Weapons tax

Money would pay for gun violence prevention

Funds from Chris King’s proposal would pay for gun violence intervention and prevention programs.

TALLAHASSEE — Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris King wants to use taxes on weapons and bullets to pay for gun violence intervention and prevention programs, school safety measures and studies of gun violence.

The funds also would pay for the medical costs of victims of mass shootings.

“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,” King said.

Under the plan, existing sales taxes from gun purchases would go toward the fund, as well as a new 6 percent surcharge would be placed on ammunition sales. Police departments and other public safety agencies that buy weapons would be exempt. King also claims that cost savings from his criminal justice reform plans — by reducing or eliminating mandatory minimum sentences, legalizing and taxing marijuana — would help pay for the programs.

He unveiled the proposal at a round table meeting in St. Petersburg with national gun control groups March for Our Lives, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, Indivisible and gun violence survivors.

“We should be investing in new and innovative ways to keep Floridians safe and that’s why I’ll bring my bold, progressive policy to Tallahassee and send ‘proud NRA sellouts’ like Adam Putnam packing,” the Winter Park businessman said.

King and other Democratic candidates have already called for a ban on assault weapons, but his plan to tax gun and ammunition sales is the first from a candidate for governor.

The release follows a King ad focusing on gun control, bashing Gov. Rick Scott and other Republicans for not acting after the Pulse nightclub attack in 2016.

King