SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Tacoma passes gun, ammo tax, but violence won’t go down

Nov 13, 2019, 2:28 PM

guns, seattle, firearms, ammo, ammunition, ammo tax...

(File, Associated Press)

(File, Associated Press)

Tacoma has just passed one of the stupidest laws imaginable — a gun and ammo tax.

The tax will charge $25 per gun purchased, 2 cents on every round of ammo .22 caliber and below, and 5 cents for every round above that.

Here is what I truly do not understand: The city said it wants to model the tax after Seattle’s gun and ammo tax. What has happened in Seattle? The revenues from the tax are practically non-existent because nearly all the gun retailers have left Seattle. In the meantime, we still hear about horrific murders occurring in Seattle. In other words, it hasn’t done a thing.

In Tacoma, the mayor told Q13’s Brandi Kruse that the revenues from the gun tax will help pay for the negative effects of guns. She compared it to a gas tax making up for carbon emissions. Gun ownership is a right guaranteed by the Constitution — car ownership is not. The disconnect between what she said and common sense is staggering. She is saying that you are not causing any problems as a responsible gun owner, but you have to pay the price for the gang members and criminals who buy stolen guns on the street, without paying taxes.

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

Is this tax going to accomplish anything? No, but it feels good to the politicians. It no doubt makes them feel like they’re doing something positive. That is the heart of Leftism — selling things on an emotional basis when there are no facts to back it up.

One of the speakers at the council meeting compared the cost of the gun tax to five lattes. Why does everything with the Left come down to lattes? A latte a day for a year is $1,800. That’s real money. But the Left has to prey on people who don’t realize how expensive the habit is, because their ideas cannot stand up under the scrutiny of reality.

Dan Davies, co-owner of Mary’s Pistol’s, stated to KIRO 7 TV that taxing a gun purchase is like charging people $25 every time they vote or assemble. All of the above are rights guaranteed by the Constitution. What an absolutely fantastic point. Davies, who came on the show two weeks ago, said that he will have to close his shop within half a year because this tax will be so damaging. A large firearm manufacturer may also have to close or leave the city.

I predict that murders won’t change, gun violence won’t change, and gang membership won’t change, but companies will go out of business, and law-abiding gun owners will have to give more money to the government. What a perfect example of Leftism at work.

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

This combination of photos released by the U.S. Army taken on May 16, 2025, shows from top left, Sg...

Associated Press

‘He’s not coming back’: Months after deadly Iranian attack, families of soldiers struggle to cope

For Michelle Tietjens, the pain of loss often hits hardest at the start of each day, when the realization dawns all over again that she’ll be facing it without her husband. “Waking up in the morning it always takes me a little bit to get going,” she said. “Because you relive it – that he’s […]

8 minutes ago

In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, U.S. soldiers, including those injured after an Ira...

Associated Press

Soldiers seriously wounded in Iranian drone strike tell AP the military’s medical system failed them

The shrapnel hit Army Lt. Col. Arturo Lincón’s body like shattered glass. One chunk of metal lodged into the left side of his jaw. Another piece sliced through his salivary gland before bouncing off his jaw and piercing the back of his neck, severing an artery and embedding in a vertebra. Lincón was among dozens […]

16 minutes ago

In this photo obtained by The Associated Press, smoke rises from an Iranian drone strike at Port Sh...

Associated Press

Exclusive: Soldiers and Gold Star families press Army leadership after deadly Iranian drone strike

WASHINGTON (AP) — On a sunny, cloudless morning on March 1, the day after President Donald Trump started the war against Iran, Chief Warrant Officer 3 Robert Marzan was coordinating critical Army supplies out of Port Shuaiba in Kuwait. In an instant, a drone crashed through the ceiling and exploded, killing Marzan, who had served […]

33 minutes ago

In this image provided by Matt Odom, Laura Leigh Taylor, a farmer in Georgia who says she regrets v...

Associated Press

Trump’s immigration crackdown divides rural voters as midterms approach, AP-KFF poll finds

WASHINGTON (AP) — More than a year into President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown, a poll finds that voters in rural parts of the country are divided on whether those immigration policies have benefited or harmed their communities. In The Associated Press-KFF survey of more than 2,000 rural voters in August, about a third said […]

1 hour ago

Associated Press

FBI arrests a woman accused of spying on Taiwan leader’s family for China

BANGKOK (AP) — The FBI arrested a woman at Los Angeles International Airport as she was leaving the country and accused her of spying on the Taiwan president’s family for China. Wanying Zhang, also know as Heather, surveilled the Taiwanese president’s son and his family for the Chinese government while in the United States, according […]

4 hours ago

Associated Press

Asian shares are higher as easing worries over inflation reduce odds for another Fed rate hike

TOKYO (AP) — Asian shares advanced Monday at the start of a busy week for U.S. economic updates. Investors have been encouraged by easing worries over inflation, which reduces the likelihood of another rate hike by the Federal Reserve. Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 jumped 2.5% in morning trading to 70,037.61. It was the benchmark’s first […]

7 hours ago

Dori: Tacoma passes gun, ammo tax, but violence won’t go down