Seattle Gun Tax Not Working Out

[Ben]

Thoughts from our WA members? It seems like Seattle gunowners are doing what most people would expect, and buying their guns and ammo outside of the city.

I will admit the pro gun people probably don't have enough concrete data to point to correlation of the law and an uptick in crime being causation, but certainly the money numbers are hard to refute.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2017/06/15/seattle-gun-tax-failure-firearm-sales-plummet-violence-spikes-after-law-passes.html

[Perd Hapley]

What do you mean it's not working? I thought the goal was to put Seattle's EVILDEATHMERCHANTS out of business.

[Fly320s]

Oh, the tax is working as it was designed.  It is driving gun sales and businesses out of Seattle.  That is all Seattle wants really.  They get to check two boxes: Do Something and Get Gun Dealers Out of Seattle.

Raising money for whatever and protecting lives are merely talking points of the liberal politicians, not actual goals.

[MillCreek]

The hilarious thing is that the City refuses to release information on the amount of tax collected and where it is going.  There are now very few sellers of firearms and ammunition within the city limits, so from that perspective, the tax is working as designed.

[RevDisk]

Oh, the tax is working as it was designed.  It is driving gun sales and businesses out of Seattle.  That is all Seattle wants really.  They get to check two boxes: Do Something and Get Gun Dealers Out of Seattle.

Raising money for whatever and protecting lives are merely talking points of the liberal politicians, not actual goals.

It succeeded at the perception. Though if the Evil Merchants of Death move to two feet outside the city limit, I guess it achieves their cultural goal, but...

[Hawkmoon]

Assuming that the real goal was not to raise money but to put gun and ammo dealers out of business, the plan is working. And now the polical minds behind it can check a third box -- they can claim that the plan worked.

Of course, the "successful" plan didn't produce any of the tangible or intangible benefits it was supposed to have produced (such as reduced crime), but that's a minor technicality, easily swept under the PR carpet. The main talking point will be "Less [yes, I know that's grammatically incorrect] Guns in Seattle. We did it!"

[MillCreek]

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-waits-to-reveal-or-spend-gun-sale-taxes/

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattles-gun-sale-tax-raised-under-200000-in-first-year/

[Ben]

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattle-waits-to-reveal-or-spend-gun-sale-taxes/

http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/seattles-gun-sale-tax-raised-under-200000-in-first-year/

From the second link:

“City and state laws prohibit the city from releasing specific tax information when such information is likely to identify specific taxpayers. In this context, we can report that there were approximately 15 potential firearm and ammunition taxpayers in the city for 2016. During its first year, the firearms and ammunition tax payments received by the City were less than $200,000.”

Huh? Am I crazy or is he saying only 15 people in all of Seattle bought guns and ammo? And how much did they buy for the "under $200,000" figure versus "under $200" since we're talking tax, not gross sales?

Edit: Oh wait, I guess he possibly means 15 stores that sell guns and ammo. I generally assume a taxpayer is the person paying the tax, not the retailer collecting it for the city.

[MillCreek]

Correct: 15 vendors within the City limits selling firearms and ammunition. I suspect there may be less by now.