From the CCRKBA . . .
Monday’s “Shots Fired” report from the King County (WA) Prosecutor’s Office on the number of gun-related homicides and injuries last year is more proof that gun control laws and anti-rights initiatives adopted over the past few years in Washington State have been abject failures, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today in reaction.
“Proponents of these laws, and especially the gun control initiatives passed in recent years, sold the public a bill of goods, and now everybody knows it,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “Voters were told in 2014 that Initiative 594 would reduce gun-related violence, and today’s data proves they were misled. Four years later, the Seattle-based gun prohibition lobby promised Initiative 1639 would prevent gun-related homicides, and they lied again. In Olympia, anti-gun politicians are pushing more gun restrictions right now, with the same promises.
“The billionaire-backed gun prohibition lobby and their allies in Olympia claim that so-called ‘gun violence’ is an epidemic,” he said. “Frankly, the intellectual dishonesty of the gun control crowd is the real public health crisis.”
King County authorities reported Monday that 88 people were murdered and another 372 were wounded in shootings last year. Law enforcement agencies in the county reported a startling 1,405 shooting incidents, surpassing the 1,025 posted in 2020.
Gottlieb opposed both initiatives, and he has been an outspoken critic of other gun laws pushed through the Legislature. CCRKBA’s national headquarters are in Bellevue, just east of Seattle. A check of the FBI annual Uniform Crime Reports shows the number of murders in Washington, and especially Seattle, have gone steadily upwards since the current gun control crusade started eight years ago.
“We warned the public these gun control schemes were wishful thinking at best,” Gottlieb said. “The data provides all the evidence necessary to say anti-gun-rights initiatives and legislation have amounted to snake oil, giving the public a false sense of security while their rights are being steadily eroded.
“Instead of pushing more restrictions like they’re doing right now,” he said, “it is time for gun control zealots to admit they’ve been wrong all along. Extremist gun control has failed miserably for Evergreen State citizens, and the rising body counts prove it.”
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (www.ccrkba.org) is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.
Not only that, but the City of Seattle still won’t reveal how much tax revenue they’ve made to support dealing with “gun violence” with their city-wide tax on firearms and ammo.
I suspect it’s not much. Buyers can patronize shops outside city limits where the tax doesn’t apply. Even if they don’t save much money, it’s worth doing on principle.
Yup, for example Precise Shooter in Woodinville (used to be closer, but they moved) isn’t that far from Seattle, and their FFL transfer fees are reasonable.
I used to get all my guns & ammo from Seattle local shops, but after that anti-gun legislation I shop out of town now.
A friend of mine works for Outdoor Emporium, which is the last retail store selling guns in Seattle. He said their guns and ammo sales are down 80%+. 25% of $0 is not a lot of tax revenue.
It is worse than that on the Seattle gun tax. They had predicted gaining something like $Mn2 annually from the sin tax. they were also getting many times that in sales taxes ( same rate on ALL goods sold at retail) and “Business and Occupations” tx, an extra hidden tax that ALL washington businesses pay as a percentage of their gross revenue received. That B&O tax is then divvied up amongst the various political entities (cities and counties) in which that revenue is earned. Further, the sales tas rate in Seattle (on all retail sales) is I believe the highest in the nation, or very close to it. Seattle city and the “staium zones” (the stadia we the people were guaranteed would not cost us any tax revenue.. they lied about that too, AND they promised we would keep the King Dome (where is that now? Go find it…..)
So, when ALL the firearms retailsers left the City of Seattle’s “SPESHUL ” territory, Seattle notonly DID NOT GET the expected sales tax on those items, other places DID<because we Washatonians WILL buy our guns and ammuniton Wejustwon't buy them IN Seattle, dummies). SO Seattle ALSO lot all the sales and B&O tx revenue they USED to get without the new gun tax. This amounted to milioins each year they LOST< that they used to get.
They got greedy and now have a net loss that is signficant. They refuse to admit it, though. We who KNOW Seattle and their game do know it though. Such annual tax disbursement figures are public recorrd, and if it was worth the bohter it would be fun to dig through them and find out just how much they lost on net. Their "supposed to gain" $Mn2 hs likey turned into a net loss of minus four mil.. the two they never got, and at least twomore they used to get but do not. ANd still the goons will not learn.
We also leaerned that the WashigntonStateSupreme COUrt is sold out, as they refused to bring this law under State Firearms Law Preemptiion and reject it.They passed it. They STILL have not ruled on the unconstitutional Universal Background Check law as far as I know. I believev they just declined to hear it, leaving it as "lawful", determined by alwoer court. And thoe "justices' are elected. Every year each positoin has only one candidate. No options. Real encouraging.
Little ol’ Lynnwood, just north of Seattle, has a sales tax rate of 10.5%. Seattle’s is 10.25%. One of the Seattle shops moved to Lynnwood after the sin tax was forced on everyone. The building they were in has been sold and torn down. Part of the development in Lynnwood around the future light rail system.
Yawn, how ’bout a readers digest version next time there Tionico
“Politicians lied”… WELL DUH!
“Ability to lie” is part of the job description of a politician. I almost added the phrase “these days” but I think it’s always been that way.
Gun control zealots will never admit they are wrong. They’ll only admit they didn’t go far enough.
If it wasn’t for those pesky laws and constitution, they could go a lot further.
Seattle is the next San Francisco, and SF is the next San Salvador.
Hey I’ve spent time in rural Nicaragua, Guatemala, Domincan Republic Haiti, Mexico, and ALL of those places are vastly superior to Seattle and Portland, two other places I’ve spent a fair bit of time. I fale far safer in those “third world” barrios unarmed (their gun laws are draconian) than I now feel in Seattle and/or Portland, both places where I can and do lawfully go about armed. Always. In fact, certain parts of Seattle and Portland are no go zones for me at night, but I never found any places in those third world SHole countries where I did not feel safe at night.. and the locals who live there agreed. And ost of San Francisco I will NOT enter, pertally becuse California denies me my RIGHT to go about armed.
What do you mean next? Seattle’s already there.
30yr ago Seattle (Puget Sound region) was a pretty nice place. Lots of granola tree huggers but if you stayed up wind they could be ignored. Then the “tech” bozos took control of the area and the Kommiefornia nuts flooded in. Glad I’m no longer there. I wouldn’t even take my family back today as tourists.
Open drug use, tourists harrassed by bums in the street, rampant open shoplifting, police (the ones that havent resigned) restricted to watching crimes being committed, prosecutors with no bail policies, governor that shut down death sentences, and a light rail system that is prohibited from fare enforcement. Free camping and RV parking everywhere.
The city has become Venezuela.
The best gun control is a solid two hand hold on your pistol.
THEY knw that Walter, and want to deny you the lawful ability to hold that pistol in pubic. Abut the time they manage to do that I WILL figure out how to make good my escape.
I would be more amazed by a politician that didn’t lie.
There have been a few here in Washington that do not lie. Trouble is, they who count the votes are so good at lying those politicans do not ever get into office.
I work in the local media (I know, I know…), the number of shootings and homicides I’ve been to since mid-2020 is up significantly… and it’s getting depressing. One can only listen so many times to families show up to crime scenes screaming about how their babies were murdered while the body is still laying in the parking lot.
But don’t blame just the new gun control measures… don’t get me wrong, they sure as heck aren’t helping. But the police “reform” bills that have neutered the cops, plus the whole “ACAB” attitude so many in Seattle city leadership hold, plus the general mentality that if you aren’t enabling the destructive behaviors that often lead up to this violence, then you’re a Nazi are what’s largely driving this. The gun control measures are just the salt in the wound… and it’s a wound that is increasingly getting deeper and more infected.
Whether we’re talking about Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Chicago or any of the growing number of liberal cities run by anti gun, anti self defense, anti law enforcement personalities, we have certainly identified the problem. The next step would seem to be brainstorming a list of solutions. By all means, start with the ridiculous. Have fun with the concept. Then progress to the sublime and, hopefully, arrive at the pragmatic. In short, we need some options for stopping the increasingly obvious direction in which our country is headed. If we don’t, our children or our grandchildren will wake up in a country that they desperately want to escape from.
I have to drive from eastern Washington to Seattle about 2 to 3 times a week for my part time retirement job. I never go to Seattle unarmed. The whole area has turned into a cease pool. Bums everywhere, crazy people blocking traffic and filth and garbage everywhere. But hey, they voted for it, let them live with it.
As with so many of our Democrat run cities. Fence them off and shoot anything trying to escape. The few “Good” folks left didn’t stand up to the bullies when they could have made a difference. The rest have chosen the leftist victimhood or dope head woke crap and now should be made to live in the cess pool they created.There is a viable solution, but the Dems won’t even consider it and the Repubs can’t get enough support. And likely wouldn’t dare to do what will fix the problems. Until the citizens realize just how badly they’ve been lied too and decide to do something about it other than complain and call themselves victims, nothing will be done about the real problems.
The same people whopish gun control laws are the same people who let violent criminals loose.
Let’s be honest, EVERYTHING Jay Inslee and the Progressives have done makes us less safe.
Doing a piece of work in Kent, south of Seattle. The contractor running the project had just finished a garbage enclosure on a Friday. He noticed a tarp over it Monday arriving at work, went to look and was confronted by a bum with a pistol who had set up camp in it, mattress, personal effects, stove and all. Police weren’t interested until he mentioned that he too had a pistol and needed to get the bum out of there.
They live to lie! If they are breathing they are lying!!! The media is next, they cover for their lies!