Politics

Chicago Makes It a Little Harder for You to Own a Gun–Unless You are a Cop

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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.