Two years ago, the president of the Seattle City Council offered a rather ludicrous proposition. He wanted Seattle to place a new tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition within the city limits. Ammo would cost an additional 2-5 cents per round, and a firearm would cost an extra $25. But what was even more absurd than the tax itself, is what the money would be going toward. The tax was supposed to pay for gun violence prevention programs and research.
The way City Council President Tim Burgess explained it, this “gun violence” tax would help offset the costs the city pays to treat gunshot victims. Essentially, it was a tax levied on responsible law abiding gun owners, to pay for the actions of violent criminals.
Despite how utterly stupid that sounds, the proposal passed. However, it didn’t have the desired effect. To the surprise of no one who actually understands the relationship between private firearm ownership and crime rates, the violent crime rate in Seattle has dramatically increased since the tax was put in place. It also brought in only a small fraction of the revenue that the city council was expecting. In short, the tax was a total failure.
So it’s no surprise that the tax has faced a lawsuit over the fact that Washington has a law that prevents municipalities from regulating firearms. Unfortunately, the Washington Supreme Court recently ruled against the lawsuit on the grounds that taxes aren’t the same as regulations, and cities are well within their right to levy sales taxes.
Regardless of whether the court’s decision was right or wrong, it certainly sets a dangerous precedent. As an...
"President Trump announces move to elevate Cyber Command"
- Thomas Gibbons-Neff in The Washington Post
The Washington Post reports President Trump has directed that Cyber Command will become its own unified military command – a move aimed to “strengthen cyberspace operations and bolster U.S. defenses.” The President said on Friday that the “elevation of United States Cyber Command demonstrates our increased resolve against cyberspace threats and will help reassure our allies and partners and deter our adversaries.”
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In more good economic news, CNBC reports on yesterday’s Labor Department announcement that “the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to near a six-month low last week,” a further sign of strength in the nation’s jobs market.
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In The Washington Times, the Cornwall Alliance’s E. Calvin Beisner praises President Trump’s recent executive order on infrastructure, saying it “should save billions of dollars directly by streamlining and expediting the permitting process for infrastructure projects” and help spur “more and safer” infrastructure projects.
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USA Today contributor and former Bush Defense Department official James S. Robbins writes that President Trump “was fully within a time-honored intellectual tradition when he denounced ‘both sides’ that were rioting in Charlottesville,” saying “the proper response is not to condemn one group of radicals over another but to see all of them as a direct threat to constitutional government.”
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The New York Times reports alt-left group ‘Antifa’ is growing in numbers in their battle to fight white supremacists. The Times writes, “members of antifa have shown no qualms about using their fists, sticks or canisters of peppery spray to meet an array of right-wing antagonists whom they call a fascist threat to American democracy.”
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