California Enacts First Statewide Gun and Ammunition Tax in U.S.

California will become the first state in the nation to impose an excise tax on gun and ammunition sales under a measure signed into law Tuesday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Starting next July, the state will collect an 11% tax on retail sales of guns, gun parts and ammunition. The money would be used for gun-violence prevention, enhanced school safety and programs geared toward victims of gun violence. “It’s a pretty sick thing that we can just casually say it, and we do casually say it, that the No. 1 killer of our kids is guns,” Newsom said. There is already a federal excise tax of 10% on wholesale prices for handguns and 11% for long guns and ammunition. Newsom on Tuesday also signed a measure revising the state’s concealed-carry laws following last year’s Supreme Court ruling that restricts such measures. The state law details dozens of places where concealed firearms wouldn’t be allowed