FL gubernatorial candidate proposes ammunition fee increase

Florida’s race for governor continues to focus on the issue of gun violence. Friday, Democratic candidate Chris King released his plan to help fund safety programs using money from an extra 6 percent fee on bullets. 

King proposed reallocating the sales tax from firearms and ammunition purchases, as well as the additional fee on ammunition, to what he calls the Every Kid Fund for Gun Violence Prevention.

Public safety officials would be exempt from paying the extra fee on ammunition, but for the rest of the state, King projects the fee would generate around $50-million a year.

By combining his new proposals with his prior plans for prison reform and legalizing and regulating marijuana, King wants to commit the revenues to studies on gun violence, school safety initiatives - potentially including support for additional school resource officers - as well as reimbursements to trauma centers that treat mass shooting victims. 

“I’m proposing the Every Kid Fund for Gun Violence Prevention because every child deserves to grow up in a state free from the scourge of gun violence, whether it’s everyday gun violence or mass shootings,” said King.