based Second Amendment Foundation told Route Fifty. �We'll just do it again. They make it easy for us.�

Two years ago, Seattle became the first city in the nation to conduct research on gun safety and the impacts of gun violence. In 2014, there were $17 million in direct costs due to gunshot wounds in the city. Seventy percent of those costs, roughly $12 million, were covered by Seattle taxpayers, according to a council backgrounder on gun safety.

�We obviously tax cigarettes, we tax alcohol,� Zach Silk, a strategic adviser for the Washington Alliance for Gun Responsibility told Route Fifty last month. �As a society we recognize that products have harms associated with them . . . We know that guns are a product that do cause harm.�