Liberty & Justice for All: Senator Reid's New Tax on Guns

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APRIL 3, 2013 Senator Harry Reid’s New Tax on Guns Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) wants to tax your gun rights. His new legislation charges you a fee that is in essence a federal tax on selling or giving away your firearm, and he lets Attorney General Eric Holder decide how big that tax will be. Senate Democrats Charles Schumer of New York, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, and Barbara Boxer of California have introduced a raft of gun control legislation (S. 374, S. 54, and S. 146, respectively). Senator Leahy, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, rammed the legislation through committee in record time—not even bothering to issue the customary committee reports to explain the bills—and Reid combined the bills into a single gun control bill (S. 649). Firearms owners across the country and others who care about their right to keep and bear arms should keep a close eye on the Reid legislation. Your rights are under attack. Gun rights have been important since before there was a U.S. Constitution. Advocates of the people’s gun rights ultimately carried the day in the federal Congress, and the states ratified what is now known as the Second Amendment, which guarantees the right of the people to keep and bear arms. The Reid gun control bill purports to “fix gun checks.” The proposed “fix” is to take away an individual’s right to sell or give away a firearm to another individual unless, in most cases, the individual (1) uses a licensed importer, dealer, or manufacturer to make the transfer of the firearm and (2) pays a fee to that importer, dealer, or manufacturer to make the transfer. The individual transferring the firearm is not actually receiving a service; the federal government is receiving the service. The service the government gets is a background check on the intended recipient of the firearm, because the law requires the importer, dealer, or manufacturer to run the recipient through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. Forcing the individual to pay for the government-mandated service, which is in fact a service to the government, is in essence a federal tax on the individual. And the amount the individual pays as a fee is not limited by the legislation; it grants to Attorney General Eric Holder the power to set the maximum fee by regulation. The Reid gun tax is but one of the dangers of the Senate Democrats’ gun control legislation. Senator Reid has the gun control bill on the fast track through the Senate. Those who care about their gun rights should remember Obamacare: The faster and harder Senators try to ram legislation through the Senate, the more you know the legislation is bad for America. What do you think? Raise your voice on our blog >> Is the Government Reading Your E-mail? Another Supreme Chance to Ban Discrimination Mandatory Voter Registration Threatens Integrity of Elections As Trial Lawyers Object, Penn. Arbitration Reform Advances School Choice Victory in Colorado: Appeals Court Win   Shelton v. Fla. Secretary of Corrections: Guilty Until Proven Innocent? Can Florida change the rules so that, instead of the government having to prove that a citizen intended to commit a crime, the citizen has to demonstrate that he had no idea that his acts violated the law? That's the key question in this criminal conviction case currently pending before the Supreme Court. Read the rest of the story >>   The Center for Legal and Judicial Studies at The Heritage Foundation Founded in 1973, The Heritage Foundation is the nation’s most broadly supported public policy organization. Heritage created the Center for Legal and Judicial Studies in 2001 to educate government officials, the media and the public about the Constitution, legal principles and how they affect public policy. The Heritage Foundation | 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 | 202.546.4400 | heritage.org