The NRA Is Suing Seattle Over a Tax on Guns and Bullets

The National Rifle Association (NRA), along with two other pro-gun groups, is suing the city of Seattle for taxing firearm and ammunition sellers in order to fund efforts to prevent gun violence.

On August 10, Seattle's City Council unanimously passed a law that puts a $25 tax on firearms and up to a 5 cent tax on every round of ammunition sold. The revenue obtained by the firearm tax, which is expected to generate $300,000-$500,000 annually, would go toward research and programs to combat gun violence in the city, Seattle's City Council President Tim Burgess, who introduced the bill, told VICE News. The measure also includes a provision that requires mandatory reporting of every lost or stolen firearm to the police, although that portion is not being challenged as part of the NRA's lawsuit.

On Monday, the NRA, along with the National Shooting Sports Foundation and the Second Amendment Foundation, filed a lawsuit challenging Seattle's law. The plaintiffs argued that the gun tax is an effort to restrict people's Second Amendment rights, and violates a Washington state ordinance that prevents local municipalities from imposing additional firearm regulations above state law.

"Once again, anti-gun activists in Seattle have chosen to violate the Washington State Constitution and trample upon the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding citizens," Chris Cox, executive director of NRA's Institute for Legislative Action, said in a statement after the lawsuit was announced. "They tried to enact similar regulations back in 2009 and lost. It's a shame to see such a waste of public resources on issues the courts have already ruled to be a clear violation of state law."

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But the law's authors have defended the measure, arguing that it is well within the Seattle City Council's right to impose a tax on guns, the same as any other consumer good. "[The law] is actually not a tactic to control guns, it's a tactic to raise money to help prevent gun violence and we believe we have the taxing authority to do it," Kimberly Mills, a spokeswoman for Seattle's City Attorney office, which wrote the bill, told VICE News.

According to the city, the main regional trauma center treated 253 people wounded by gunshots last year. It cost around $17 million to treat them — more than $12 million of which was paid for by city taxpayers.

"Gun violence is a public health epidemic, but we can alleviate it with focused research and prevention funded by this new revenue source. Basic research can save lives," Burgess said in a statement after the measure was passed earlier this month.

Seattle's lawmakers also say the gun tax is justified because it is aimed toward gun sellers, not gun owners. It is up to the vendors to pass the increased cost onto their customers. The tax is about raising revenue to fight gun violence, not about "affecting an individual's ability to purchase or possess a handgun or any other type of firearm," Burgess told VICE News.

But some Seattle gun shops said that the tax will certainly impact their business, since they will be forced to increase the price of their firearms, potentially driving customers to stores in surrounding areas where the tax doesn't apply. Burgess said this was not the intention of the law, and the Council will keep an eye on gun businesses once the measure goes into effect in January 2016.

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Seattle tried unsuccessfully in 2009 to ban people from carrying firearms in public parks, but the Supreme Court struck down the measure in 2012. The NRA, which was also one of the groups who challenged the 2009 measure, argued that it went above state law and infringed on gun-owner's Second Amendment rights.

Seattle's gun tax is modeled of a similar measure passed by Cook County lawmakers in 2013, which imposed a $25 tax on any gun purchase in an effort to curb the rates of gun violence in Chicago and the surrounding area.

Follow Olivia Becker on Twitter: @obecker928

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