Strange Danger

Seattle Councilman Proposes Ridiculous Firearm and Ammo Tax

Seattle sure is turning into a real progressive utopia isn't it? Between enacting a $15 minimum wage and letting little girls receive birth control without their parent's consent, they seem to be selling themselves to the progressive agenda, lock, stock and barrel. Of course, it won't end with those measures. It never does. Recently, Seattle City Council President Tim Burgess proposed a piece of legislation that would tax gun and ammunition sales, and force gun owners to report any firearm that is lost or stolen.


As egregious as this measure sounds, ordinarily it wouldn't be out of place. After all, governments routinely tax all manner of products and services, and force their onerous regulations on just about everyone. What sets this measure apart from most bills though, is the reason why they're doing it.

“Gun violence is very expensive,” Burgess said, noting that the direct medical costs of treating 253 gunshot victims at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center last year surpassed $17 million, with taxpayers covering more than $12 million of that. “It’s time for the gun industry to help defray those costs and this is a very reasonable way to do it.”

The tax, imposed on gun sellers, would be $25 on each firearm sold in the city and five cents on each round of ammunition.

Sales of antique firearms and some other sales could see relief from the tax while individuals selling no more than one gun per quarter would be exempted.
Not reporting a lost or stolen gun to police would be enforced as a civil infraction carrying a fine of up to $500.

Zach Silk, campaign manager with the Washington Alliance for Gun Safety, hailed the proposals.

“We often attach taxes to things that cause harm to our communities and we know that guns are causing harm,” he said.

So let me get this straight. Burgess wants to tax violence, am I right? Does that make any sense? Even it weren't an utterly nonsensical thing to do, does it make sense to tax honest gun owners for the activities of criminals? (I know he says that this is a tax on gun dealers, but obviously the costs will be passed on to their customers).

Think about it. There were over 16 million gun applications in 2012. That means at least several million Americans buy a firearm every year. However, there were only 16,121 homicide deaths in 2013, of which 11,208 involved a firearm. Seattle is apparently responsible for a couple hundred of those, but its safe to say that just like everywhere else in this country, the vast majority of firearms that are bought and sold are never used to inflict any kind of physical harm. So basically, they're forcing honest, law-abiding gun owners to pay the damages inflicted by criminals, and they're going to fine people who've had their property stolen.

Typical progressives. Make everyone collectively pay for the mistakes and malice of the few. Whatever happened to just punishing criminals?

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