Tax The Gun Manufacturers and Lobbyists To Protect Society and Support Victims
This morning I see the images of the six and seven year olds who died in the Connecticut shooting this week and my heart cries out for them and their families. There is pain, sorrow, and even disbelief as the reports continue to pour in. I can hear the collective voice of America crying out “Why?”
To the average person these acts by the people who commit them seem so unimaginable. We feel even more helpless and horrified.
This latest tragedy has precipitated an outcry for more sensible gun control laws like restoring the ban on assault weapons that was allowed to expire by Congress.
This I can agree with.
"We never should have let the Federal ban on assault weapons expire."
You don't need an automatic rifle to hunt deer or large magazines for handguns to defend yourself.
I also believe that there should be a tax levied on gun manufacturers per weapon manufactured both domestically and imported to create “a Fund.” This Fund would benefit victims of gun violence and act as a resource for public places like schools to get grants to incorporate things like “metal detectors that lock down entryways and isolate intruders” as they attempt to enter a building with weapons in an effort to protect students, employees and the public.
Such a tax would increase the cost of weapons but not take away people’s right to own them. Maybe it is time that we made those who make such weapons help pay for the cost of protection and the consequences of their use.
Gun Companies give millions to lobbyists like Grover Norqust through the NRA to lobby Washington for lax gun laws. How about the NRA be required to help pay to help stop the insanity. Shouldn't they be held accountable for gun violence as “accessories after the fact?”
Gun rights have always been a hot political topic. This issue goes back and forth with each season of violence but nothing gets better.
Maybe it is time we impose taxes and fees on the industry itself including its lobbyists.
Use the revenues to help protect society and support those affected by these weapons.