Ballot Language: Shall state taxes be increased by $39,000,000 annually to fund mental health services, including for military veterans and at-risk youth, school safety and gun violence prevention, and support services for victims of domestic violence and other violent crimes by authorizing a tax on gun dealers, gun manufacturers, and ammunition vendors at the rate of 6.5% of the net taxable sales from the retail sale of any gun, gun precursor part, or ammunition, with the state keeping and spending all of the new tax revenue as a voter-approved revenue change?
Proposition KK imposes a new tax on retail sales of firearms and ammunition in Colorado. Businesses with less than $20,000 in annual sales would be exempt from the tax, as would sales to law enforcement agencies, police officers and active duty military. The tax is estimated to raise an additional $39 million in revenue by 2026.
$30 million of the additional revenue would go to the Crime Victims Services Fund, which provides grants to state and local nonprofits who assist crime victims in Colorado. Federal funding for these nonprofits has decreased over the last few years, so this additional tax revenue would help keep these nonprofits operating. $8 million would go to mental and behavioral health services, and the last $1 million would go to a school safety grant program.
Proposition KK’s impact on gun sales is unclear. This law is modeled on a recent California law that imposed an 11% tax, but that law has not been in force long enough to judge if it caused a decrease in firearm sales.
IndivisibleNOCO recommends a YES vote on Proposition KK. The additional revenue raised by the tax would address some of the social ills caused by the easy availability of powerful firearms.