Student gun control activist David Hogg is pushing to secure a federal tax on firearm sales.
It’s always satisfying when an anti-gunner reveals just how uneducated they are about firearms. Recently, this distinction goes to David Hogg, who has repeatedly called for a federal tax on firearms and ammunition — which he must not realize already exists.https://t.co/IVSdQGcfSE[1]
— NRA (@NRA) December 8, 2018[2]
He wants to use the funds produced by the tax to pay for “gun violence research”:
Congress ought to create a federal tax on gun sales to fund gun violence research.
— David Hogg (@davidhogg111) November 28, 2018[3]
In other words, he wants to tax a constitutional, God-given right–thereby raising gun prices for law-abiding citizens–in order to pay for research into the ways criminals misuse guns.
The NRA-ILA reports[4] that Hogg’s idea is at least 100 years old, as it was pushed via the the Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax in 1917. The difference? That tax was pushed, and implemented, as a way to fund pro-hunting causes, not anti-Second Amendment campaigns.
Certain cities–Chicago, Seattle, and Detroit–have adopted a tax on guns and/or ammunition for the very purposes espoused by Hogg. Ironically, Chicago homicides rose[5] once the tax was in place, and Fox News reports[6] that Seattle saw violence rise after their tax was passed. Detroit’s tax was passed too recently to see the results, but since gang members and street criminals do not buy their guns at retail, where the tax is exacted, there is no reason to think the Motor City’s tax will fare better than in Chicago or Seattle.
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