Liberal opponents of firearms may have found a new way to impose gun control by approving huge taxes that are twice the price of weapons.
Taxpayer advocate Grover Norquist on Wednesday cited a $1,000 tax leveled by the government of Northern Marianas Islands, a U.S. territory, as exhibit No. 1. It came after a federal judge ruled the territory’s gun ban unconstitutional.
As a result, the government moved swiftly to pass the tax this month.
Other governments have also turned to taxes to curb purchases of guns and bullets and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton is on record favoring a 25 percent sales tax on guns.
Norquist, the head of Americans for Tax Reform and a member of the National Rifle Association’s board, said, “The Left is now seeking to tax guns out of existence. The Second Amendment makes it difficult to legally ban guns, but Hillary has led the way to explaining you can achieve the same thing with high taxes.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected]
