On Election Day, voters in Colorado approved Proposition KK, a ballot measure imposing a new 6.5-percent excise tax on firearms and ammunition, by a margin of 54.4 percent to 45.6 percent as of this writing. The revenue will help fund several initiatives, including crime victim support services, mental and behavior health services, and school safety improvements.
Since 1919, firearms and ammunition manufacturers and importers have had to pay a federal excise tax — 10 percent on handguns, 11 percent on long guns and ammunition — that goes toward wildlife conservation and hunter education efforts, in addition to state and local sales taxes. But last year, California enacted a first-in-the-nation law that provided a model for Colorado’s Proposition KK, levying an 11-percent excise tax on firearms and ammunition sold in the state to fund community violence intervention programs, services for victims of gun violence, and more.
Before the California law was enacted, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, the gun industry’s trade association, called it “[o]ne of the most egregious pieces of legislation to see significant movement in Sacramento.”
the new tax on guns
When Proposition KK takes effect in April 2025, gun makers and dealers who make over $20,000 in annual sales will have to pay a 6.5-percent tax on retail sales of firearms, certain gun parts — including those used to build firearms — and ammunition in Colorado. Retail sales to police and active duty military personnel are exempt, as are sales between private individuals.
Proposition KK is expected to generate $39 million annually. The bulk of the tax revenue — $30 million — will go toward grants for “crime victim services, such as on-site crisis response, counseling, legal advocacy, and emergency financial assistance.” As noted by The Trace’s Julianne McShane, that funding is “especially crucial in light of the yearslong decline in federal funding from the Victims of Crime Act (VOCA), which has forced organizations that support survivors of domestic abuse to cut staff and scale back services.”
According to McShane, Colorado “went from receiving $31.3 million in VOCA funds in fiscal year 2017 to about $13.6 million in the most recent fiscal year, when the money was used to support more than 125,000 survivors, mostly women who were victims of domestic violence or sexual assault, according to Department of Justice data.”
In 2023, firearms were used in 76 percent of all domestic violence fatalities in Colorado.
The rest of the tax revenue generated by Proposition KK will go toward mental health services for veterans ($5 million), behavioral health services for children and teens ($3 million), and school security improvements ($1 million).
uplifting survivors
Colorado House Majority Leader Monica Duran, who sponsored the bill that was later referred to the ballot as Proposition KK, celebrated the outcome on election night.
In a statement, Representative Duran said, “Tonight really is a full circle moment for me; without the support from crime victim services as a young single mother trapped in an abusive relationship, there is no way I’d be here today celebrating the passage of Prop KK. I’d like to thank our volunteers, advocates and non-profit organizations who helped get the word out about this modest, 6.5 percent excise tax on firearms.”
Duran continued, “As federal dollars dwindle, Coloradans made the right choice this evening to step up and help fill the funding gaps in crime victim services. From navigating the challenging judicial system to helping secure child care, crime victim services play a major role in uplifting survivors by providing them the resources they need to start anew. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your support of Prop KK.”