Gun clubs say state overtaxes skeet shooting

OLYMPIA – Nonprofit gun clubs say they want the state to stop double-taxing them for the targets that skeet shooters use.

 A club pays a sales tax when it buys the clay pigeons in bulk, and it is required to charge target shooters another tax for each target used in a session.

They’re being taxed twice for the same clay pigeon, said state Sen. Ann Rivers, R-La Center, who proposed a bill to give nonprofit clubs an exemption from the taxes.

Sen. Rodney Tom, D-Medina, asked, couldn’t golfers make the same complaint about balls at the golf course?

Not the same thing, Rivers replied. Golfers take possession of the balls.

Because of safety concerns, a range employee loads targets into the machine:  “The consumer never physically touches the clay pigeon.”

The clubs could raise their fees to cover the taxes, Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Wells, D-Seattle, suggested. But that would hurt people on limited incomes and amounts to raising rates to pay an unfair tax, club managers said.

Total cost to the state of granting the tax exemption is estimated at $29,000, the Senate Ways and Means Committee staff said.

 The committee must decide by the end of the week whether to send it and other tax-related bills to the full Senate.