SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Tacoma gun tax is gov. deciding what businesses are acceptable

Oct 30, 2019, 6:40 AM

gun, gun tax...

(AP file photo)

(AP file photo)

The City of Tacoma delayed a vote on a gun tax modeled after Seattle’s, but it still looms large as the debate rages on.

This has been an absolute failure in Seattle because despite Seattle passing this tax, gun injuries and deaths have not gone down.

Why? Gang-bangers don’t buy their gun at gun stores. They buy their guns on the streets.

In Tacoma, the city council will eventually vote on a $25 tax on all retail firearms, and a tax on rounds of ammo ranging from 2 to 5 cents per round, depending on the size of ammunition.

Dori: Tacoma gun tax will only hurt businesses, law-abiding citizens

This is going to be another massive governmental failure. It’s not going to do anything about gun crime in Tacoma. All it will do is punish the law-abiding gun owners.

Surplus Ammo in Tacoma told KIRO 7 TV that this new gun tax will likely put their store out of business in a matter of months — and leave their 11 employees without jobs.

This is what leftist governments do. The governments, not the consumers, decide which law-abiding businesses are acceptable and which are not. And then they do everything they can to destroy the other businesses through taxation.

This is not about safety. The people who buy guns and ammo and who go to ranges to practice do so for safety reasons. They want to make sure that they are capable and knowledgeable about owning and using a firearm. That is not what the criminals do. And criminals will have absolutely zero loss of available inventory when they want to buy a gun because they’re doing so on the black market.

The law-abiding gun owners won’t stop buying guns either. They will just buy them outside of Tacoma. That is what we’ve seen in Seattle. Gun stores have disappeared in Seattle, but the industry is robust if you go anywhere outside of city limits, like Lynnwood or Bellevue.

This is not going to discourage crime in any way. It is just another example of government proving to us that it decides what is legitimate and what is not when it comes to what should be the free market.

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

Associated Press

Taiwan plans to buy liquefied natural gas from Alaska pipeline project

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan planned to buy 6 million metric tons (6.6 million U.S. tons) of liquefied natural gas annually from a U.S. project after extraction and could invest up to $4.4 billion in it, its economic affairs ministry said Wednesday, in what U.S. President Donald Trump touted as “one of the biggest deals […]

13 minutes ago

FILE - A federal agent wears an Immigration and Customs Enforcement badge in New York, June 10, 202...

Associated Press

Texas prosecutor says ICE agent appeared to intentionally strike man with vehicle in Houston

HOUSTON (AP) — A Texas prosecutor says a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent appeared to use a vehicle to intentionally strike a man who took off running in Houston and that an investigation opened by his office could result in criminal charges. Miguel Parra Hernandez, 48, needed surgery for a broken leg after being […]

2 hours ago

A woman pushes a shopping cart as she leaves a grocery store in Arlington Heights, Ill., Wednesday,...

Associated Press

More expensive gas, semiconductors likely pushed up inflation last month

WASHINGTON (AP) — Inflation likely worsened in September in one of the last price reports the government will issue before the midterm elections that have been heavily defined by concerns over affordability. Consumer prices are forecast to have risen 3.6% in September compared with a year earlier, up from 3.4% in August, according to a […]

2 hours ago

This photo made with a smartphone and provided by Marie Jaskula shows a poster, created by Katie Bo...

Associated Press

Search for missing pup in Yellowstone under pressure as winter nears

A small dog that’s been on the loose in Yellowstone National Park for a month has been spotted crossing intersections, strolling through employee housing and entering lodges through automatic doors. Yet Luna, a Jack Russell terrier from California, has eluded capture. And with winter closing in, volunteers in the search for the dog say its […]

2 hours ago

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York speaks during a news conference at the Capitol ...

Associated Press

House Democrats plan a first 100-days agenda if they sweep to power in midterm elections

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Democrats are preparing an ambitious 100-days agenda focused on delivering their campaign promises — making life more affordable and conducting vast oversight of the Trump administration — if the party seizes majority control in next month’s elections. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, who is in line to become House speaker if the […]

3 hours ago

Public Media Company CEO Tim Isgitt sits for a portrait on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in San Francisco...

Associated Press

Public Media Co’s bridge fund for nonprofit radio stations turns from rescue to reinvention

Public Media Co. celebrated its 25th anniversary Tuesday night with a $10 million donation from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to support its transformation into a major grantmaker — a role that would have been unthinkable two years ago. As recently as 2024, the nonprofit consultant that works to strengthen public radio […]

3 hours ago

Dori: Tacoma gun tax is gov. deciding what businesses are acceptable