House Democrats Propose 1000% Gun Tax

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today ripped a group of House Democrats led by Virginia Congressman Don Beyer for resurrecting a 2022 proposal to place a 1,000-percent excise tax on the sale of so-called “assault weapons” and” high-capacity magazines.”

“This proposal shows how outrageous some Capitol Hill Democrats have become in their efforts to restrict Second Amendment rights,” said CCRKBA Managing Director Andrew Gottlieb. “The fact that the idea failed last year, when it had a few more sponsors and when Beyer’s party was in the majority, shows just how inane most of his colleagues thought the proposal was.”

The proposed measure, H.R. 5135, was announced last week but there is still no language available on the House website. The only available text says the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 would be amended to impose the tax “and for other purposes,” whatever that might be.

“Congressman Beyer has been very candid about this proposal from the start,” Gottlieb said. “He acknowledged the intent is to essentially discourage people from purchasing modern semi-automatic rifles by literally pricing them out of the market.”

He suggested Beyer and his colleagues resurrected the scheme to appeal to the gun control extremists who now comprise the party’s base. The fact his proposal failed the first time should provide a strong signal how it will fare this time around, with a Republican majority.

“Even if this exorbitant tax were to somehow be approved,” Gottlieb said, “it is unlikely to survive a court challenge. The notion that government can literally tax a constitutional right into extinction is so astonishing that it suggests the authors have little grasp of the Republic as envisioned by the Founders, and absolutely no respect for the Constitution and its Bill of Rights.”

SCOTUS Grants Stay in Frame, Receiver Case During Fifth Circuit Appeal

In the August issue of LSA Quarterly we reported on the activity to date for the VANDERSTOK v. GARLAND case. Briefly, this case brought by Jennifer VanDerStok et al. against the ATF contends that the ATF illegally expanded the statutory definition of the terms "firearm" and "receiver." The lawsuit was initiated challenging the 2021 ATF regulatory revisions of the Gun Control Act definitions of firearm, firearm frame, and receiver.

We reported that the Fifth Circuit panel said, "Because the ATF has not demonstrated a strong likelihood of success on the merits, nor irreparable harm in the absence of a stay, we DENY the government’s request to stay the vacatur of the two challenged portions of the Rule.“ In other words, the court denied the ATF the ability to enforce the ban on 80% billets while the case was being heard.

However, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday, August 9 granted a stay sought by the Biden administration in a federal challenge of the “new rule” on frames and receivers published by the ATF, allowing the rule to remain in effect while the case moves through the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The high court stay is in effect through the final disposition of the appeal.

To clear up this legalese, the SCOTUS is allowing the ATF to enforce the new rule while the Fifth Circuit considers the case. It is important to note that SCOTUS did not address the merits of the case, and there is no reason to expect anything but a favorable ruling from the Fifth Circuit Court.