By Dave Workman
Editor-in-Chief
A bill now under consideration in the Democrat-controlled Washington Legislature would establish a “use tax” on ammunition, declaring it a “privilege” and assessing it at 11 percent of the sales price, which has Evergreen State activists both furious and concerned.
House Bill 2238 is a short bill, running just over two pages, but it provides more evidence that Washington’s far-left Democrats have decided that gun rights can actually be regulated like privileges, and that each pull of a trigger has a price for law-abiding citizens. The measure is sponsored by a familiar group of Democrats—what some activists quietly refer to as “the usual suspects.” They are Reps. Liz Berry, Jessica Bateman, Lauren Davis, Beth Doglio, Davina Duerr, Mary Fosse, Roger Goodman,
Shelley Kloba, Nicole Macri, Gerry Pollet, Alex Ramel, Julia Reed, Kristine Reeves, Sharon Tomiko Santos, and My-Linh Thai.Ouse House
The bill recognizes there is already a federal excise tax on ammunition, as well as a state sales tax. Revenue from this tax will ostensibly be appropriated to different agencies and programs which are “focused on gun violence prevention.” This includes suicide prevention programs.
But some observers think the HB 2238 may be overshadowed by another bill some anti-gun Democrats want even more, SHB 2118. This legislation would impose a mountain of red tape and regulatory requirements on licensed firearms retailers which could force small dealers literally out of business.
Predictably, it is sponsored by many of the same people.
SHB 2118 imposes lots of conditions for operating a storefront business, including such things as bars on windows, security camera systems, a requirement to keep guns locked up in display cases during business hours and in fireproof safes when the business is closed.
According to one activist, the legislation is nicknamed “FFL killer” because it “places costly onerous requirements on law-abiding FFLs that could put them at serious risk of going out of business because of the financial burden to comply.”
Why would lawmakers focus more on this bill than HB 2238? Because forcing small gun shops to close is one way of reducing the availability of firearms to consumers, according to one theory. Regardless, Washington Democrats are on a roll trying to push through as much gun control legislation as possible. Their party has controlled the Legislature for several years and has apparently assumed they are forever to be in charge.
But this year could be different, thanks to six citizen initiatives to the Legislature which will likely appear on the November ballot. All six measures are, to one degree or another, rejections of Democrat programs pushed through over the past few years as part of outgoing Gov. Jay Inslee’s agenda. Democrats fear these measures on the ballot will bring conservative voters out of the woodwork this fall, resulting in what Seattle radio commentator John Carlson has defined as a massive shift in Washington politics.
According to the Washington State Standard, “The measures would repeal the state’s cap-and-trade program and capital gains tax, remove most restrictions on police engaging in vehicle pursuits, make it easier to bar the state and local governments from imposing an income tax, and create a “bill of rights’ for parents of public school students.” For left-tilting Democrats in Olympia, the state capital, passage of these initiatives would amount to a political earthquake, and a rejection of the so-called “progressive” movement. The biggest revelation so far in the initiative campaigns has been that many people who signed one or all of the petitions were Democrats.
Two more anti-gun-rights bills being considered are HB 1902, requiring a permit to purchase that includes a live-fire training mandate, and HB 2054, limiting gun purchases to one per month.
