Colorado becomes first state to approve excise tax on guns and ammunition via ballot measure

DENVER — Colorado voters approved Proposition KK on Election Day, adding a 6.5% excise tax on gun and ammunition sales.

Colorado is not the first state to impose such a tax, but it is the first one to do so via a citizen’s vote. 

California, the only other state with an excise tax on gun sales, passed a similar 11% excise tax through Assembly Bill 28 which Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law. Because of Colorado’s unique Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR), certain tax increases like those included in Proposition KK require voter approval. 

Colorado Majority Leader Monica Duran, a survivor of domestic violence who sponsored the House Bill that referred the measure to the ballot, said in a statement from Violence Free Colorado that she sympathized with victims of violence, and that, “Colorado is taking a stand for those who need it most — veterans, young people, and survivors of violence.”

“This funding will provide life-changing resources to help people heal and rebuild their lives just like me.”

There is presently a federal tax on firearms and ammunitions which charges between 10% and 11% depending on the gun size and type. 

Firearms classified as pistols and revolvers are taxed at 10%, while firearms other than pistols and revolvers (e.g., rifles, machine guns, shotguns, etc.) and shells and cartridges are taxed at 11%.

Prop KK, known as the Firearms and Ammunition Tax will use funds raised through the 6.5% excise tax to support an array of government and nonprofit organizations focused on crime victims services, mental health services for veterans and youth and school safety programs, among others.

The tax will be imposed on firearm dealers and manufacturers from the “retail sale of any firearm, firearm precursor part or ammunition in Colorado.” 

The 6.5% excise tax will be placed on top of the 10%–11% federal excise tax, as is also the case in California. Prop KK is expected to raise $39 million in the first full year and will be allocated accordingly:

Additional revenue will be used for administrative costs and will be saved for future use.

“We are incredibly thankful that Coloradans recognize the need for trauma victims to have access to the resources they need to heal and end the cycle of violence in their lives and community,” said Courtney Sutton, at the Public Policy Director at Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance (COVA) in the Violence Free Colorado statement. 

As Colorado has grown increasingly blue in the past decade, a number of gun-related measures have passed congruently, including state permit requirements for gun sellers and safe gun storage in vehicles which are set to take effect in 2025. 

Congressional legislation in Colorado that would have banned an array of semiautomatic firearms failed for the second consecutive year earlier this year, indicating that Coloradans have an uphill battle when it comes to regulating firearms compared to California, New York and the eight other states with assault weapon bans.

“This is going to have a very negative effect on not just gun owners, but also on the people who make their livelihoods from selling firearms,” said Ian Escalante, the executive director of the Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, a pro-gun advocacy group that lobbies against gun control legislation.

Escalante argued that the 6.5% tax will weigh down the already heavy financial burdens placed upon gun owners, limiting lower-income consumers’ ability to purchase firearms and potentially incentivizing individuals to purchase low-quality, malfunction-prone alternatives.

He also argued that Proposition KK “is a tax on a fundamental constitutional right… no different than the poll taxes that they tried to do in southern states almost 100 years ago…” 

“You have people that need these weapons to defend themselves, to defend their families, and we’re making it more difficult,” said Escalante. 

Prop. KK will exempt sellers with annual sales of less than $20,000; retail sales to law enforcement officers, law enforcement agencies and active duty military members; and private sales between individuals that are not dealers, manufacturers or ammunition vendors.

Proponents of the proposition, which included a coalition of anti-violence and victim’s assistance organizations, countered that the tax will help both reduce Colorado’s youth and veteran gun-related suicide rate while raising money for victims in a time when funding for victims services in Colorado has been falling significantly.

The federal Victims of Crimes Act (VOCA), which manages the Crime Victims Fund, a federal fund that provides financial support to “victim assistance and compensation programs” like some of those which backed Prop KK, allocated just over $13 million to Colorado’s Office for Victims Programs this year, about 43% less than last year.

“[The proposition] is not necessarily going to provide extra money,” said Brooke Leonard, executive director of the Arkansas Valley Resource Center (AVRC), which provides support services for domestic violence victims in Bent, Crowley and Otero Counties.

“It’s to help plug a hole that we are experiencing and to try and prevent our agencies from closing.”

The AVRC frequently addresses transportation, housing and domestic-abuse issues that exist in the surrounding rural communities, and when matched with staff and funding shortages, Leonard knows that every additional bit of funding makes an enormous difference in sustaining its services.

“It’s unfortunate that the AVRC is even needed — I wish we weren’t in some way — but we just don't see domestic violence going anywhere anytime soon,” said Leonard, “so our goal is trying to save lives and make sure that people are happy and healthy, and that they can learn to cope with what they’ve experienced.”

Leonard said that she has seen and heard pushback against the bill, particularly from many of the conservative-leaning rural communities surrounding the AVRC. But she remains confident that the legislation will prove beneficial to the community in the future. 

“We were really, really nervous about what the future looks like for our agency,” said Leonard, “and even though there’s some unknowns, there’s hope now, and I’m thankful for that.”