Liberals in Seattle got the opportunity to combine two things they love most in 2015: taxes, and gun control.
Back in August of 2015, Seattle passed a “gun tax,” which took the form of a $25 per gun tax and a five cent tax on bullets. It was estimated by Seattle’s budget office that the a tax would raise between $300,000 to $500,000 a year, which could be used to “study” gun violence. I put “study” in quotation marks only because I imagine their study will include throwing money at a wall without coming up with any actual ways to combat gun violence.
Of course, government estimates of projected tax revenues almost never live up to the initial “estimates,” as they usually fail to account for behavioral changes that such a tax causes. Why wouldn’t someone in Seattle just leave the city to purchase a gun or ammo to avoid the tax? And given that nearly all gun crimes are obtained with illegally obtained firearms (which we didn’t need a new study to learn), did Seattle’s lawmakers really think that a $25 tax on guns is going to do ANYTHING?
Because it didn’t.
Although Seattle’s gun tax was supposed to bring in $300,000 to $500,000, it’s brought in less than $200,000. The money was supposed to be used to “study” gun violence and to somehow lower the cost to taxpayers for gun violence.
It didn’t turn out that way, and Seattle ended up forking out taxpayer money from the general fund for the “study.” Meanwhile, small business owners have shuttered their Seattle gun shops, causing employees to lose their jobs. Furthermore, Seattle police report that gun violence has sharply increased.
There’s also been a rise in gun violence despite the tax.
New numbers released by the Seattle Police Department on Wednesday show a significant rise in gun violence this year.
According to the report, there have been 155 reports of shots fired so far in 2017. That’s more than any other year by this time. In 2016, there were 132 reports in the entire year.
The majority of those reports, 72 of the 155, occurred in the South Precinct.
There have been 35 confirmed shootings so far, which is eight more than in all of 2016. Of the 35 people shot in Seattle in 2017, six appear to be true innocent/unintended victims.
That’s hardly surprising. It’s only surprising that lawmakers thought this tax would actually work in the first place.
I’m starting to believe that gun control efforts have backfired more than actual guns ever have.
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