ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Some Maryland lawmakers are hoping to address the growing epidemic of gun violence with a groundbreaking new bill. The Comprehensive Community Safety Funding Act would fund trauma centers in the state by taxing manufacturers of guns and ammunition.
The proposed bill would establish an 11% excise tax on dealers and manufacturers of guns and ammo. The legislation is similar to federal tax policy and a law recently passed in California.
The money would be directed toward funding proactive and responsive gun violence intervention efforts, including Maryland’s Trauma Centers, the Center for Firearm Prevention & Intervention, Maryland’s Violence Intervention and Prevention Program, and the Survivors of Homicide Victims Grant Program.
“Fortunately, most Marylanders will never have to rely on our trauma system. But for those who are severely injured in an act of violence or an accident, there is no better place in the world - no better doctors, nurses, and first responders- than our trauma system," said Sen. Sarah Elfreth, who sponsored the bill. "We have an obligation to ensure that when someone is being medevaced to a trauma center that our system has the resources it needs to save lives. This bill connects a root cause of violence in communities with funding the impacts of that violence: it funds the aftermath and the healing.”
Ja'ka McKnight was on hand for the bill's announcement. Her 13-year-old son, King, was shot and killed by a 12-year-old boy in a Prince George's County parking lot back in 2021.
Maryland’s trauma centers provide life-saving care to victims of gun violence. University of Maryland Medical System Shock Trauma reports that cases of emergent patients with gunshot wounds has risen from 4.9% in 2013 to 10% in 2023.
Karen Herren, the Executive Director of Marylanders to Prevent Gun Violence, said the proposed bill puts the industry on notice.
“By proposing the Comprehensive Community Safety Funding Act, we send a powerful message that the industry contributing to the challenge of gun violence must be an active participant in crafting solutions," she said. "It’s time for the firearm industry to shoulder its responsibility and join us in building a safer and more secure future for all Marylanders.”
But not everyone agrees the proposed bill would solve the problem of gun violence.
"The only people that are hurt by this are law-abiding citizens," she said. "Criminals don't care about taxes," said Andi Turner, a spokesperson for the Maryland Rifle and Pistol Association.
Turner was clear that her problem was the tax itself, not what the money would go toward.
“Hospitals and shock trauma units should have loads of money. Find a different way to do it," she said.