Possibly not a "tax", per se, but some sort of "surcharge" in your state that was approved without your knowing?
A few years ago, a friend of mine griped when he learned that the California State government had approved a "surcharge" of .50 cents on a carton of cigarettes. His gripe was actually justified, for the clerk at Costco charged him for the price, then the "surcharge", and the total was subjected to the state sales tax. In essence, it was a tax ON a tax!
Several years ago, in California, a bill was submitted that would have imposed a 5-cents per ROUND tax on factory-loaded ammo....including .22LR ammo. It didn't pass, but a couple of years later, it was re-submitted....only it had been increased to a 10-cents per ROUND tax! Had it been passed, a box of 50 rounds of .22 ammo would have cost more in TAXES than the actual cost of the ammo!
Lest any of you forget, the late/former U.S. Senator from New York, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, authored federal legislation that would have imposed a 10,000% increase in the federal taxation on factory-loaded ammo. During one of his last interviews, prior to his death, he said that he had not submitted the legislative document because "the timing wasn't right". That legislative document was NOT destroyed, and was supposedly handed-off to a certain U.S. Senate "hopeful" (at the time) named Hillary Clinton! She supposedly VOWED to submit the legislation "when the time is right"....and, YES, she just HAPPENS to be in the run for the Presidency! Can you imagine a 10,000% increase in the federal taxes on ammo? I'm sure that it would be...."For the children"!
Just think....your ENTIRE paycheck for a little "plinking" with a .22 rifle! Oh, and if you HORDE ammo BEFORE an absurd tax increase, you might be required to get an "arsenal" license....and pay even MORE taxes!
(50 years ago, when I was only 10, my dad said, "They (meaning the government) may not be able to take away our guns, but they MAY increase the taxes so much on ammunition that only the rich will be able to shoot or hunt....and that's why you need to learn how to reload ammo!")
I work for a major sporting goods retailer (begins with an "A") behind the gun counter and one of our customers proceeded to buy most of our 9mm FMJ (about 4 cases worth). He said he is buying as much practice ammo as he can because there is a tax increase that amounts to a dollar a box (of 50 rounds) starting March 29. I have not heard of any tax nor price increase in particular. Any one else???
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