Democrats are nothing if not persistent in their efforts to strip Second Amendment rights away from law-abiding Americans. Now a group of leftist lawmakers wants to impose a 1,000% excise tax on firearms and ammunition.
Introduced on Friday, the legislation would tax so-called “assault weapons” along with high-capacity magazines.
A rather inexpensive rifle costing $500 would now run $5,000. And a nicer model sought after by collectors currently listed at $2,000 would skyrocket to $20,000.
Oh those rascally Dem's are back at trying to levy a 1000% tax on rifles and magazines. They've tried this before when they controlled the House and failed. https://t.co/EachmOY1gj
— Military Arms (@MAC_Arms) August 5, 2023
The proposal is the brainchild of Rep. Don Beyer (D-VA) and is a repeat of legislation submitted last year. It followed by one day a letter sent by Democrats to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) insisting on new gun control laws.
Lawmakers complained that the Republican-controlled House has not passed a single gun control bill this session. They then restated the debunked claim that guns are the leading cause of death for U.S. children.
Automobile accidents were and continue to be the number one factor in child deaths. However, statistics were recently skewed to include 18- and 19-year-old adults, leading to the conclusion that leftists sought.
Meanwhile, Democrats insist on playing games with the Second Amendment. An outright ban would likely run afoul of the Constitution, so instead they attempted to tax the popular rifles out of existence.
Then again, Democrats have a long history of using taxes to impede actions they would rather ban outright. That’s why the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed.
Beyer, who was part of a similar effort last year that died even though Democrats controlled the House and Senate, said he was willing to negotiate the 1,000% excise tax figure.
He claimed “there’s nothing magical about the thousand percent number. It’s severe enough to actually inhibit and restrict sales. But also successful enough that it’s not seen as an absolute ban.”
As a selling point, he said law enforcement and the U.S. military would be exempted from the excise tax. He also said standard hunting rifles would not face the burdensome measure.
It should be noted that there is no chance of the proposal clearing the House. Besides the absolute certainty of it being rejected by Republicans, many Democrats would also face strong pressure from back home to vote against such an obvious infringement of the Second Amendment.
