SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.) speaks during a news conference on Tuesday, May 18, 2021. (Photo: Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Beyer Proposes Filibuster-Proof 1,000% Tax on AR-15s
"What it's intended to do is provide another creative pathway to actually make some sensible gun control happen," said the Virginia Democrat of the proposal.
Jun 06, 2022
With senators negotiating a gun control package that is expected to leave out a reinstatement of an assault weapons ban and expanded background checks on gun purchases, Rep. Don Beyer is proposing a unique method of keeping AR-15s and similar semiautomatic weapons out of people's hands.
The Virginia Democrat said late Sunday that he's drafting a proposal to impose a 1,000% excise tax on firearms like the ones used by numerous perpetrators of mass shootings in recent years.
"We think that a 1,000% fee on assault weapons is just the kind of restrictive measure that creates enough fiscal impact to qualify for reconciliation."
With AR-15s costing between $500 and $2,000, the tax would add up to $20,000 onto the weapons' price tag. The tax would also apply to high-capacity magazines that carry more than 10 rounds of ammunition, Business Insider reported, and weapons with one or more military characteristic including a pistol grip, a forward grip, or a folding or telescoping stock--the type of firearms Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) are seeking to ban with legislation introduced in 2021.
Beyer said Sunday he believes the proposal could pass with a simple majority in the Senate via reconciliation, allowing it to bypass the legislative filibuster, which requires 60 votes for bills to pass. Right-wing Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have opposed reforming the filibuster, obstructing their own party's agenda since President Joe Biden took office.
"What it's intended to do is provide another creative pathway to actually make some sensible gun control happen," Beyer told Insider. "We think that a 1,000% fee on assault weapons is just the kind of restrictive measure that creates enough fiscal impact to qualify for reconciliation."
\u201cCongress must act to prevent mass shootings.\n\nI\u2019m writing a bill to restrict the flow of weapons of war into American communities - including AR-15\u2019s and high capacity magazines - that could bypass the filibuster and pass with just 50 votes in the Senate:\nhttps://t.co/dXFRFftYxu\u201d— Rep. Don Beyer (@Rep. Don Beyer) 1654441630
According to Insider, the proposal could be included in a spending bill containing parts of Biden's climate action and taxation agenda.
Beyer said revenue from the tax could go towards a restitution program for family members of people killed in shootings.
The proposal comes two years after Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) proposed a 30% tax on handguns and a 50% tax on shells and cartridges.
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
With senators negotiating a gun control package that is expected to leave out a reinstatement of an assault weapons ban and expanded background checks on gun purchases, Rep. Don Beyer is proposing a unique method of keeping AR-15s and similar semiautomatic weapons out of people's hands.
The Virginia Democrat said late Sunday that he's drafting a proposal to impose a 1,000% excise tax on firearms like the ones used by numerous perpetrators of mass shootings in recent years.
"We think that a 1,000% fee on assault weapons is just the kind of restrictive measure that creates enough fiscal impact to qualify for reconciliation."
With AR-15s costing between $500 and $2,000, the tax would add up to $20,000 onto the weapons' price tag. The tax would also apply to high-capacity magazines that carry more than 10 rounds of ammunition, Business Insider reported, and weapons with one or more military characteristic including a pistol grip, a forward grip, or a folding or telescoping stock--the type of firearms Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) are seeking to ban with legislation introduced in 2021.
Beyer said Sunday he believes the proposal could pass with a simple majority in the Senate via reconciliation, allowing it to bypass the legislative filibuster, which requires 60 votes for bills to pass. Right-wing Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have opposed reforming the filibuster, obstructing their own party's agenda since President Joe Biden took office.
"What it's intended to do is provide another creative pathway to actually make some sensible gun control happen," Beyer told Insider. "We think that a 1,000% fee on assault weapons is just the kind of restrictive measure that creates enough fiscal impact to qualify for reconciliation."
\u201cCongress must act to prevent mass shootings.\n\nI\u2019m writing a bill to restrict the flow of weapons of war into American communities - including AR-15\u2019s and high capacity magazines - that could bypass the filibuster and pass with just 50 votes in the Senate:\nhttps://t.co/dXFRFftYxu\u201d— Rep. Don Beyer (@Rep. Don Beyer) 1654441630
According to Insider, the proposal could be included in a spending bill containing parts of Biden's climate action and taxation agenda.
Beyer said revenue from the tax could go towards a restitution program for family members of people killed in shootings.
The proposal comes two years after Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) proposed a 30% tax on handguns and a 50% tax on shells and cartridges.
With senators negotiating a gun control package that is expected to leave out a reinstatement of an assault weapons ban and expanded background checks on gun purchases, Rep. Don Beyer is proposing a unique method of keeping AR-15s and similar semiautomatic weapons out of people's hands.
The Virginia Democrat said late Sunday that he's drafting a proposal to impose a 1,000% excise tax on firearms like the ones used by numerous perpetrators of mass shootings in recent years.
"We think that a 1,000% fee on assault weapons is just the kind of restrictive measure that creates enough fiscal impact to qualify for reconciliation."
With AR-15s costing between $500 and $2,000, the tax would add up to $20,000 onto the weapons' price tag. The tax would also apply to high-capacity magazines that carry more than 10 rounds of ammunition, Business Insider reported, and weapons with one or more military characteristic including a pistol grip, a forward grip, or a folding or telescoping stock--the type of firearms Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) are seeking to ban with legislation introduced in 2021.
Beyer said Sunday he believes the proposal could pass with a simple majority in the Senate via reconciliation, allowing it to bypass the legislative filibuster, which requires 60 votes for bills to pass. Right-wing Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) have opposed reforming the filibuster, obstructing their own party's agenda since President Joe Biden took office.
"What it's intended to do is provide another creative pathway to actually make some sensible gun control happen," Beyer told Insider. "We think that a 1,000% fee on assault weapons is just the kind of restrictive measure that creates enough fiscal impact to qualify for reconciliation."
\u201cCongress must act to prevent mass shootings.\n\nI\u2019m writing a bill to restrict the flow of weapons of war into American communities - including AR-15\u2019s and high capacity magazines - that could bypass the filibuster and pass with just 50 votes in the Senate:\nhttps://t.co/dXFRFftYxu\u201d— Rep. Don Beyer (@Rep. Don Beyer) 1654441630
According to Insider, the proposal could be included in a spending bill containing parts of Biden's climate action and taxation agenda.
Beyer said revenue from the tax could go towards a restitution program for family members of people killed in shootings.
The proposal comes two years after Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) proposed a 30% tax on handguns and a 50% tax on shells and cartridges.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.