Peoria conservative Gary McCullough believes that a new bill to impose an additional 10 percent sales tax on so-called assault weapons is not only a misguided effort but also fruitless and wasteful.
“The tactic and strategy is incrementalism and the end game is to make firearms and ammunition completely illegal across the board,” McCullough told the Peoria Standard. “These kinds of sales taxes have been tried in other states on certain weapons and every time they’ve gone to the U.S. Supreme Court they’ve been ruled against. It’s just become a complete waste of taxpayer’s time and money.”
The bill filed by state Sen. Ann Gillespie (D-Arlington Heights) would also add the tax to magazines that hold more than 10 rounds of ammunition, prompting McCullough to wonder just how much the freshmen lawmaker comprehends about the issue.
"Assault weapons play an insignificant role in illegal crime," says Peoria conservative Gary McCullough.
“The senator seems to have no understanding of what she calls an 'assault weapon,'” McCullough said. “This is a common firearm for sporting. I just read a report that talks about how few crimes there are committed with assault weapons. From coast to coast, the number of deaths caused by handguns is rising but assault weapons play an insignificant role in illegal crime.”
McCullough says he is convinced such a tax would serve to particularly harm certain groups of people.
“The people who do not have the income to freely pay these added fees and taxes will be especially hurt,” he said. “It’s a tax that’s really going to hurt lower-income people when it comes to legal gun ownership.”
Currently, 44 states ban local taxes on firearms or ammunition.
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