BILL REQ. #:  H-1162.3 

Read first time 02/06/13.   Referred to Committee on Judiciary.

     AN ACT Relating to promoting firearm safety through an education program funded through fees on firearms and ammunition and creating a sales tax exemption on gun locks; adding a new section to chapter 82.08 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 82.12 RCW; adding new sections to chapter 9.41 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 43.70 RCW; creating a new section; prescribing penalties; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds, according to the Washington state injury and violence prevention guide issued by the department of health in June 2008, in the state of Washington in 2006 that:
     (a) Firearm injuries were the fourth leading cause of injury death; including forty-nine percent of all suicides and fifty-five percent of all homicides;
     (b) About ninety percent of fatal firearm incidents involving children occur in the home;
     (c) A study of children from birth to age fourteen showed that forty percent of firearm incidents happen in the same room where the firearm is stored;
     (d) The presence of a household firearm is also linked with an increased risk of adults and adolescents using a firearm to attempt suicide;
     (e) Having a firearm in the house also puts an abused woman at greater risk of being killed; and
     (f) A 2007 nationwide-study of firearm ownership and storage patterns among families with children revealed that, overall, few families with children reported safe firearm storage.
     (2) Public health approaches to reducing both motor vehicle crashes and tobacco deaths have been highly successful and the legislature believes that using public health approaches to reducing gun violence and gun deaths will also result in success.
     (3) In an effort to reduce the number of firearms-related deaths and injuries, the legislature intends to:
     (a) Institute a statewide educational program aimed at educating firearm owners, prospective firearm owners, and those who live and work where firearms are present, about firearm safety;
     (b) Fund such a program with fees on the retail sales of firearms and ammunition; and
     (c) Promote the safe storage of firearms through a tax exemption on the purchase of gun locks.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 82.08 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The tax levied by RCW 82.08.020 does not apply to sales of gun locks.
     (2) For the purposes of this section, "gun lock" means a trigger locking device, chamber lock, or cable lock that is intended to prevent the discharge of a firearm.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 82.12 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The provisions of this section do not apply with respect to the use of gun locks.
     (2) For the purposes of this section, "gun locks" has the same meaning as provided in section 2 of this act.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) There is levied and collected a fee on each retail sale in this state of a firearm. The rate of the fee is as follows:
     (a) Twenty-five dollars for every firearm sold at retail; or
     (b) Fifteen dollars for every firearm sold at retail if a gun safe or a gun lock is purchased at the time of sale with a firearm.
     (2) The fee imposed under subsection (1) of this section must be paid by the buyer to the seller. Each seller must collect from the buyer the full amount of the fee in respect to each retail sale of a firearm. The fee collected from the buyer by the seller must be paid to the department of revenue in accordance with RCW 82.32.045.
     (3) There is levied and collected a fee upon the retail sale of all ammunition, in an amount equal to one cent per round of ammunition. The fee imposed under this section must be paid by the buyer to the seller. Each seller must collect from the buyer the full amount of the fee in respect to each retail sale of ammunition. The fee collected from the buyer by the seller must be paid to the department of revenue in accordance with RCW 82.32.045.
     (4) The department of revenue must incorporate into the department's regular audit cycle a reconciliation of the number of firearms and rounds of ammunition sold and the amount of revenue collected by businesses selling firearms and ammunition at retail. The department of revenue must collect the following information on the business excise tax return from the businesses selling firearms and ammunition at retail:
     (a) The number of firearms sold;
     (b) The rounds of ammunition sold; and
     (c) The fees levied in this section.
     (5) All other applicable provisions of chapter 82.32 RCW have full force and application with respect to the fee imposed under this section. The department of revenue must administer this section.
     (6) All receipts from the firearm and ammunition fees imposed in this section must be deposited in the firearm-related injury and death prevention account in section 6 of this act.
     (7) The following definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (a) "Ammunition" means cartridge cases, primers, bullets, or propellant powder designed for use in any firearm.      
     (b) "Gun lock" has the same meaning as provided in section 2 of this act.
     (c) "Gun safe" has the same meaning as provided in RCW 82.08.832.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The fees required to be collected by the seller under section 4 of this act, are deemed to be held in trust by the seller until paid to the department of revenue, and any seller who appropriates or converts the fees collected to his or her own use or to any use other than the payment of the fees to the extent that the money required to be collected is not available for payment on the due date as prescribed in this chapter is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
     (2) If any seller fails to collect the fees imposed under section 4 of this act or having collected the fees, fails to pay the collected fees to the department of revenue in the manner prescribed in section 4 of this act, whether such failure is the result of his or her own acts or the result of acts or conditions beyond the seller's control, the seller is nevertheless, personally liable to the state for the amount of the fees.
     (3) The amount of the fees, until paid by the buyer to the seller or to the department of revenue, constitutes a debt from the buyer to the seller. Any seller who fails or refuses to collect the fees as required with intent to violate the provisions of this chapter or to gain some advantage or benefit, either direct or indirect, and any buyer who refuses to pay any fees due under this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 6   A new section is added to chapter 9.41 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) The firearm-related injury and death prevention account is created in the state treasury. Expenditures from the account may be used to fund the firearm-related injury and death prevention program created in section 7 of this act and may be spent only after appropriation.
     (2) Moneys in the firearm-related injury and death prevention account may be appropriated to the department of health to provide funding for the firearm-related injury and death prevention program created in section 7 of this act.
     (3) All receipts from the firearm and ammunition fees imposed in section 4 of this act must be deposited in the firearm-related injury and death prevention account.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 7   A new section is added to chapter 43.70 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A firearm-related injury and death prevention education program is created to be administered by the department as provided in this section.
     (2) The department must identify public education efforts currently underway within state government and among local governments and private groups to educate firearm owners and prevent firearm-related injuries and death. The department must convene stakeholders and partners, conduct research, obtain data, identify needs, gaps, opportunities, and strategies, and develop a plan for:
     (a) Expanding and enhancing existing firearm safety education programs for firearm owners, prospective firearm owners, and those who live and work where firearms are present, with particular emphasis on those programs that research shows have proven effective;
     (b) Implementing additional firearm safety educational programs throughout the state for firearm owners, prospective firearm owners, and those who live and work where firearms are present, with particular emphasis on those programs that research shows have proven effective;
     (c) Promoting the safe storage and handling of all firearms and minimization of risk of firearm-related injuries and death; and
     (d) Evaluating the effectiveness and success of the program as a whole, as well as its component parts.
     (3) By December 1, 2013, and in compliance with RCW 43.01.036, the department must submit a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature and the governor that details the plan for the program created under this section, including all of the program's components and projected costs.
     (4) The department must begin implementation of the firearm-related injury and death prevention education program in January 2014.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 8   This act takes effect August 1, 2013.