Gun control has been a solid political talking point for over a week now in the wake of two mass shootings, one of which was carried out by a supporter of Elizabeth Warren. Democrat presidential candidates have wasted no time taking advantage of the opportunity to politicize their way through a crowded primary.
Speaking of Warren, she's one of many candidates proposing unconstitutional actions against the Second Amendment. Her latest idea is to tax Americans out of gun ownership, which discriminates against poor individuals who can't afford it. These are the very people Warren claims to be fighting for.
"Increasing taxes on gun manufacturers. Since 1919, the federal government has imposed an excise tax on manufacturers and importers of guns and ammunition. Handguns are taxed at 10% and other guns and ammunition are taxed at 11%. These taxes raise less in revenue than the federal excise tax on cigarettes, domestic wine, or even airline tickets. It’s time for Congress to raise those rates — to 30% on guns and 50% on ammunition — both to reduce new gun and ammunition sales overall and to bring in new federal revenue that we can use for gun violence prevention and enforcement of existing gun laws," Warren wrote in an op-ed for Medium.
Further, Warren's plans would actually increase crime.
"Ammunition taxes will similarly fail to address the underlying social and cultural drivers of real and perceived increases in violent acts. Instead, those looking for guns and ammunition will turn to black markets or be undiscouraged by the tax," the Heritage Foundation analyzes. "A tax of any level would do little to dissuade attackers involved in recent tragedies—they would have committed their heinous crimes whether or not they had to pay extra money to buy the ammunition.Much like traditional restrictions on firearms, taxes only affect law-abiding citizens. Those who wish to carry out illegal acts will have no problem buying tax-free guns and ammunition from a black market dealer."
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Americans for Tax Reform is pushing back and warning voters of the impact.
"This is a tax increase on protecting your family, your home," Americans for Tax Reform President Grover Norquist released in a statement. "The power to tax is the power to control. If Elizabeth Warren suggested such a tax on newspapers it would be understood as unconstitutional."
Warren's tax plan isn't new and has been proposed by the likes of Hillary Clinton and other anti-Second Amendment rights zealots in the past.
I'll leave you with this:
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