Gun tax: Training for law-abiding owners could suffer

Re: “Taxing firearms and ammo sales is right thing,” (TNT, 10/20).

After reading Matt Driscoll’s latest commentary I was compelled to add my voice to those opposing City Councilman Ryan Mello’s proposal to add taxes to firearms and ammo purchases in Tacoma.

My concern is that this tax may discourage law-abiding gun owners from getting adequate training, as the cost of ammo and firearms is already high.

Mello’s response was that we can’t keep up with enforcement and programming to curb violence without tax revenue. As if we are not taxed adequately? The problem is with management of funds, not lack of them.

They don’t even have a clear plan for how this new tax revenue would be spent! Maybe trigger locks or afterschool programs? I already have three “free” trigger locks, and the NRA offers them for free as well.

The council should vote for fiscal responsibility and not arbitrary taxation that accomplishes nothing but penalizing law-abiding citizens.

This story was originally published October 29, 2019 at 2:18 PM with the headline "Gun tax: Training for law-abiding owners could suffer."