Tacoma City Council approves new gun and ammo tax
Tacoma City Council approves new gun and ammo tax
Tacoma's City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve new taxes on guns and ammunition. The decision came after more than 100 people signed up to give public input during council's meeting. The majority focused on the gun tax. The tax will add $25 to all firearms purchases. It will also add 2 cents per round to ammunition purchases that are .22 Caliber or less and add 5 cents per round to all other ammunition. The tax goes into effect in July 2020. Officials say they will continue to look at the tax and work with community groups over the next several months to see what, if anything, should be changed before it's implemented.
TACOMA, Wash. -- Tacoma's City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve new taxes on guns and ammunition.
The decision came after more than 100 people signed up to give public input during council's meeting. The majority focused on the gun tax.
The tax will add $25 to all firearms purchases. It will also add 2 cents per round to ammunition purchases that are .22 Caliber or less and add 5 cents per round to all other ammunition.
The tax goes into effect in July 2020. Officials say they will continue to look at the tax and work with community groups over the next several months to see what, if anything, should be changed before it's implemented.
The tax was proposed by councilmember Ryan Mello in August. He said the money from the tax would go toward educating kids about gun violence through different organizations in the city.
"Getting the tax on the books so that we can have sustainable funding long into the future, is the first place to start. Having continual stakeholder conversation does make sense to me. This is a very serious issue," said Mello.
However, some people say that that is a high price to pay. Dan Davies, owner of Mary's Pistols, previously told Q13 News he was worried that the new tax would put him out of business.