Posted on 03/08/2022 8:43:42 AM PST by Right Wing Vegan
Two New York state lawmakers have proposed an ammunition excise tax of .02 to .05 per round. If passed, the bill would make New York the only state in the nation to enforce a tax on ammo. Revenue from the measure, introduced by state Sen. Andrew Gounardes (D-Brooklyn) and Assemblywoman Pat Fahy (D-Albany) would pay for the newly created research fund dedicated to studying gun violence under the state Department of Health and the State University of New York.
The state has seen a sharp increase in violent crimes, especially in New York City, which officials blame in part on the Covid-19 pandemic. Under the bill, projectiles that measure .22 caliber or less will be taxed at a rate of $.02 per round while all other ammunition would be taxed at $.05 per round. “As we seek to address New York’s rise in gun violence, it’s incumbent on us as legislators to identify fact-based approaches that will save lives and bring peace to our communities,” Gounardes told Spectrum News 1. “By taxing ammunition, we are fairly funding research that will help us build smart and effective policies.”
Many gun owners in New York see the tax much differently. Assemblyman Mark Walczyk (R,C,I-Watertown) believes the bill will only punish law-abiding citizens. “Everyone knows the majority of gun crime is committed with illegally-obtained weapons and ammunition, not by law-abiding gun owners,” he told Newzjunky.com. “I can’t imagine a single murderer deciding not to pull the trigger because the price per round went up. But we all know, ammo is becoming scarce and this attempt at driving up prices is a direct attack on the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution.”
Joe Johnson, manager of Armageddon Arsenal Supply in LeRay, New York, says the tax would sharply increase the price of some ammunition, such as .22 rimfire. “Adding 2 cents to something that’s only 2.7 cents, you literally just about doubled your cost,” he told WWNY TV News.
Currently, no other state taxes ammunition. Seattle, Washington and Cook County, Illinois, do impose a similar tax to the proposed New York tax. From 1937 until its repeal in 2019, Tennessee required boxes of ammunition to bear a .10 stamp, with proceeds going directly into the state’s Wildlife Resources Fund.
Tax anything in sight.
The power to tax is the power to destroy.
I’ll go out of state.
I foresee a lively trade in bootleg ammo from adjoining states.
Liberals rightly got all upset over poll taxes because poll taxes restricted the right to vote. Yet they are all for ammo taxes that restrict the 2A right to keep and bear arms.
Liberals sure have an unusual way of looking at things.
What part of “shall make NO LAW!” do they not understand?...............
Didn’t SCOTUS previously find that this was unconstitutional?
They STEAL the guns-—Who thinks they BUY the ammo?????
Tax every word that comes out of a NY politician’s mouth.
It’s no more an infringement on free speech than a tax on ammo is an infringement on the right to bear arms.
The entire thing.
These people are criminals.
People already go out of state to buy cigarettes. So they can pick up a little bit of ammo at the same time.
Its time for people to start learning to reload. Not that hard....
I'd like to know where Joe Johnson is getting 22LR for 9 cents a round.
I’ll go out of state.
And to be effective, reloading will also have to be against the law.
Targeting the good guys. Their end goal is to take guns from non-violent citizens while leaving them in the hands of violent criminals.
No, they upheld the practice. SCOTUS ruled long ago that the NFA tax on short barreled rifles, short barreled shotguns, and fully automatic machine guns was constitutional.
Plus there are already federal taxes on ammunition, part of the Pittman-Robertson Act that raises revenue for land conservation.
This tax would pass constitutional muster because of both of the above.
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