H-2508.1
HOUSE BILL 2238
State of Washington | 68th Legislature | 2024 Regular Session |
ByRepresentatives Thai, Berry, Bateman, Ramel, Santos, Reeves, Duerr, Reed, Fosse, Macri, Doglio, Goodman, Pollet, Kloba, and Davis
Read first time 01/09/24.Referred to Committee on Finance.
AN ACT Relating to imposing a new tax on ammunition; adding a new section to chapter
82.08 RCW; adding a new section to chapter
82.12 RCW; creating new sections; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. Gun violence remains a persistent health and safety threat for people across our state. In Washington, a person is killed by a firearm every 14 hours and nearly half of all suicides are from firearms.
According to the 2022 national veteran suicide prevention annual report, when it comes to comparing veterans and United States adults who died from suicide in 2020, guns were more commonly involved among veterans, 71 percent, than nonveterans, 50.3 percent. Data from the Washington office of firearm safety and violence prevention show that, in 2021, 69 percent of all firearm-related deaths were suicides. Further, deaths by gun violence is the leading cause in Washington for teens between ages 15 and 19.
This act intends to impose a sales and use tax on ammunition statewide. The revenue from this will go to programs that aim to prevent suicide and to reduce firearm-related domestic violence.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter
82.08 RCW to read as follows:
(1) There is levied and collected a tax upon each retail sale of ammunition at the rate of 11 percent of the selling price.
(2) This tax is in addition to the federal, state, and local sales and use tax imposed on sales of goods and services under this chapter and chapter
82.14 RCW.
(3) The tax imposed under this section does not apply to sales to state, local, or tribal governments for the purposes of supplying law enforcement agencies.
(4) For the purposes of this section the following definitions apply:
(a) "Ammunition" means any projectiles with their fuses, propelling charges, or primers designed to be fired from firearms. "Ammunition" includes any shotgun shell and any rifle, pistol, or revolver cartridge.
(b) "Law enforcement agency" has the same meaning as in RCW
10.116.010.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter
82.12 RCW to read as follows:
(1) A use tax is levied on every person in this state for the privilege of using ammunition as a consumer at the rate of 11 percent of the selling price.
(2) This tax is in addition to the federal, state, and local sales and use tax imposed on sales of goods and services under this chapter and chapter
82.14 RCW.
(3) The tax imposed under this section does not apply to sales to state, local, or tribal governments for the purposes of supplying law enforcement agencies.
(4) The definitions in section 2 of this act apply to this section.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The legislature intends for the revenue generated from the imposition of the tax imposed in sections 2 and 3 of this act during the 2025-2027 fiscal biennium be appropriated to agencies and programs that are focused on gun violence prevention, including domestic violence prevention and suicide prevention programs.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. If any provision of this act or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the act or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. This act takes effect January 1, 2025.
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