State Supreme Court rules for Seattle in gun tax challenge

This morning the Washington State Supreme Court ruled in favor of the City of Seattle in a lawsuit challenging the city’s tax on guns and ammunition.

The lawsuit alleged that the ordinance was in fact a regulation, and not a tax. Regulations on guns are prohibited under state law.

The Supreme Court ruled that it is a tax intended to “raise revenue for the public benefit,” and not a regulation, and therefore legal under the state’s granting of authority to cities to raise taxes for such purposes.