Republicans seek to ax state taxes on guns and ammo

EXCLUSIVE — Congressional Republicans want to roll back or block efforts by mostly blue states to implement excise sales taxes on firearms, ammunition, and firearm accessories that would subsidize gun violence prevention programs and medical trauma centers.

Sen. James Risch (R-ID), ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, will introduce a bill Thursday to halt states or municipalities from taking such action that he says would “place a significant financial burden on law-abiding gun owners to advance [states’] anti-Second Amendment agenda.”

More than a half-dozen states are looking to follow California’s lead, which on July 1 enacted a first-in-the-nation 11% firearms tax in addition to the minimum federal tax of 10%.

Risch’s legislation, dubbed the Freedom from Unfair Gun Taxes Act and first seen by the Washington Examiner, has no viability in a divided Congress but is among the type of bills Republicans are eyeing to pass if the GOP sweeps Congress and the White House this fall.

“Democrats’ latest attack on the Second Amendment looks like an excessive excise tax to fund gun control initiatives,” Risch said in a statement.

The measure would not alter existing state firearm taxes benefiting federal wildlife conservation programs under the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act.

California’s new tax, signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), is estimated to generate $160 million annually to fund state gun violence prevention programs that address school security and stripping domestic abusers of firearms. Other states where lawmakers have proposed following suit in some fashion include Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Colorado, New Mexico, Vermont, New York, Massachusetts, and Washington.

Maryland proponents, for example, say a proposed 11% tax on guns and ammo would generate $13 million annually and be divided among various programs and hospitals but primarily would fund the state’s trauma system that treats gunshot victims.

At least three municipalities have already taken similar action: Washington’s Seattle and Tacoma, and Illinois’s Cook County.

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), who will introduce the House version of Risch’s bill, accused his home state of seeking to “raise the price of self-defense out of reach for any American.”

“California’s new imposition of a ‘sin tax’ on firearms and ammunition equates a core constitutional freedom with gambling or drug use,” Issa told the Washington Examiner in a statement.

Risch’s legislation is endorsed by gun advocate groups, including the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, the National Shooting Sports Foundation, and the National Rifle Association. Its original co-sponsors include Sens. Mike Crapo (R-ID), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Kevin Cramer (R-ND), Steve Daines (R-MT), Deb Fischer (R-NB) and Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC).