Senator Perata Proposes Nickle Tax on Bullets

KTVU/Fox2 News ^ | 3/28/02 | Randy Shandobil

[gc4nra]

Political Editor Randy Shandobil for KTVU Channel 2 News

Target practice could soon get a lot more expensive. Next week a Bay Area state senator will formally propose a five-cent-a-bullet sales tax. Not five percent, but a nickel for each and every round.

Shoot a small caliber weapon, such as a .22? That more than doubles the price of your ammo.

Sen. Don Perata/(D) Oakland : "I will be attacked by those who hate gun control. I know that. As soon as this airs, I am going to start getting nasty phone calls and email."

Senator Don Perata is a gun control crusader. But he says his tax idea is not meant to deter gun use, but rather to raise money to save California's hospital trauma centers, some of which are going under.

"Bullets cause injuries that are expensive to treat and generally speaking, the public is footing the bill."

Perata wants the legislature to put the tax idea on the November ballot.

Peter Buxtun/NRA Member: "This idea is stupidity."

National Rifle Association member Peter Buxtun says previous gun control measures by Senator Perata put many gun dealers out of business, and he says a nickel a bullet tax would just lead to ammo smuggling. Buxtun: "People would go to Oregon, they would go to Nevada and they would load up the trunks of their car or their whole van and bring tons of ammunition in."

At the Jackson Arms Shooting Range in South San Francisco today, most customers did not want to talk on camera... but everyone said the tax would be unfair. They don't shoot people, they shoot targets.

Sen. Perata: "I am sorry. You cannot screen them out. The same way that someone with a perfect driving record is going to be upset that they pay an added cost for emergency care."

Democrats control both the state senate and the state assembly, so Senator Perata is confident a majority of lawmakers will support the tax. But that doesn't mean it will qualify for the November ballot.

For a ballot measure to qualify, two thirds of the legislature has to say yes, not a simple majority.

Buxtun: "We'll absolutely fight this as hard as we can."

If it does qualify, it could become a hot button issue in the Governor's race. Aides to Republican Bill Simon, who earns an A rating from the NRA, say he would be against it. Governor Davis is taking no position yet. He has signed many gun control bills, but says he's against tax hikes.

-- Political Editor Randy Shandobil, KTVU Channel 2 News

© 2002 KTVU-TV

[upchuck]

You must not listen to UpChuckie Schummmer!

Watch it!

[GailA]

WELL WHERE'S this idiots email addy so we can email him our toughts????????? Why not a tax on condoms? After all they use tons of them out there.

[earplug]

We should tax the targets! They cause the medical bills not the bullet. The bullet was only doing its job.

[monday]

"They were used quite oftain in the past as a state would know something was up if more people started buying swords and other weapons, a sign of unrest. "

Could you please interpret this sentence? I don't understand.

[Ajnin]

As a law enforcement officer, 5 cents a bullet is too much for me to bear. The measely 150 rnds the Border Patrol gives me a quarter is not nearly enough to keep me sharp. You can bet, every time some cop blows away an innocent civilian, Perata is going to hear about it. I'm going to paint him in the worst way in every letters to the editor column I can.

[RightWhale]

twenty five cent a bullet rebate!

Since .45 ACPs cost about that for factory load, the government should issue everyone as much as anyone wants. But for the reloaders, who can produce a cartridge for about 1/3 of that, the government rebates could not possibly keep up with the production rate. Not even for those with a single station hand press and a set of 3 dies.

[gc4nra]

"But he says his tax idea is not meant to deter gun use, but rather to raise money to save California's hospital trauma centers, some of which are going under. "

There was nothing wrong with the 2A or medical care until these IDIOT politicians got ahold of them!

[hattend]

Isn't he the one to told a world class target shooter (a teenage girl) that she should move out of the state? (This happened after her .22 target pistol was classified an illegal "assault weapon" because the magazine didn't go inside the handle.)

I thought that was the "Reconquista" Lt Governor Cruz Bustamonte who said that.

[gc4nra]

Clever fellow!... and use the savings to join the LIBERTY BELLES

[11th Earl of Mar]

"Bullets cause injuries that are expensive to treat and generally speaking, the public is footing the bill."

In reality, it is his drug dealing welfare people who are causing most of these problems.

So lets tax welfare recipients and drug dealers.

[gc4nra]

LOL! Oppps, no reflection on a Fine Fellow Freeper!

[Joe Brower]

The bugger-boy from Oakland has been on the list already for quite awhile, and he knows it.

And we can be damn well certain that we're on his. Hiya, DOJ MIBs!

[Euro-American Scum]

Reload your ammo! Is he going to tax primers, powder, and projectiles?

You really think he won't considering what's happened in this state in the last 10-15 years?

[gc4nra]

Senator.Perata@sen.ca.gov

[Euro-American Scum]

Ever since Los Angeles passed a law by Councilman Mike Feuer (rhymes with 'der Fuherer') which required purchasers of ammunition to provide a fingerprint, I have purchased all my ammunition on-line.

Don't think they won't put a stop to that too. It would be a simple matter to ban all mail order shipments of ammo to California.

[Euro-American Scum]

Bump!

Just thought you'd like to see what's going on in the land of fruits and nuts.

[Euro-American Scum]

WELL WHERE'S this idiots email addy so we can email him our toughts?????????

Do that and you might get a call from your friendly neighborhood ATF officer.

[Travis McGee]

Sorry to laugh, but my 12-year-old goes through a brick of .22 a weekend.

I'll bet he can hit a golf ball at 50 feet and keep it moving. When you shoot that much .22, you don't need anything bigger.

[Travis McGee]

Here's a new one to go with BLOAT and Rule 308:

LAL

"Lock And Load"

[Dan from Michigan]

If this passed, I'll be buying tons of ammo, loading up my Explorer, and will be open for business.........