A new legislative session brings new legislators, and in Connecticut, a new tax hike intended to target gun owners.
The new proposal would impose a 50 percent sales tax on ammunition, aiming to take a tax bite out of the Second Amendment and grab money for Hartford at the same time.
The bill is being pushed by Connecticut state Senator Will Haskell and state Representative Jillian Gilchrest.
As noted by the CT Mirror:
Ammunition is currently taxed at the standard sales tax rate, which is 6.35 percent. A 50-cartridge box of handgun ammunition for a 9mm weapon costs about $10 at Cabela’s; this proposal would increase the cost to consumers for that ammunition from $10.63 to $15.00 after taxes.
This measure is clearly a strategy to make it more difficult for Connecticut citizens to exercise their rights because left-wing Hartford politicians don’t like those rights.
Gilchrest and Haskell are both new members who won running from the left.
Haskell is also co-sponsor of numerous pieces of legislation that hurt Connecticut taxpayers, including: a new tax on liquid vaping products, a radical minimum wage increase, and “free” (meaning taxpayer-funded) college tuition.
A higher ammunition tax in the State of Connecticut would hurt small businesses that sell sporting goods, especially ones that sell ammunition, rifles, and other forms of hunting equipment.
It would also be particularly harmful to Northwestern and Eastern Connecticut, where people rely on hunting.
Holly Sullivan, an Executive Board Member of Connecticut Citizens Defense League, said of the tax:
“This proposed tax would make Connecticut residents less safe by restricting their ability to train, practice and develop the skills necessary to defend themselves. It drives a greater divide between those who can afford it and those who cannot. What other Constitutional right can only be executed based on ability to pay?”
Sullivan added this bill “hurts small business and ultimately the state. If this tax is enacted, many will simply shop out of state.”