Chicago Makes It a Little Harder for You to Own a Gun–Unless You are a Cop
One more part of the general trend in attempts to make gun ownership or purchasing just a little bit more expensive or annoying on the margin, since, darn it, they can't seem to ban them entirely, this time out of Chicago, as reported by CBS Chicago:
a new $25-per-gun tax in Cook County went into effect on Monday.
WBBM Newsradio's Nancy Harty reports the new gun tax is estimated to generate $600,000 a year for Cook County. The gun tax ordinance includes an exemption for law enforcement officers who purchase guns in the county…..
Another bureaucratic measure making gun ownership a potentially huge legal burden for the innocent:
The county also has targeted straw purchasers – people who buy guns legally, then sell them to others who can't – by imposing fines of up to $2,000 for failing to report the transfer, loss, or theft of a gun.
Unsuccessful lawsuits tried to block the tax, which proponents admitted was partially aimed at limiting the number of guns in circulation, admitting a Second Amendment-violating goal, not just a revenue one.
I wrote for Reason back in 2010 the detailed history of the Supreme Court case McDonald v. Chicago, in which it was established that indeed they could not ban them entirely.
Show Comments (42)