... that's not a bad idea, anyway.
Posted on 03/29/2002 2:03:40 PM PST by 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
Sort of like 5,000 years until you are up for parole.
The thing to note is that illegal aliens are the largest contributors to this problem. The pols opened the borders and mandated that no one was to be turned away from the hospitals. Voila! ERs are shutting down all over the state. Thanks, polidiots!
Automobiles(fatty foods, tobacco, etc) cause injuries that are expensive to treat and generally speaking, the public is footing the bill.
DUH!
Just another backdoor attempt to outlaw guns by making them and/or the ammo so expensive that only rich leftists like Rosie ODonnell can afford to have hired guns to protect herself and her "family".
In most states, I'd love to have that issue on the ballot. I don't know about California. I'd rather have it in the voters' hands than Davis's. I think Davis will want to kill this thing in committee.....until the election is over(if he wins)
ATF was going to change current law to read 'any round .50 caliber and over', (instead of the law now in effect that reads 'any round over .50 caliber) is now classified as a "destructive device" and would be subject to the $200. tax per round.
In addition would come all of the same paperwork, and delays common to DD's today. I think even the ATF was worried that they wouldn't have jobs (or anything else) very long if they tried a change like this, but the concept of an "ammo tax" is the manner in which the gun grabbers are going to put most of us out of the sport.
My point exactly!
"For the sake of the ill and helpless."
Can't get gun control? Get ammo control, and the guns are useless.
It's like SUV control. Can't get it? Get the engines out of them.
Commies! They should be charged with treason against the U.S. Constitution and the American people.
RIGHT! Sure. Consider this scenario...
"Leftennant! Who are these characters buying large amounts of amunition??? I don't recognize the name G.Washington... and who is this T. jefferson? Go out and arrest them... they must be planning something against His Majesty's government!"
... that's not a bad idea, anyway.
Our fictional "prudent person" might also decide to maximize the "effectiveness" of those few bullets.
My friend, they know EXACTLY what they do. It appears they are tightening the chokehold in order to provoke a violent response, which will be met with a horrifically vicious response, then the hammer really comes down on the rest of us.
Stay Safe !
The British tried a similar thing over 200 years ago. Here's a quote from Washington concerning it:
“They [The British] meant to drive us into what they termed rebellion, that they might be furnished with a pretext to disarm, and then strip us of the rights and privileges of Englishmen and citizens” George Washington 1778
Madison later made the following statement concerning how the Patriots responded:
"The freemen of America did not wait till usurped power had strengthen itself by exercise, and entangled the question in precedents. They saw all the consequences in the principle, and they avoided the consequences by denying the principle." – James Madison 1785."
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.