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Not like we didn’t know this, but perhaps gun control groups and politicians should stop using extortion via taxes on firearms, ammo and registration schemes and claiming it’s “common sense gun safety”. From Rand Corporation:
Taxation has been a standard policy lever used to limit the harms associated with potentially dangerous goods (e.g., cigarettes, alcohol, and soda or sugary beverages). It has rarely been used to manage risks associated with gun violence, however. Although several states and localities have imposed special taxes on firearms and ammunition, these have typically been used to generate revenue, not as a strategy for reducing access to firearms or limiting gun crimes. Given limited variation in state and local firearm and ammunition taxes in recent history, as well as the absence of consistent data on firearm and ammunition prices over time and across geographies, there is little empirical evidence to indicate how taxation would influence firearm-related outcomes, such as violent crime, suicide, self-defense, or sales of firearms.
The real purpose (besides extorting those legally purchasing guns and ammo)? Try and make it less appealing to people and also fund “gun violence prevention“ (groups and programs, most created in part with gun control lobbying groups):
Although these local tax increases were primarily intended as revenue-generating mechanisms to fund public safety or gun violence prevention, larger tax hikes have occasionally been proposed as a preventive mechanism to reduce new purchases of firearms or ammunition and limit gun violence. Most proposed state and local measures to this effect have not passed, but in April 2016, the Northern Mariana Islands (a U.S. territory) passed a provision imposing a $1,000 tax on pistols; later that year, a federal judge struck down the excise tax as imposing undue burden on individuals’ ability to exercise their constitutional rights.
So there you have it. Next time some anti-gun activist or politician states “more taxes is common sense gun safety”, you can now show them research conducted by RAND Corp that shows it’s nothing more than extorting legal gun owners. Also, considering groups like Everytown have used RAND Corp to argue in favor of their positions before, I’d love to see their response...