California to Double Taxes on Guns and Ammo to Fund School Safety

by Jennifer Williams

California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Tuesday to help pay for more security at the state’s public schools and help support violence prevention programs by raising taxes on gun and ammunition purchases.

This makes California the only state with its own tax on guns and ammunition, says gun control advocacy group Brady. The federal government has a tax of 10-11 percent already on these items, but California will add another 11 percent to that when the law goes into effect in July 2024.

The new law is estimated to generate $160 million annually to fund school safety and violence prevention programs, including initiatives to prevent school shootings, bolster firearm investigations, reduce retaliatory violence, and remove guns from domestic abusers.

“Gun safety laws work,” Newsom said in a press release Tuesday. “The data proves they save lives: California’s gun death rate is 43 percent lower than the rest of the nation. These new laws will make our communities and families safer.”

California Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino) said he’s grateful to Newsom for signing off on the new law. “[This] will fund critical violence prevention and school safety programs that will save lives and protect communities across the State of California,” he said.

Newsom is known for being one of the country’s most liberal governors, but has often balked at raising taxes. Experts say it would have been difficult for the governor to not sign the new law, given his outspoken support for gun control at both the state and national levels. Newsom currently is working to amend the U.S. Constitution to include stricter gun laws nationwide.

Newsom has said he views this new tax differently than other tax increases he tends to oppose, explaining that gun violence already costs taxpayers too much money.

President of the California Rifle and Pistol Association Chuck Michel told media outlets that the new laws are unconstitutional. “These laws will not make us safer,” he said. “They are an unconstitutional retaliatory and vindictive response to the Supreme Court’s affirmation that the Second Amendment protects an individuals’ right to choose to own a firearm for sport or to defend your family.”

Michel said California’s new gun laws will be challenged. “The second they are signed, the clock starts ticking towards a judgment striking them down.”