Seattle's New 'Gun Violence Tax' on Guns & Ammo - AllOutdoor.com
(August 12, 2015)
Seattle, WA – In yet another bonehead move by government officials, the city council of Seattle voted unanimously Monday in favor of a tax on all sales of guns and ammunition within city limits. At the same time, they passed a law making it a crime if you should fail to report a lost or stolen firearm within 24 hours.
Land of the free, you say? Not so much. Both measures are reportedly supported by Seattle mayor Ed Murray. The gun tax law is modeled after a 2013 gun &ammo tax in Cook County, IL (think Chicago), which has already been the subject of litigation.(Emphasis added)
Seattle’s new law is clearly aimed at punishing citizens and retailers for buying and selling firearms and ammunition. City council president Tim Burgess called the recent changes “innovative gun safety measures,” but as all thinking people know, criminals don’t buy their guns in gun shops anyhow.
This new tax will serve only to put gun shops out of business and force law-abiding citizens to travel farther to buy their guns outside of city limits.
The tax plans to steal $25 per firearm and 2 to 5 cents per cartridge. While city officials predict monetary gains in the $300,000 to $500,000 range, it’s far more likely that most gun shops will simply close their doors, and most gun buyers will go elsewhere. Any “profit” reaped by this tax will very likely be spent trying to defend it in court.
Okay, I'm not convinced that .. " (T)his new tax will serve only to put gun shops out of business and force law-abiding citizens to travel farther to buy their guns outside of city limits" ... but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't encourage Seattleites (?) to drive to one of the orbital cities to shop for guns and ammunition.
The whole "Gun Safety Measures" thingie is pure bullshit. What it is, is not necessarily an attempt to dissuade private citizens from buying "The Evil Gun" as it is targeting a market for taxation. Guns have a bad reputation due to constant nationwide political chicanery, so there's no political down-side to taxing them.
And bullets.
On one hand, it's kind of flattering: Politicians have been taxing gasoline for years, because they know that the hoi polloi are going to buy it whatever the cost. So .. geez, it's a no-brainer:
TAX THE PEOPLE FOR WHAT THEY WANT, AND MAKE THEM THINK IT'S DEFIANCE TO KEEP BUYING IT!
So, no matter what the media tells you, it's not going to suffer The Little People a lot. It's just going to add to the tax base of Washington State.
(Well ... it's Seattle. Like they can't tax coffee, for goodness sake?)
(Okay .. Democrats would object to a tax on Coffee.)
When you look at it from the point of view of the vile politicians, it makes perfect sense. After all, if the State isn't making a profit, they don't get paid.
And SCREW THE PUBLIC!
That's what they do best: they're politicians, after all!
2 comments:
The joys and benefits of living in a progressive city/county.
At least one Seattle gun shop owner has indicated he's willing to move his store outside Seattle city limits, thereby a) keeping his doors open; and b) avoiding ALL city taxes, including the business and property taxes (the "gun violence tax" is just the proverbial straw).
The prediction, quite correctly, is that if a few others do this as well, Seattle will LOSE money on this "tax". And that's BEFORE they get sued and have to defend it in court (and likely write another six-figure check to the SAF).
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