Please remember to let us know if they’ve moved to Shoreline or Tukwila?
In a vote on Monday afternoon, the Seattle City Council unanimously approved a new gun tax and regulations within the city.
The new tax would place an extra $25 on each firearm sold within the city and 5 cents on each round of ammunition. It would also require mandatory reporting of lost and stolen firearms.
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“A gun violence tax will give us revenue to provide broad-based benefits through research and prevention programs. Mandatory reporting provides the police information critical to investigations. I’m grateful for my colleagues’ full support for both of these measures.”
Critics have called foul on the arguments for the taxes.
Sergey Solyanik is one such critic. The owner of Precise Shooter on Aurora Avenue, argues against the new tax, and has published his own numbers and figures that contradict the city’s assertions it can take in between $300,000 and $500,000 in gun-tax revenue to put towards gun-violence prevention programs.
“Basically, what the city has done is that they have invented numbers,” he said. “Pretty much, all the numbers they have associated with this proposal are outright fake.”
Solyanik punched his own numbers, based on actual sales in the city, and he estimates Seattle would more likely get around $80,000 from the tax. But that is only if the tax doesn’t alter the market. The gun store owner also argues that the tax will cause customers to divert their purchases to shops just beyond the city’s border.
I’ve never bought a firearm within the city limits of Seattle, and now I don’t have to worry about thinking about doing so. I wonder if this will apply to internet sales both from stores in the city selling to people outside the city/state, and/or people who live inside the city buy from stores outside the city/state?
Sorry Sergey, but I’d sure like to see a business either just outside of the city limits advertise a special for transfers for Seattle residents.
Anyway, the lawsuit will be interesting, since taxation is one of the keys to destruction.
Another scam. This is not about revenue, or less crime. This is nothing but a transparent method of gun control.
Eventually, it’ll be tossed on a court challenge.
In the meanwhile, it’ll put most any Seattle gun store flat outta business. And they won’t come back after a favorable court judgment, either.
Obviously, Seattle thinks it’s playing “the long game”. We’ll see how that goes, in the crime stats at five, ten and fifteen years out. They’re not going to win that particular game, short, long or anywhere in between.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX