Posted on 10/10/2012 9:31:25 AM PDT by marktwain
Someone standing at the intersection can see Stroger Hospital to the east, where many gunshot victims are treated; the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center to the south, where many shooters are incarcerated, and the Cook County medical examiner’s office to the west, where many shooting victims lie dead.
That intersection would be a good spot to reflect on the huge cost of Chicago’s gun violence and why Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s proposal for a tax on guns and ammunition is more than reasonable.
Trying to close a $115 million gap in the 2013 budget she will present next week, Preckwinkle has said she favors a tax on guns and ammunition that would help offset the huge cost to the county of gun violence.
“Cook County suffers from systemic gun violence,” Preckwinkle said at a press briefing Tuesday. “The wide availability of ammunition exacerbates the problem.”
The county estimates the cost to treat an uninsured gunshot victim at Stroger Hospital at $52,000. The total cost of each gun homicide nationwide is $400,000, when you add in police work, court proceedings and other costs, according to Elliot N. Fineman of the National Gun Victims Action Council. Chicago’s homicide rate is up 25 percent this year over last. So it doesn’t seem at all unreasonable to us to ask purchasers of guns and ammunition to help defray the cost.
There are no gun shops in Chicago, but Preckwinkle said there are about 40 in the suburbs and several other stores that sell ammunition. A report by Chicago Police and the University of Chicago found nearly a third of guns found on Chicago streets, including at crime scenes, were sold at suburban gun shops.
(Excerpt) Read more at suntimes.com ...
OTOH, this is how they got Capone--tax evasion.
Fine. I want a tax on First Amendment rights. Let the papers pay by the column inch for the right to publish, and hit them with back taxes all the way back to their founding dates. Milk 'em dry. The money will go to women and minorities: the communities hardest hit by journalistic irresponsibility, after all. Everybody's happy, right?
I always like how the Left defines what is “reasonable”. Comrades, anything that works against 2nd Amendment rights is “reasonable”. /s
How about a 100% tax on newspapers?
If they want to reduce “gun violence” what they need to do is legalize and tax marijuana and use some of the proceeds for drug treatment. The gangs will lose most of their business and will have nothing to fight over.
If the “violence tax” on all ammunition and guns is a good idea, how about a “rape tax” on all alcohol purchases and restaurant meals. After all, rape is frequently associated with alcohol consumption or with dining out. My idea is precisely as sensible as this Chicago proposal.
“Fat Tax”... the more calories per serving a food item is, the more tax you pay... I guess that means beer drinkers would get taxed twice...
Firearms, Ammunition: Better than fiat cash to store wealth
October 9, 2012
Concerned about the Obama administration’s reckless spending proclivities or the Fed’s monetizing debt rendering your greenbacks’ value deflated?
There are alternatives.
Firearms and ammunition have long been recognized as a viable store of wealth as they will seldom go down in value if maintained.
Here’s an article for your edification on this very subject!
Four alternative stores of value
http://www.gunssavelife.com/?p=2494
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