Seattle won't release its gun tax revenue; here's why

[Joe Link]

Mike Coombs, owner of Sodo's Outdoor Emporium, says he has laid off three employees and taken a $2 million hit in sales so far in 2016.

His customer count, he says, is also down by 32 percent.

Meanwhile, Coombs says his other store -- Sportco in Fife -- has seen a 10 percent to 12 percent increase in sales.

He blames the Seattle gun violence tax, passed last year and implemented Jan. 1. The ordinance charges a $25 tax for every firearm sold in the city and 5 cents for every round of ammunition of .22 caliber or greater. Given that ammunition comes bundled in boxes, those nickels can add up.

The revenue from the tax is intended to fund a program at Harborview Medical Center that aims to reduce the aftereffects of gun violence. At the time the ordinance passed, the city estimated it would collect $300,000 to $500,000.

Outdoor Emporium is one of Seattle's few stores where people can buy new guns -- that is, ones not from a surplus store or pawn shop. Coombs estimates he's sent the city $60,000 through the third quarter from the gun tax, but says the city has also lost more than $600,000 in sales tax due to his plummeting sales.

<broken link removed>

Read More

 

[DB is Here]

They'll never learn. You tax things you want to stop...maybe that was the goal all along.

 

[Larrytpdx]

They'll never learn. You tax things you want to stop...maybe that was the goal all along.

DUH!

 

[rdb241]

Not a single gun was sold in Seattle after it passed. So what revenue is there to report? None! The reason they will not release any info is because they know it was BS to begin with. They do not want to look stupid like they are.

 

[ma96782]

Someone needs to file a FOIA.

Truthfully though, I doubt that the news media is interested (as they were probably for the tax).

Aloha, Mark

 

[Stomper]

They'll never learn. You tax things you want to stop...maybe that was the goal all along.

So it's TRUE... they don't want us to work and buy things.

 

[No_Regerts]

Seattle doesn't care. If people arent buying guns and Outdoor Emporium goes out of business, its a win-win for them. They will cite it like "2,000 fewer guns on the streets of Seattle!" Not, "Seattle loses money as people buy guns elsewhere!"

 

[PBinWA]

Sounds like he needs to just tell customer's that they can buy inside Seattle limits and pay the tax or he can transfer the gun to Fife and they can buy it there.

Just maintain the presence at a loss and funnel all the sales outside of Seattle.

 

[Caveman Jim]

Gun haters gonna hate no matter the outcome of biased & unconstitutional laws!!!!

 

[Connor Murphy]

They'll never learn. You tax things you want to stop...maybe that was the goal all along.

Tax policy as a behavioral modification tool; statists love it.

 

[The Heretic]

I doubt that the news media is interested (as they were probably for the tax).

Ya think??

 

[Libertas7]

Ya think??

He does? @ma96782 I thought we told you not to do that, it scares the progressives.

 

[Bazooka Joe]

Someone needs to file a FOIA.

Pretty sure SAF is already trying.

 

[ATCclears]

Seattle is still fighting the release of the tax revenue.

City Councilmember Tim Burgess boasted of $300K - $500K per year.

I personally believe they haven't generated more than $75K per year.

Seattle waits to reveal — or spend — gun-sale taxes

 

[ATCclears]

@Dave Workman FYI on this Seattle Times article from today (March 17, 2017).

 

[fredball]

Liberals know how to manage your Money and life choices better than you do you didn't know that .
Look at any county ,state or federal run entity anything they are in charge of is a failure and ends up costing tax payers billions more than expected.

 

[Caveman Jim]

<broken link removed>

This taxing structure is one of the same tactics used by misguided managers of the Columbia River salmon recovery plan. In their Infinite wisdom they are charging a fee (it might as well be a tax) to sportfishers fishing any water that touchs the Columbia River. With that said fee, they are taking the money, saying that they are using it to find alternative ways to keep gillnetters off the river. As you know gill nets kills everything that swims into them but sport fishers are regulated heavily & have to release any fish with an extra find (adipose).
So here's the rub, politicians in Seattle are taxing law-abiding gun owners, as a matter of fact, only gun owners to fund their misguided gun violence scheme with Harborview under the guise of safety yet law-abiding people are paying the price for what criminals have caused.
Now how absurd is that?

 

[Caveman Jim]

IT'S EXTORTION!!!

 

[Kristina]

"...aims to reduce the aftereffects of gun violence."

Did they finally realize that all their b.s. laws have done nothing to stop bad people from doing bad things with guns so they've moved on to "the aftereffects"?

 

[mjbskwim]

Sorry I just don't see it as that big of deal. There wasn't many good places to buy guns in Seattle proper anyway.
I mean if you move your store out of town your rent would be less and probably have better parking.
Heck a store like outdoor emporium could take thousands of tax dollars to another burg that would be happy to have them