Yes, it's collected by the BATF, but I'm pretty sure any tax is also under the jurisdiction of the IRS. Can anybody point me to specifics? If it were restructured to be identified as a fee and not as an excise tax, then it would be a different case.
Soon after the Las Vegas shooting, Trump vowed to outlaw bump stocks and his administration did. Since there was resistance by lawmakers, the only way this could be accomplished was by a regulatory change. Thus Trump directed the Justice Dept to make a regulatory change in the definition of what constitutes a fully automatic weapon.That change now means, by law, possession of once legal bump stocks now could mean hefty fines and up to ten years in prison. Whether it was a law or rule change, it still was a move by Trump and put more restrictions upon responsible gun ownership.....and that, is canon.
The NFA taxes are administered by the ATF, not the IRS. (Yes, the ATF originally was part of the IRS, but it was split off many years ago. Now, it's not even part of Treasury, but has been moved over to the Justice Department.)
Without a change in the media that people trust and what that media is saying, I don't see any wholesale way to do it.
Outsourcing the effort.
Ya, I don't know ... and I don't mean to criticize or offend, and only quoting as an example to effect and not to be personal ... but ... it's statements like this that one expects to hear when people begin trying to accomodate their thinking to tolerate something unwanted and unpleasant ... but not inevitable.
Good!! Agreed!!
I would actually have thought the number would be much higher.
The problem with such taxes at any stage except point of purchase, is that it effectively establishes a gun registry. Which is what tyrants historically do as a prerequisite for confiscation.
I have read that in other countries who have mandated involuntary "buybacks" and the like, and also in individual US states that enacted "assault weapon" bans of various flavors, the vast majority of gun owners have simply not reported their firearms.
He was persuaded by the NRA that outlawing bump stocks would avert the enactment of an "assault weapons" ban.
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No they don't, but the government can get it if they need it for a criminal investigation. ( I had this conversation with my insurance agent ).
Changing the attitude of an adult is probably out of reach, but you can work on the attitudes of their children.
This is a good point. On a contrary note, Australia and New Zealand don't have much of a gun industry to destroy. So it will likely be tougher to do that here, where there is a large gun industry.
