Council candidate wants to increase Seattle’s tax on guns
BY MYNORTHWEST.COM
AUGUST 22, 2017 AT 10:30 AM
One of two candidates vying to replace Seattle Councilmember Tim Burgess wants voters to double down on the city’s gun tax.
Jon Grant, who is running against Teresa Mosqueda for the seat being vacated by Tim Burgess, says Seattle is being hit hard by gun violence and the gun industry needs to be held accountable.
The current tax of $25 per gun and 5 cents per round of ammunition was originally estimated to bring in as much as $500,000 in its first year. The money would be used for gun violence research and programs to reduce gun-related crimes.
The tax brought in just over $100,000 in 2016, according to documents the city recently provided after a public records battle with TheGunMag.
Grant says doubling the tax to $50 a gun and 10 cents per round of ammunition would beef up the research funding and ensure the gun industry shoulder’s some of the costs of gun violence.
Burgess spearheaded the effort to bring a gun tax to Seattle.
Comment by Mr. Michael’s Basic Firearms Training: I find it amazing that the thinking presented in this article is beyond any reasoning manageable. The City of Seattle implements a $25 tax on the sale of each firearm sold along with a 5 cent tax on each round of ammunition sold and projects revenue off the previous sales figures assuming that all things will remain the same. Then when the buyers of these firearms and ammunition go to other cities to purchase these items the City of Seattle falls major short on its projected revenue income. So what does the City of Seattle do? They refuse to accept what is reality and what caused the reduced projected revenue flow (people going outside of Seattle to purchase these items) and conclude that by doubling down Seattle will double the $100,000 the following year. Somehow Seattle just doesn’t see that by doubling down they will only chase off more sales to the outlying cities that do not impose this tax. In the end, the residents of Seattle will still buy firearms and ammunition but not in the City of Seattle. Therefore, the City of Seattle simply loses tax revenue from all these sales and gains nothing. Smart.