Homeless in Arizona

Official proposes bullet tax to curb Chicago crime

Oct. 18, 2012 02:37 PM

Associated Press

CHICAGO -- As Chicago struggles to quell gang violence that has contributed to a jump in homicides, a top elected official wants to tax the sale of every bullet and firearm -- an effort that has national gun-rights advocates already considering a legal challenge.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle submitted a proposed budget on Thursday that would impose a tax of a nickel for each bullet and $25 for each firearm sold in the nation's second-largest county, which encompasses Chicago.

Preckwinkle's office estimates the tax will generate about $1 million a year, money that would be used for various county services including medical care for gunshot victims. Law enforcement officials would not have to pay the tax, but the office said it would apply to 40 federally licensed gun dealers in the county.

Through last week, the city reported 409 homicides this year compared to 324 during the same period in 2011. Although the violence still doesn't approach the nearly 900 homicides a year Chicago averaged in the 1990s, officials say gang activity was largely to blame for a rash of shootings earlier this year.

Preckwinkle insists the ordinance is far more about addressing gun violence than raising money for a county that faces a budget shortfall of more than $260 million.

"The violence in Cook County is devastating and the wide availability of ammunition only exacerbates the problem," she told the board Thursday.

Dave Workman, of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Bear Arms, said the tax is sure to infuriate gun-rights advocates when they hear about it.

"It's not the law-abiding citizens stacking bodies like cordwood in Chicago; it's the bad guys," he said.

Preckwinkle sought to fend off that argument during her remarks Thursday. She said nearly a third of the guns recovered by police after being used in Chicago crimes had been purchased legally, initially at least, in suburban Cook County.

Earlier this week during a meeting with a newspaper editor board, Preckwinkle called the county's legal gun shops "a conduit for crimes in Chicago," according to a transcript released by her office. [Yea, and I bet all the legal auto dealers are "a conduit for crimes" in Chicago because of the cars they sold which were used as getaway cars!!!]

Neither Preckwinkle spokeswoman Kristen Mack nor a National Rifle Association spokesman knew of any other local jurisdiction in the nation that has imposed a tax on bullets, even though some have considered it. Legislation on such a tax was previously introduced by state lawmakers in Springfield, but it was never been voted on, Mack said. [I suspect it would be unconstitutional. I think in Arizona a tax on newspapers was declared unconstitutional because it violates the First Amendment. I suspect a tax on bullets might be unconstitutional for the same reason, but for the 2nd Amendment instead of 1st.]

Gun rights advocates from around the country who watched closely as Chicago's handgun ban made its way through the courts, culminating in a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2010 to overturn it, say this proposal has definitely caught their attention.

"Eyes are on Chicago and Illinois right now," said Andrew Arulanandam, a NRA spokesman.

Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, predicted the effort would "drive business out of Cook County" and into other counties and bordering states, such as Indiana and Wisconsin.

One suburban gun shop owner agreed, saying that his customers, many of whom are hunters, will simply go elsewhere.

"Who's going to come to Tinley Park to buy ammunition," said Fred Lutger, the owner of Freddie Bear Sport in that suburban Chicago community.

As for the money going toward treating gunshot victims, Lutger said, "Why should we be paying for gang bangers shooting each other?"

Some members of the county board that will be asked to approve the budget have expressed skepticism about whether the tax would raise as much money as Preckwinkle expects because it would simply prompt consumers to go elsewhere for their bullets and firearms.

Commissioner John Fritchey questioned whether county was simply setting itself up for a lawsuit that will cost the county more money than the tax will bring in. He also wondered if it would have any role in reducing crime.

"I don't think a nickel a bullet will cause a shooter to rethink pulling the trigger," he said.

Workman predicted a public outcry against Preckwinkle's motivation for proposing the measure.

"I could envision a coalition of different groups saying, 'Wait a minute, you are making us financially responsible for the Cook County government's inability to hold down spending?" he said.

While Arulanandam promised that the NRA "will jump on this issue," and perhaps sue, Preckwinkle said she wasn't worried about a lawsuit. [Well Preckwinkle isn't paying the lawyers out of her own pocket, she is using tax dollars they stole from us]

"You're welcome to sue," she said. "We've looked at this and we believe we can survive any challenge."

Bullet tax would double cost of a box of 500 .22 shells

Cook County Board Proposes Tax On Guns And Ammo

By Scott Olson (GETTY)

TINLEY PARK, IL - OCTOBER 18: A box of 500 .22 cal. bullets are offered for sale at Freddie Bear Sports on October 18, 2012 in Tinley Park, Illinois. Facing a $267.5 million fiscal 2013 budget gap, Cook County, which includes the City of Chicago and suburbs has proposed a tax of 5 cents per bullet and $25 on each firearm sold at gun and sporting goods stores in the county. The box of 500 .22 bullets, which retails for about $30 at Freddie Bear Sports, would cost nearly double with sales tax and the proposed "bullet tax" included. Fred Lutger, whose has owned Freddie Bear Sports for 35 years, is concerned with the impact the tax will have on his store which is located about 2 miles from the county line.

Taxing bullets criminal

Taxing bullets criminal

October 14, 2012|Steve Chapman

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle suggested a tax on sales of firearms and ammunition.

For urban politicians, gun control is like the bar in "Cheers" — a place of refuge they can seek out whenever things aren't going well. Things aren't going well on the crime front in Chicago, with homicides up 25 percent this year. So what else can our elected leaders do but promise action against guns?

Action against the possession and use of guns by violent felons would be a good idea, but the proposal offered by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle is something else: a penalty on nonviolent citizens who bear no blame for the carnage.

Preckwinkle suggested a tax on sales of firearms and ammunition, with the goal of defraying the costs that gunshots create for the county hospital and jail. Her representative couldn't say what the tax rate would be or how much revenue it would yield but said the fee would be "consistent with our commitment to pursuing violence reduction in the city and in the county."

It won the support of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who reiterated his commitment to "get guns and drugs off the streets" — as though this tax would dry up the existing stockpile of guns or reduce the flow of new ones.

The levy was dubbed a "violence tax," which is exactly what it isn't. It would not target criminals who have malice in mind, but would fall entirely on the law-abiding.

Anyone convicted of a felony, after all, is ineligible for an Illinois Firearm Owner's Identification Card, which is legally required to buy guns or bullets. Under federal law, felons are barred from owning guns. So ex-con gang members would not pay the tax because they make all their purchases in the illegal market. It would hit only those gun owners who have used their firearms responsibly.

Preckwinkle apparently regards her measure as the equivalent of taxes on tobacco or gasoline, which attempt to recoup from smokers and motorists some of the expenses they create for the medical system (when they get emphysema or lung cancer) or the road system (when they drive). But it's a false parallel.

The great majority of gun owners never cause the county to spend money providing medical care to gunshot victims, and they never take up expensive lodging in the county jail. Their guns don't impose a cost on society any more than a softball team's bats do.

The notion of taxing ammunition may be traced to comedian Chris Rock, who once quipped, "If a bullet costs $5,000, there'd be no more innocent bystanders." Before that, the legendary New York Democratic Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan suggested a 10,000 percent tax on the most destructive bullets. Make them too expensive, he theorized, and they would disappear.

Oh? Marijuana and cocaine are more expensive than they would be if they were legal, yet there is plenty of supply as well as demand. Put an extravagant — or even not so extravagant — fee on bullets, and black-market entrepreneurs will make and sell them outside regulated channels.

Active criminals have a strong interest in arming themselves, which is why even total bans (as Chicago long applied to handguns, until the U.S. Supreme Court interfered) don't have much effect on them. When your livelihood requires a deadly weapon, you will find a way to get it.

It's not as though criminals need a daily supply of ammo, making the tax a prohibitive expense. Legend has it that gangster Al Capone said you can get more with a smile and a gun than with just a smile, but he didn't usually need to pull a trigger to induce cooperation.

Even peaceable citizens are not likely to make a habit of paying the tax, since it invites widespread evasion. Anyone who wants to buy a weapon or ammunition can travel to a neighboring county, where gun retailers are more common anyway.

A county can do well with heavy duties on beer and cigarettes because people consume them often and want easy access. But a firearm purchase is not a frequent event in the life of a gun owner. Most hunters and target shooters won't mind an occasional suburban trip to pick up a few months' supply of ammo.

In the end, criminals will never pay the tax, law-abiding citizens will rarely pay it, and the county will get little revenue. The only purpose it will serve is to let upstanding gun owners know their local government views them with disdain. The feeling, for good reason, is mutual.

Steve Chapman is a member of the Tribune's editorial board and blogs at chicagotribune.com/chapman.

schapman@tribune.com

Twitter @SteveChapman13

Preckwinkle criticized for bullet tax idea

Preckwinkle criticized for bullet tax idea

October 09, 2012

By Hal Dardick and John Byrne | Clout Street

Democratic Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle faced criticism today after floating the idea of taxing guns and bullets to help balance the budget.

Commissioner Timothy Schneider said he’s worried such a tax would do little other than hurt county businesses that sell those products. “On first blush, anything that takes Cook County out of a level playing field with other counties, I can’t support,” said Schneider, R-Streamwood. Ads by Google

Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, said the tax would punish the wrong people.

"What’s causing the violent crime in Chicago are the drug dealers, the gangs, and if you are going to put a tax on something, why don’t you start taxing the gangs or the drug dealers," Pearson said. "They are just making law-abiding citizens pay for something that they didn’t do. That’s all this is going to do, and drive business out of Cook County, of course.”

Commissioner Gregg Goslin, R-Glenview, wondered how much help such a tax would be to address the county’s budget woes. “I can’t think that kind of volume of purchases would raise any real revenue,” Goslin said.

Still, Goslin said it’s likely Preckwinkle will find a majority of commissioners to agree to the tax if she decides to introduce it.

Preckwinkle met with reporters today, trying to frame the issue as being about health care. Preckwinkle said she doesn’t yet know how much she would charge per bullet and gun purchased, but would use the money to help pay for medical care for gunshot victims, to reduce the number of weapons on the street and address a serious shortfall in next year’s budget.

“Gun violence is a real problem for us. It’s a problem for us in our criminal justice system, and it’s a problem for us in our health care system, and I make no apologies for the proposal,” she said. Preckwinkle is set to introduce her budget next week.

Schneider noted law-abiding gun owners aren’t for the most part the ones sending uninsured shooting victims to emergency rooms, and said “bad actors” can buy guns on the street or easily cross over into Indiana or a neighboring county to make their purchases.

The county faces a $115 million deficit next year. Preckwinkle noted violence is a considerable expense for the county. ”Acute care for a shooting victim costs $52,000 on average, and 70 percent of shooting victims have no insurance,” she said. “Costs to Cook County go beyond those related to public health and medical treatment, as the county is responsible for maintaining public safety and for the prosecution and detention of those responsible for gun-related crimes.”

Commissioner Larry Suffredin, D-Evanston, has long backed gun-control legislation. He said he would need to look at the specifics of Preckwinkle’s tax idea. “Any idea that will, one, help with the safety issue and help us pay for the tremendous cost to the county that gun violence causes, I’m very intrigued by it, but I need more details,” Suffredin said.

Critics take aim at Preckwinkle bullet tax

Critics take aim at Preckwinkle bullet tax

October 10, 2012|By Hal Dardick and John Byrne, Chicago Tribune reporters

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle's idea of taxing guns and bullets to help balance the budget drew fire Tuesday from critics who argued it would punish law-abiding firearm owners while failing to quell violence.

The first-term board president's rollout of the bullet tax plan got off to a shaky start. Preckwinkle was light on details, saying she doesn't know what tax she would like to charge per bullet or handgun or how much revenue it would raise.

Preckwinkle also seemed unclear on state law governing the purchase of bullets. She told reporters that "ammunition sales are not regulated, which means even ammunition used in illegal gun activity can be purchased legally." In fact, an Illinois firearm owners identification card is required for ammunition purchases.

She sought to frame the potential tax increase as a response to the costs the county bears treating uninsured gunshot victims at emergency rooms and paying law enforcement and court personnel to cope with the effects of gun crime.

"Gun violence is a real problem for us. It's a problem for us in our criminal justice system, and it's a problem for us in our health care system, and I make no apologies for the proposal," Preckwinkle said.

Richard Pearson, executive director of the Illinois State Rifle Association, said the bullet tax would punish the wrong people.

"What's causing the violent crime in Chicago are the drug dealers, the gangs, and if you are going to put a tax on something, why don't you start taxing the gangs or the drug dealers." Pearson said. "They are just making law-abiding citizens pay for something that they didn't do. That's all this is going to do, and drive business out of Cook County, of course."

Pearson said his group would consider suing if the county adopts the tax.

County Commissioner Timothy Schneider said he's worried such a tax would do little other than hurt county businesses that sell those products. "On first blush, anything that takes Cook County out of a level playing field with other counties, I can't support," said Schneider, R-Streamwood.

And Commissioner Gregg Goslin, R-Glenview, wondered how much help an ammunition and gun tax would be in addressing the county's budget woes. "I can't think that kind of volume of purchases would raise any real revenue," Goslin said.

Still, Goslin said it's likely Preckwinkle will find a majority of commissioners to agree to the tax if she decides to introduce it.

The county faces a $115 million deficit next year, and Preckwinkle is set to introduce her budget next week. Preckwinkle offered figures that health care for a shooting victim costs $52,000 on average, and 70 percent of shooting victims have no insurance.

Democratic Commissioner Jeffrey Tobolski of McCook also expressed skepticism about a bullet tax, saying he wants to see more cuts to the county's Health and Hospital System before the administration asks for new revenue. "If you pass the gun and ammo tax, you are not hurting the gangbangers on the street," he said.

Commissioner John Fritchey, D-Chicago, noted that he supported gun control initiatives as a state lawmaker, but added that he's "still not sure how taxing bullets is going to keep kids from being shot. If I can see a meaningful correlation between taxing the ammunition of law-abiding citizens and most of the people committing the violence in Chicago, then I'd be willing to consider this. But right now I haven't seen this."