Seattle City Councilman Tim Burgess introduced a bill in 2015 to place a $25 tax on every firearm sold and a 5-cent tax on every ammunition round sold.
Since the tax took effect, gun violence has risen and gun sales have decreased, leading to a much smaller payout than the city expected, Fox News Reports.
Dave Workman, senior editor of TheGunMag.com and member of the Second Amendment Foundation, said in a statement “the data says the law has failed to prevent what they promised it would prevent.”
Per the Seattle Police Department, when comparing the first five months of 2017 and the five months prior to the bill taking effect, shots fired are up 13 percent, people injured in shootings are up 37 percent, and gun related deaths have doubled.
Councilman Burgess has been unable to comment, but to promote this bill, the councilman argued that the tax would generate between $300,000 and $500,000 in revenue, when in fact the only number released has been “under $200,000.”
Fox News Reports that Mike Coombs, owner of Outdoor Emporium, the last large gun dealer left in Seattle, said the actual tax revenue is almost certainly just over $100,000. His store has suffered a 20 percent decrease in sales and a 60 percent drop in gun sales, leading to financial difficulties and employees being laid off.
“I’ve had to lay off employees because of this,” Coombs said. “It’s hurting us, it’s hurting our employees.”
Dave Workman believes the city should have predicted the rise in violence. “All these gun control laws affect the wrong people. The gang bangers don’t go in and buy ammunition at retail, at least not around here. It certainly hasn’t stopped them from getting their hands on firearms.”