Coming someday to a city near you: a gun violence tax?
Seattle is attempting its own version, prompting lawsuits from three gun-rights groups including the National Rifle Association. But the city's case may be quashed before it starts.
As proposed, the tax — effective in January — would add $25 to the purchase of each firearm sold in Seattle, plus 2 or 5 cents per round for ammunition, depending on the type. It's estimated to raise $300,000 to $500,000 annually for “gun safety” and violence-prevention programs, The Associated Press reports.
A similar gun measure in Cook County, Ill., also is being challenged.
From the get-go the tax is “legally unenforceable,” the plaintiffs say, because the state of Washington prohibits local governments from adopting firearms laws unless the ordinances are “specifically authorized by the state,” The AP reports. City Attorney Pete Holmes counters that the gun-violence tax falls under the city's taxing authority. Besides, this is just a “simple and commonsense measure to support gun safety research and prevention,” says City Council President Tim Burgess.
No, it presupposes that every gun sold in Seattle is used for mayhem. How many guns sold in the city have been used to prevent crime or even to save lives?
What Seattle City Council unanimously approved is another potshot against citizens' Second Amendment rights.
