The City of Seattle is refusing to disclose the amount of tax revenue it took in during the first quarter of 2016 on its “gun violence tax.” (Dave Workman photo)
By Dave Workman
Senior Editor
The City of Seattle is refusing to disclose the revenue figure from the first three months of this year resulting from its so-called “gun violence tax,” in response to a public records request from TGM.
Coincidentally, that information was also being sought by MyNorthwest.com reporter Dyer Oxley, who reported that the city is declining to provide the information because it might risk revealing confidential taxpayer information.
Oxley quoted the city’s reason, which was verbatim what a city official told TGM via email.
“Given the limited number of quarterly returns filed,” the official said, “the City believes releasing any information at this time about the number of filers or amount reported would risk revealing identifying taxpayer information, which is protected from disclosure per Seattle Municipal Code and state law.”
Midday talk host Dori Monson at KIRO-FM said on the air that, “I’m guessing because it is a shockingly, embarrassingly small amount of money.”
When the anti-gun Seattle City Council adopted the tax unanimously last year, charging $25 per each firearm, five cents for each round of centerfire ammunition and two cents for every round of rimfire ammunition, the measure’s chief proponent, Council President Tim Burgess, predicted it would bring in $300,000 to $500,000 annually. That money would ostensibly be used to finance efforts to combat “gun violence.”
But in the aftermath, the city was sued by the Second Amendment Foundation, National Rifle Association, National Shooting Sports Foundation, two gun shops and two private individuals. When the case was initially dismissed by a King County Superior Court judge in December, one of the two gun stores moved its operation outside the city. The other store advises gun and ammunition buyers to travel to its sister store in Fife, about 25 miles to the south, to make their purchases and, according to Oxley’s article, offers incentives to do that in order to retain the business.
It also appears that Seattle gun buyers are heading east to Bellevue to make gun and ammunition purchases in order to avoid paying the tax.
Monson did an on-air interview with Mike Coombs, owner of the Outdoor Emporium, one of the two commercial plaintiffs in the SAF/NRA/NSSF lawsuit. Coombs told him that for the first quarter of this year, his store paid the city “roughly” $21,400 on the gun tax. However, the lost sales actually reduced the normal sales tax revenue for the city, and he concurred with Monson that overall, it appears to have been a wash, and maybe the city has even lost money.
In addition, Coombs has had to lay off two employees because of the business loss in the gun department, he revealed.
He challenged the city to use all of the sales tax revenue from his store in Seattle for the purpose of promoting firearm safety.
