{"id":308560,"date":"2026-05-10T05:24:17","date_gmt":"2026-05-10T05:24:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/308560\/"},"modified":"2026-05-10T05:24:17","modified_gmt":"2026-05-10T05:24:17","slug":"california-gun-tax-faces-sacramento-lawsuit-as-judge-weighs-dismissal-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/308560\/","title":{"rendered":"California gun tax faces Sacramento lawsuit as judge weighs dismissal"},"content":{"rendered":"

California<\/a>‘s 11% tax on firearms and ammunition is facing another legal challenge as a Sacramento gun range manager argues the surcharge is unconstitutional, while supporters say the money is helping fund violence prevention efforts across the state.<\/p>\n

The Gun Violence Prevention and School Safety Act, signed into law in 2023, imposes an 11% tax on firearms and ammunition sold in California. The revenue is deposited into a state fund and distributed to organizations and programs aimed at preventing gun violence.<\/p>\n

Danielle Jaymes, general manager of Sacramento Gun Range, said customers are often shocked when they see the final cost of a purchase.<\/p>\n

“When they see the price, they’re outraged,” Jaymes said.<\/p>\n

Jaymes said the added tax can substantially increase the total cost of a firearm purchase when combined with local sales taxes.<\/p>\n

“The average firearm is $500 to $600. You add an 11% tax plus an additional, depending on where you live, 7.75%, that’s another $100 on top of the original price of the gun,” Jaymes said.<\/p>\n

Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, one of the bill’s authors, said Tuesday that Assembly Bill 28 generates more than $100 million each year for violence prevention programs.<\/p>\n

“There’s a new surcharge on guns and ammunitions sales in California. I know about it because I helped write it. It’s AB28. With that, comes over $100 million a year to violence prevention programs,” McCarty said.<\/p>\n

Jaymes sued the state in 2025, alleging the tax violates constitutional protections under the Second Amendment.<\/p>\n

“It’s our fundamental constitutional right. You shouldn’t be able to be taxed on something that is out there for us that’s supposed to be there,” Jaymes said.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the state filed a response asking a Sacramento County Superior Court judge to dismiss the lawsuit. The state argues that the Second Amendment does not give gun retailers a constitutional right to sell firearms without taxes.<\/p>\n

Jaymes said the tax does not deter criminal activity and instead affects legal gun owners.<\/p>\n

“The tax doesn’t stop illegal gun crimes or criminals. It only affects law-abiding citizens, and the real problem is the illegal gun crimes,” Jaymes said.<\/p>\n

Mervin Brookins, who works to prevent youth violence through his organization Brother to Brother and is eligible to receive funding from the tax, agreed that law-abiding citizens often bear the consequences of gun violence, but said the tax should be viewed as a contribution toward addressing the problem.<\/p>\n

“Law-abiding people are the targets. They’re the ones that are receiving the consequences of what’s going on. So, it’s, again, it’s not a punishment. It’s a, let’s help contribute to the solution,” Brookins said.<\/p>\n

When the tax first took effect, Sacramento Gun Range saw a 25% drop in sales, according to Jaymes.<\/p>\n

The state continues to collect the tax while the case moves forward. A judge has until May 14 to decide whether to dismiss the lawsuit.<\/p>\n

WATCH ALSO:<\/p>\n

Controversial gun tax bill heads to Gov. Newsom’s desk | To The Point<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"California‘s 11% tax on firearms and ammunition is facing another legal challenge as a Sacramento gun range manager…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":308561,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[7,129624,5364,13130,121,123,122,5366],"class_list":["post-308560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-california","tag-danielle-jaymes","tag-gun-violence","tag-kevin-mccarty","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-violence-prevention"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308560","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=308560"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/308560\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/308561"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=308560"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=308560"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=308560"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}