The National Shooting Sports Foundation is warning Seattle that it will sue the city if leaders there move forward with a proposed "gun violence tax."

The Seattle City Council recently approved a new ordinance that places a $25 sales tax on the purchase of every firearm and a tax of two to five cents for each round of ammunition. Money raised from the tax will be used to fund gun violence research and prevention programs.

The council also voted to require gun owners to report lost or stolen firearms to the police.

The tax is set to take effect Jan. 1, 2016, but NSSF said if it goes forward, the organization will have no option but to sue Seattle because Washington state law preempts cities from regulating the sale of firearms.

"This ordinance will do little to promote public safety and instead will place an undue burden on both federally licensed firearms retailers and law-abiding citizens who want to purchase firearms, particularly people in less well-off circumstances," said Lawrence Keane, senior vice president and general counsel of NSSF. "This law is nothing but a ‘poll tax' on the Second Amendment and an effort to drive Seattle's firearms retailers out of business."

The Seattle Times reported there are 22 licensed firearms sellers in the city. Most are not gun stores but rather pawnshops or individuals authorized to act as middlemen for Internet firearms sales. http://bit.ly/1hWm4Jj

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