KOA Headlines
10 15 24 RMGO's Ian Escalante on Colo Proposition KK Excise Tax on Firearms Dealers
It is Colorado's morning news. Marty Lenz, Gina Gondek, good morning. Firearm and ammunition purchases in our state could see an increase in purchase price. Should a proposed excise task pass the will of the voters this election? - Proposition KK would impose a six and a half percent tax on gun and ammo purchases in the state. Advocates say it would be used to fund support services for crime victims. And it's the first of its kind proposal that has second amendment supporters up in arms. Joining us now on the KA-A comment spirit health hotline in opposition to Proposition KK, it's Rocky Mountain Gun Owners Executive Director, Ian Escalante, and thank you so much for your time. As always, walk us through a little bit of why Rocky Mountain Gun Owners is against this proposition. - Absolutely. Well, thank you so much for having me on this morning and giving me the opportunity to explain to the voters of Colorado why this is such a bad idea. Proposition KK is being pushed by House Majority Leader Monica Duran and also members of the gun violence prevention caucus in both the House and the Senate. Now, the issue with this is that they're trying to push this as a way to fund victim services and domestic violence shelters, $39 million is what they're hoping to raise off this tax. Here's the issue, during a legislative session, they had what's called the long bill, which is their annual budget. And they put billions and billions of dollars of wasteful spending in there, but they conveniently left out the $39 million of funding for these victim services. Now they're looking to punish gun owners, to punish sportsmen, to punish people, low-income individuals who are just trying to defend themselves by levying this 6.5% excise tax on not just guns and ammo, but also firearms, parts, firearms, accessories. So overall, they're either going to put this on the gun shops and it's going to put an undue burden on small businesses or what the gun shops are going to do is they're just going to pass it on to the consumers, which is going to drastically raise the price of firearms and ammunition. And really the issue here is that it's the principle of it. It's taxing a right that's protected in not just the US Constitution, but also in the Colorado Constitution. We have crime skyrocketing right now and people are scared and they want to be able to defend themselves. And this is what it's going to do 'cause it's going to act as a deterrent for people to go out, purchase more firearms and defend themselves. - Deterrent because it's more costly, am I understanding that right? And I don't know Ian, just setting aside the other issues with this. Do you have any data to show? If there are any other laws like this around the country that show that it is deleterious on gun shops, gun owners and the purchasing of guns? - I mean, it's pretty much, you don't necessarily really need a whole bunch of data on this if you're raising the price on something, especially in the inflationary economy that we have right now, it is going to deter people. You have costs of living going through the roof right now, especially in Denver and Aurora, you have insurance rates skyrocketing right now because of the crime and the car theft. So you're just adding another increase you're adding, you're making it harder and more expensive for Colorado to live their life. - Ian, most people are probably in agreement that victim services, domestic violence services, mental health services are in need and are important, but what do you think is a better solution than an excise tax in order to fund those services? - So I think what they should have done is they should have gone ahead and they should have put this funding into the long bill. Like I said, there were billions of dollars of wasteful spending in the budget, but they conveniently left out the $39 million to fund these shelters. I think everyone can agree, like you said, that these shelters need to be funded, that victim services is very important, but why not just put it in the long bill? Why not put it in the discretionary spending that the legislature spends every single year? Why are we spending it on bus lanes and requiring all kinds of new public transit services from local governments and enforcement for that? Why don't we actually help people who need this money instead of holding it hostage and trying to guilt people into raising a tax on gun owners? - I'm looking at some of the data here. It would be, I guess, $33 in new taxes on a $500 handgun or $65 in taxes on a $1,000 rifle. And I'm just curious, do you really think that would be a barrier to somebody who really wants a gun? Would that be a disincentive? It costs everything aside. If somebody really wants something, do you think they'd say, yeah, I don't want to spend an extra $33? - I think they would. I think they would, especially in the economy that we're in right now. I mean, if you look at the numbers, Colorado has one of the highest costs of living in the nation right now. People are struggling just to put food on the table right now. People are struggling to pay their rent, to pay their car insurance, to just live. And sure, maybe if we weren't in such an inflationary economy, we wouldn't be as big of a problem, but it's also the principle of it. I mean, you don't, about 100 years ago, there was an attempt to put a poll tax on individuals to try to keep them from voting. That was struck down by the Supreme Court. This is no different. This is a God-given right in shrine and protected by the Constitution. It would be no different than telling people like you who are reporters and journalists and the press that they have to pay a tax in order to get their message out there. It's really no different order to pay a tax on your right to free speech or assembly. - Ian, if this proposition did pass, would there be any legal action against it? Would Rocky Mountain Gun owners try to sue? Do you believe that it would be constitutional or is it could stand? - Well, right now we're really just focused on blocking the tax. We're hoping we don't even have to have that discussion, but in a world where this tax does pass, we will be considering our options. - Well, I was gonna ask to follow up that, Ian. Have we seen anything other legislation like this around the country that models what this is doing or has been pushed against like you all are doing in this? I'm trying to find some other examples that maybe will help give us greater detail about this. - Sure. This is one of the first pieces of legislation about measures like this that I've seen throughout the country. I believe California has something similar to this. I don't know a whole lot about it though, so I can't comment a whole lot. I'm specifically talking about this in a Colorado context. And I mean, we've never seen anything like this before in the state where they're trying to just actually tax a God-given right. They're trying to tax something that is essential to people's safety and essential to them, being able to live their lives as free Colorado, especially when you have the legislature loosening penalties on violent crimes. There are people that are walking the streets and terrorizing individuals with home invasions, car theft, all that kind of stuff. So right now it's not just a hobby per se. Some people say, oh, we're just gonna be taxing. People have guns as a hobby. I mean, this isn't a hobby. This is a life or death situation. You have people who have gang members breaking into their houses. You have people whose cars are getting stolen and people getting assaulted. A couple of weeks ago, there was a jewelry store in Cherry Hills that got broken into. And the people, the women there were severely beaten by these extremely violent criminals. So we need to be able to defend ourselves. And right now more than ever, Coloradans need to be able to have all the tools at their disposal to defend themselves against violent crime. - In opposition to Proposition KK on our Colorado ballot, November 5th, it's Rocky Mountain Gun Owners Executive Director, Ian Eskelante. Thank you so much for your time this morning. We've also reached out to those in support of Proposition KK, and we're still waiting to hear back.