Seattle’s new gun and ammunition tax—$25 for every firearm and 5¢ per round of ammunition sold in the city—appears to have driven both merchants and customers out of the city, but requests for public records showing how much tax has been collected as a result of the new law have been refused by the city, the Seattle Post Intelligencer reports.
The owner of Sodo’s Outdoor Emporium reported that he’d suffered a loss of $2 million in sales and been forced to lay off three employees. The owner of Precise Shooter has moved his business out of the city.
When the ordinance was passed, Seattle estimated that the tax would collect $300,000 to $500,000, but it appears that plummeting sales within the city, and the exodus of merchants out of the city, may cost Seattle much more than it gains—evidence, some say, that the law was passed not to raise money, but to depress firearm sales.
