BELLEVUE, WA – For the third consecutive year, Seattle’s so-called “gun violence tax” revenue on firearms and ammunition has fallen dramatically below original forecasts, and in the process, has continued failing to prevent violent crime as homicides climbed last year, and this week’s tragic shootings affirm, the Second Amendment Foundation said today.
“The failure of this gun tax to accomplish anything good was as predictable as November rain in Seattle,” said SAF founder and Executive Vice President Alan M. Gottlieb. “Monday evening’s shooting of a mother and her 10-month-old child in a park area, and Wednesday morning’s fatal shooting in North Seattle simply amplify the fact that the city administration’s scheme has been a catastrophe when it comes to reducing crime.”
Information obtained by TheGunMag.com shows the city last year collected only $77,518. That is down more than $15,700 from the 2017 revenue of $93,220.74, which was more than $10,000 below the $103,766.22 collected in 2016, the first year of the tax. The GunMag.com and SAF had to file a Public Records Act lawsuit to force the city to reveal its revenue data, which was dramatically below the $300,000 to $500,000 initially predicted by former Councilman Tim Burgess, who championed the tax in 2015. The tax imposes a $25 fee on the sale of each firearm, and a 5-cent tax on each centerfire cartridge sold in the city.
“This new tax not only failed to bring in the revenue that was forecast,” Gottlieb observed, “it was accompanied by an alarming spike in Seattle homicides last year. On top of that, the tax has driven firearms and sporting goods business out of the city, which many people believe was the actual intent all along.
“Seattle residents were promised pie-in-the-sky,” he added, “and so far, they haven’t even gotten a decent crust. We fought this gun tax in court because we felt, and still do, that it violates the state preemption law. We were also convinced, and remain so today, that the revenue predictions were deceptive, if not downright delusional.
“Seattle’s gun violence tax has been a miserable flop,” Gottlieb concluded. “It has provided a false sense of accomplishment while penalizing business owners and the law-abiding citizens they once served. If the city council had any sense of responsibility, it would repeal this tax and let its memory disappear into the dust bin of municipal history.”
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nation’s oldest and largest tax-exempt education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to more than 650,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better inform the public about the consequences of gun control.
Just wait till biden and heels up are in national ammo tax will be the law the horse is out of barn the door will not be closed the country is doomed
We are only one generation away from losing our Freedoms. The expression: “The path to Hell is paved with good intentions,” should always be on the minds of anyone who wants to change our Rights as stated in the U.S. Constitution.
When Billionaires, who are surrounded by armed guards, use their money to restrict normal citizens of their Constitutional rights to protect themselves with any means at hand, show us that their concern is not for our safety, but for their petty agendas. If they were truly anti-gun in their agenda to relieve us from gun violence, they would set the example and dis-arm their bodyguards immediately and forever more.
That would never happen since they fear that they could be attacked just like any other normal citizen.
Instead of attacking our Constitutional Rights, they should use their excess monies to fund more Police in crime-ridden areas around our country. Both Chicago & New York City have strick gun laws that do not reduce gun related crime. So why dis-arm citizens?
Armed citizens prevent governments from taking control away from their citizens. Any government that dis-arms their citizens can make any law they want. They can force their citizens into slavery with the knowledge that the citizens cannot fight back.
The purpose of our 2nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is to prevent our Government from taking away any of our Rights as stated in the Bill of Rights in our Constitution. Without our guns, every right in the Bill of Rights can be removed without our approval. The citizens of the United States of America retain the power over all levels of the Government. Without guns we are no longer citizens, we become subjects and eventually slaves.
Every government that has totally disarmed their citizens has caused crime rates to increase as well as the attacks on the elderly.
People with so much money that they want their will to be law, should spend their money on feeding children and the elderly. They could provide healthcare to thousands instead of spending their money on political campaigns to deny citizens the right to protect themselves.
We should incorporate a Wealth Tax on every Billionaire & Millionaire. Why should they live like kings and then force us to live like slaves under the rules they demand by backing laws that hinder us from protecting ourselves? What do they really want? How many slaves do they need to do everything they want. It is not want they need to live, it is what they want to control because of their wealth. The more money they have the more they want to control our lives.
If people with money truly cared about us they would spend their money on Police, Food and Shelter. We should not have any homeless in our Country if they really cared about us.