It’s now considered a classic comedy routine…
Chris Rock’s bit on gun control where he says: “I like guns. You don’t need gun control, we need bullet control. I think all bullets should cost $5,000. Because if a bullet cost $5,000, there would be no more innocent bystanders.”
As a comedy routine, such a ludicrous concept is hilarious. But as a matter of real-life legislation, it’s nothing short of tyranny.
And it’s why I wasn’t laughing when I first read about Cook County’s President Toni Preckwinkle’s proposed “bullet tax.”
This is not a joke, my friends.
In a proposed budget, Preckwinkle included language that would impose a $0.05 tax for every bullet sold and $25 for each firearm sold in the county (which, incidentally, is the second-largest county in the nation).
Preckwinkle told reporters the violence in Cook County is devastating, and the wide availability of ammunition only exacerbates the problem.
So the solution to all that violence is to make it harder for law-abiding gun owners to buy ammunition?
Give me a break!
Don’t kid yourself; the criminals responsible for the 409 reported homicides in Cook County this year aren’t really the type to legally buy their Winchester Hollow Points from legitimate gun shops.
A Blatant Attack on the Second Amendment
When the bullet tax story first broke, a lot of folks thought this was just a way for the county to raise some extra revenue. But I don’t buy it.
Cook County is short about $267 million for its fiscal 2013 budget. The expected revenue from this tax would cover less than 0.04% of the county’s budget shortfall.
No, I’m sorry. This just stinks of yet another bureaucrat looking to gut the second amendment.
Sure, on the surface, it may not seem so sinister to most folks. In fact, Preckwinkle attempts to justify the tax by stating that acute trauma care for a shooting victim costs $52,000 on average and 70% of shooting victims have no insurance, thereby forcing the state to intervene.
So now law-abiding gun owners are supposed to foot the bill for the county’s inability to solve its own bigger and festering societal problems?
Mark my words: A $0.05 tax on bullets will do absolutely zero to curb homicide rates or alleviate health care cost burdens in Cook County.
And it’s why I’m absolutely convinced this tax is nothing more than a blatant attack on the second amendment — which, if approved, will open the flood gates for similar tax schemes across the nation.
This is a Pretty Big Deal
Even if you’re not a gun owner or have no intention of being a gun owner, you must understand that Preckwinkle’s proposed tax is more than just a “tax.”
It’s an assault on the second amendment.
And that’s a pretty big deal.
Certainly, no one would sit by if the government decided to propose a tax on any person seeking to speak at a council meeting… because such a tax would be in direct violation of your first amendment rights.
And no one should be sitting by while this bureaucrat seeks to impose a tax that would ultimately weaken the second amendment and punish those who seek to exercise and protect it.
Now to be honest, I don’t think it’ll pass — but that’s only because there are so many people in this country that will fight it tooth and nail to see that it doesn’t…
And while Preckwinkle has arrogantly stated that she even welcomes the NRA to sue, because she believes the county council can survive any challenge, I don’t believe the council would even be able to afford such a lawsuit. Not even the proposed revenue from the bullet tax would cover it.
All that being said, I strongly urge you to stay on top of this story. Share it with friends and family as well.
Because the day we stop monitoring and fighting these types of attacks on the second amendment is the day they actually succeed in getting rid of it altogether. And I’m not OK with that.
Jeff Siegel
for Freedom Watch
