'Gun Control' Through Taxation
H.R. 5103: What You Need To Know
By Thomas Johnson. June 5th, 2018
In March of 2018. Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) introduced a new bill called HR 5103 with nine separate co-sponsors. HR 5103 represents the latest bill introduced in Congress in an attempt to further restrict the sales of firearms and ammunition.
But what does HR 5103 do exactly, what are the specifics of the bill, and why does it need to be opposed?
The Purpose of HR 5103
The language of HR 5103 is basically designed to inflict more taxes on firearms and ammunition. Rep. Davis claims that the additional funds earned by the bill, should it become law, can be used to pay for research on what he calls ‘gun violence and its prevention.’
In other words, should the bill become law, you’ll need to pay additional taxes (besides the sales tax) when you go to buy firearms and ammunition. It also increases fees on any firearms that are classified under the National Firearms Act.
Under the terms of the bill, you can expect to pay up to a 50% excise tax on ammo and a 20% excise tax on firearms.
This bill amends the current tax plan regarding firearms. Under current law, firearms manufacturers have to pay a 11% excise tax on ammunition and sporting firearms under the Pittman-Robertson Act. The funds from this tax fund conservation efforts, public shooting ranges, wildlife habitat preservation, and hunter education plans.
Essentially, Congressman Davis wants to use the additional funding to pay for research on gun violence prevention.
Additionally, the law would exempt the tax from firearms and ammunition that are sold to law enforcement and the military.
Official Description of HR 5103
Here is an official description of the bill from the congress.gov website:
Specifics of HR 5103
Here is a list of the specific provisions of HR 5103:
- Add a 20% excise tax on pistols, revolvers, and all other firearm sales
- Add a 50% excise tax on ammunition sales
- Double the occupation tax for overseas importers of firearms
- Raise the imported gun dealer tax to 50% of sales
- Raise the NFA transfer tax to $500 (from $200)
- Raise the AOW tax from $5 to $100
Why Is This Bill A Problem?
The reasons why this bill is a problem should be obvious: it simply adds to the cost of gun ownership.
A 20% tax on guns and 50% tax on ammunition is nothing insignificant.
Let’s say, for example, that you want to buy a pistol that costs exactly $500. Normally, you would pay the $500 plus the sales tax of your state. If the hypothetical sales tax is 6%, then in this scenario, you would pay an additional $30 for the sales tax, or $530 total.
Now let’s add an additional 20% tax. In this case, 20% of the $500 cost of the gun would be $100, so you would pay a grand total of $630 for the firearm, which definitely could make someone think twice about purchasing the gun.
Now let’s go with ammunition. Say you go to the store and buy $100 worth of ammunition, which doesn’t get you much these days. In our previous example with the 6% sales tax, you would normally pay $106 for all of it.
But now with the 50% excise tax, you would really pay $156 in total. Ridiculous, right?
And that’s just one example. What if you were to buy a thousand rounds of 9mm bulk ammunition that cost $350. No longer would you pay $371, with sales tax. Now, you would pay an astonishing $546 for that bulk ammunition.
Seeing why this is a problem?
Those who support the bill may claim that the bill does not constitute infringement on the 2nd Amendment, claiming that it doesn’t ‘take away’ anyone’s right to keep and bear arms.
But there is no question that the bill adds an additional financial burden on gun ownership, and those with lower incomes are those who will be hit the hardest. If a bill makes it harder for an ordinary civilian to buy firearms and ammunition, then a very strong and compelling case can be made that the bill does indeed constitute infringement, and is therefore unconstitutional.
Opposing HR 5103
To show your opposition to HR 5103, you can check out this link that will take you to the Firearms Policy Coalition website, where you can sign an online form that will send a message to your legislator telling them to vote no on the bill.
Conclusion
In short, HR 5103 is simply the latest sneaky (except not too sneaky) attempt to add more 'gun control' laws to the United States.
The bill would greatly increase taxes on firearms sales and especially on ammunition, which could serve to discourage those with lower incomes from buying guns and ammunition.
Since the bill places huge additional economic burdens on buying guns and ammunition, it does constitute infringement on the 2nd Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The 'excuse' of funds towards "gun violence and its prevention" is a classic ploy in order to further try and limit Second Amendment rights. 'Gun Control' has many faces and this is but one example along with the wish to apply bans on 'evil black rifles' and magazine capacity etc. As usual the long term objective is as ever the intention to eventually eradicate gun ownership altogether, which of course would only ever affect the law abiding.