Seattle gun tax backfire shows limiting firearms and increasing taxes are both BAD ideas

Nearly every political action has at least one unintended consequence.

The city of Seattle is beginning to find this out firsthand after it passed an ordinance that levies a tax on each firearm and every round of ammunition sold within the city.

Its proponents hailed the measure as a way to defray the costs of gun violence.

Instead gun sales have plummeted and dealers are laying off their workforce if not closing up shop altogether.

And gun violence along with its costs has skyrocketed.

Starbucks issues apology when woman claims she was bullied by baristas for wearing Trump shirt

Proponents of the measure say give it time — all the data aren’t in yet.

“How much data do you need?” asked Dave Workman, senior editor of TheGunMag.com and member of the Second Amendment Foundation, aCCORDING to Fox News. “The data says the law has failed to prevent what they promised it would prevent.”

Seattle City Councilman Tim Burgess introduced the tax in 2015. It puts a $25 tax on every firearm sold in the city and up to 5 cents per round of ammunition. The measure easily passed and took effect January 1, 2016. Comparing the first five months of 2017 with the same period before the gun tax went into effect, reports of shots fired are up 13 percent, the number of people injured in shootings climbed 37 percent and gun deaths doubled, according to crime statistics from the Seattle Police Department.

Councilman Burgess never returned calls and emails for comment. Dana Robinson Slote, director of communication for Seattle City Council, said she was “politely declining your invitation for an interview.”

 

When Burgess was peddling the gun tax to his fellow council members, he claimed it would bring between $300,000 to $500,000 annually to the city coffers every year.

City officials refuse to say what the actual revenue is — only that it’s “under $200,000.”

This isn’t surprising to Mike Coombs, owner of Outdoor Emporium, who believes that the actual figures are probably only slightly to the north of $100,000 after witnessing a 60 percent decline in gun sales.

“I’ve had to lay off employees because of this,” Coombs said. “It’s hurting us, it’s hurting our employees.”

Clip via Fox News Channel

This came as no surprise to conservatives.

Wake up right! Receive our free morning news blast  HERE

The results were also no surprise to Workman.

“All these gun control laws affect the wrong people,” Workman said. “The gang bangers don’t go in and buy ammunition at retail, at least not around here. It certainly hasn’t stopped them from getting their hands on firearms.”

DOJ sends Twitter into tailspin with cryptic warning not to trust stories with ‘anonymous’ sources

Increase the gasoline tax and people drive fewer miles. Declare a predator an endangered species and livestock gets killed. Levy a tax on firearms and ammunition and … well, you know the rest.

DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW

Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!

Success! Thank you for donating. Please share BPR content to help combat the lies.

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

BPR INSIDER COMMENTS

Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!

Latest Articles