Council bites bullet on Seattle gun tax

Jacob Nierenberg

Jacob Nierenberg Jun 28, 2025

Jan 12, 2018

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                <h1>Council bites bullet on Seattle gun tax</h1>
                <h2><p>The Seattle City Council has passed legislation that will further regulate firearms and ammunition. The legislation includes a $25 per weapon "gun violence tax" on sales of pistols and rifles and a 5 cents per round tax on ammunition; the city expects to make between $300,000 and</p></h2>
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               <p>By <a href="/author/jacob-nierenberg-crosscut-com/">Jacob Nierenberg</a></p> 
              <p><time datetime="2025-02-04T05:00:00-08:00">Jan 12, 2018</time></p>
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            <p>The Seattle City Council has passed legislation that will further regulate firearms and ammunition. The <a href="http://www.seattle.gov/council/issues/gunsafety/?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">legislation</a> includes a $25 per weapon "gun violence tax" on sales of pistols and rifles and a 5 cents per round tax on ammunition; the city expects to make between $300,000 and $500,000 off of these new taxes. The city also passed a measure requiring gun owners to report thefts. Sergey Solanyik, owner of Precise Shooter, published an analysis <a href="http://www.preciseshooter.com/blog/SeattleGunTax.aspx?ref=dev.cascadepbs.org">criticizing </a> the tax and saying it would lead to stores moving outside the city and is illegal. Time will tell what kind of fallout – or benefits — may occur.</p>
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The Seattle City Council has passed legislation that will further regulate firearms and ammunition. The legislation includes a $25 per weapon "gun violence tax" on sales of pistols and rifles and a 5 cents per round tax on ammunition; the city expects to make between $300,000 and $500,000 off of these new taxes. The city also passed a measure requiring gun owners to report thefts. Sergey Solanyik, owner of Precise Shooter, published an analysis criticizing the tax and saying it would lead to stores moving outside the city and is illegal. Time will tell what kind of fallout – or benefits — may occur.

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By Jacob Nierenberg

Jacob Nierenberg is an editorial intern at Crosscut. He has lived in Washington for nearly all of his life, and still proudly identifies with the Pacific Northwest despite his relocation to Stanford U