NRA suing Seattle for adopted ‘gun violence tax’

Gun rights organizations, including the National Rifle Association, are suing the city of Seattle over its new tax on guns and ammo. At that time, SAF and NRA were joined by the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (CCRKBA), the Washington Arms Collectors and five private citizens, accusing the city of violating the 33-year-old preemption law that places sole authority for firearms regulation in the hands of the State Legislature.

On Monday, he said about the lawsuit: “We anticipated this, so we’re prepared”.

“There’s nothing in the state law that authorizes the city from establishing a special tax on firearms and ammunition; it’s not there, so it’s not allowed”, Second Amendment Foundation spokesman Dave Workman said outside his Bellevue office Monday.

Dalseide notes that the State of Washington has a preemption law that prevents cities from enacting their own gun regulations. A second ordinance would require that owners report all stolen or lost firearms to police within 24 hours.

The city says this gun tax falls within their taxing authority.

When Council President Tim Burgess proposed the new gun ordinances in July – knowing they likely would get Seattle sued – he said the tax would hold up in court because the statute barring municipalities from regulating guns “does not appear to cover taxation”. “It’s not in any way an attempt to regulate the sale, use or possession of firearms”.

The only other municipality in the country with an individual tax on gun sales is Chicago, the NRA said. Seattle’s tax, which might take impact in January, would add $25 to the worth of every firearm bought within the metropolis, plus 2 or 5 cents per spherical of ammunition, relying on the sort. The revenue generated will be used for gun safety research and fun violence prevention programs. A further 536 individuals required hospitalization for capturing accidents throughout that point.

Gun violence costs the public millions of dollars each year – in addition to lives damaged and lost – when victims with Medicaid or no insurance are treated at hospitals such as Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center, Burgess has pointed out. Taxpayers paid more than $12 million of that.

“The tax definitely is going to hurt gun shop owners and any retailer that sells ammunition”, he said. They said the law would cost them customers and sales and could force them to move out of the city.