[TheLastBoyScout]

Does anyone else here get annoyed because your non-hunting firearms are taxed to get money for state gamelands/wildlife programs? I think its unfair that my gun should help pay for hunting related programs while the gun itself is illegal to hunt with.

[El Tejon]

Yes. Remember people only hate the welfare state if it does not benefit them. Everyone wants everyone else to pay the freight.;)

[coonan357]

well if that is the case they should open up more public ranges with a handguns area with a IDPA type course on it .. .. I don't hunt , I have no desire to hunt , I will buy tags for my freinds who do hunt to get venison for me , so when I buy the tag that is my tax. I will every now and then contribute some dough to a conservation club , but after I see how the state wastes money buying Suvs(expiditions ) for Animal cops and they get them stuck out in a field (private no less) I have a very bad attitude towards this typew of taxing .

[NotQuiteSane]

Where's the "there should be no taxes period" option?

NQS

[Chris Rhines]

Taxes annoy me for the same reason that armed robbery annoys me.

- Chris

[cobb]

TheLastBoyScout, I assume that you are talking about the 11% that goes to the Pittman-Robertson Act fund, correct?

[Quartus]

Taxes annoy me for the same reason that armed robbery annoys me.


The Founding Fathers had a very different viewpoint. It's beginning to look like most of our modern 'patriots' substitute a spoiled brat approach for the serious understanding of political theory that was common in 1776.

[TheLastBoyScout]

I don't know what the law itself is called. The adults around me call it 'the excise tax'. NQS and Chris, do you honestly believe that there should be no taxes? If that was so, how could the government do its most basic jobs like defending the country and enforcing the law?

[Sir Galahad]

Here in Arizona, the money funds public shooting ranges also. Game & Fish operates the ranges here.

The way I see it, hunting or not, as long as firearms remain tied to hunting, it only helps the 2nd Amendment.

BUT, I have an addendum. There ought to be the same tax applied on backpacking gear for others who use public wilderness, not just hunters and shooters. There's nothing I hate more than some anti-hunting eco-freak who pays NOTHING towards wildlife conservation while hunters pay more than their share. Let's see the eco-freaks and back-to-nature crowd start paying their fair share for using the same wilderness hunters do. I'm against most taxes on the whole, in particular sales taxes, but this is one tax that goes for something that will benefit future generations of grandchildren to pass the heritage of hunting on to.

[jmbg29]

I will buy tags for my freinds who do hunt to get venison for me , so when I buy the tag that is my tax.I didn't know that there was a poaching tax in Indiana.

[El Tejon]

jmbg, the poaching tax here will run you, 0-60 days, and up $500.00 in fine, plus the contractual obligation with the tilecrawler.:D

[Khornet]

said, "The man who robs Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul."

[Ian]

Beyond a fundamental objection to taxation, using taxes from guns to fund hunting programs irritates me because it furthers the misconception that the second amendment is about hunting.

TheLastBoyScout - Absolutely, there should be no taxes. I don't believe there are any functions performed by government which could not be done better and cheaper by private industry.

Quartus - The founding fathers initially created a Confederation that had no power to tax. Not at all. It was forced to solicit donations in order to function (what better way to keep it in control?). When that Confederation was attacked by the power-hungry politicians of the day, many of the original founders (Jefferson, Paine, Henry, Adams and others) would have nothing to do with it. Does that make them "spoiled brats" too?

[EJ]

I am for it -- BUT

I am concerned by the attitude often (not always) evidenced by hunters who are not also shooters--
The smugness willbe the downfall of both our camps--

[coonan357]

Uh El Tejon remember it was not I that used the first free consult I am reserving that for later ..:D as for JMBG29 , I don't live in the hoosier quite yet but hopefully soon and the tags I buy are for Ill, IND, And Mich . I go on the trip but punch holes in paper or play housekeeper (NO NOT THAT WAY !!) , gunsmith and maintance man . the things I do for venison jerky and sausage ... I agree about the outdoor goods should be taxed equally . especially the atvers since I seen alot of them tear up public lands ..

[jmbg29]

I go on the trip but punch holes in paper or play housekeeper (NO NOT THAT WAY !!) , gunsmith and maintance man . the things I do for venison jerky and sausage ... Well then you should be careful to check the various state laws wherever you are hunting. Example: (WA St.) If your buddy shoots a deer for you with a tag that you bought, you are both guilty of "Party hunting", a poaching offense. Depending on the severity (repeat offense etc.) you could be fined rather heavily and lose your privledge to hunt in WA St. for a few years.

[Don45cal]

I think that as long as the money is going to the intended location, i.e. wildlife, hunting & fishing its worth it. I support all shooting and outdoor sports period!! It doesn't matter if I do it or not!!