{"id":2916,"date":"2012-10-09T20:27:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-09T20:27:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/2012\/10\/09\/its-chicago-why-not-tax-corrupt-pols\/"},"modified":"2019-08-16T18:19:43","modified_gmt":"2019-08-16T18:19:43","slug":"its-chicago-why-not-tax-corrupt-pols","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/?p=2916","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s Chicago \u2013 Why Not Tax Corrupt Pols Instead?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='__iawmlf-post-loop-links' style='display:none;' data-iawmlf-post-links='[{&quot;id&quot;:15048,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.suntimes.com\\\/15644719-761\\\/cook-county-mulling-violence-tax-on-guns-and-ammunition.html&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.suntimes.com\\\/15644719-761\\\/cook-county-mulling-violence-tax-on-guns-and-ammunition.html&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:15049,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.suntimes.com\\\/15657108-761\\\/preckwinkle-defends-proposal-to-tax-guns-ammo-in-cook-county.html&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.suntimes.com\\\/15657108-761\\\/preckwinkle-defends-proposal-to-tax-guns-ammo-in-cook-county.html&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:15050,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.examiner.com\\\/article\\\/illinois-democrats-seek-new-punitive-taxes-on-ammunition&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/web-wp.archive.org\\\/web\\\/20121202091343\\\/http:\\\/\\\/www.examiner.com\\\/article\\\/illinois-democrats-seek-new-punitive-taxes-on-ammunition&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-20 09:07:09&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200}],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:{&quot;date&quot;:&quot;2026-04-20 09:07:09&quot;,&quot;http_code&quot;:200},&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:14936,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/www.pagunblog.com\\\/2012\\\/10\\\/09\\\/taxing-a-right&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;},{&quot;id&quot;:15051,&quot;href&quot;:&quot;http:\\\/\\\/daysofourtrailers.blogspot.com\\\/2012\\\/10\\\/legal-gun-owners-responsible-for-cook.html&quot;,&quot;archived_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;redirect_href&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;checks&quot;:[],&quot;broken&quot;:false,&quot;last_checked&quot;:null,&quot;process&quot;:&quot;done&quot;}]'><\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\">\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.suntimes.com\/15644719-761\/cook-county-mulling-violence-tax-on-guns-and-ammunition.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">&nbsp;The President of the Cook County Board Toni Preckwinkle is proposing a \u201cviolence tax\u201d<\/a> to be levied on gun and ammunition sold within Chicago and the rest of Cook County. The county has a $115 million budget shortfall and is looking for ways to close the gap.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\n<i>\u201cIf we were to pursue a tax on something like guns and ammo, clearly<br \/>\nthat wouldn\u2019t be popular with the [gun lobby] out there, and it may not<br \/>\ngenerate $50 million, but &#8230; it is consistent with our commitment to<br \/>\npursuing violence reduction in the city and in the county,\u201d Kurt<br \/>\nSummers, Preckwinkle\u2019s chief of staff, said on Monday. <\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\">\nThe tax is also a backdoor attempt at gun control which they are not shy about admitting. Summers says the idea of the \u201cviolence tax\u201d is also to limit the number of firearms in circulation citing rising murder rates in Chicago as well as a rising number of inmates in the county jail. They are also trying to justify the tax by citing the cost of law enforcement, the court system, and trying uninsured gun shot victims in county-owned hospitals.<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\">\nThe idea of a \u201cviolence tax\u201d is not sitting well with gun rights activists in Illinois.<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\">\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\">\n<div class=\"body.text\">\n<i>\u201cThis is just another example of the blame game \u2014<br \/>\nChicago and Cook County has a gun violence problem, Chicago\u2019s got a high<br \/>\n high school drop-out rate, they\u2019ve got a drug problem, they\u2019ve got a<br \/>\ngang problem, but they want to make legal gun owners, guys like me, the<br \/>\nscapegoat,\u201d said Todd Vandermyde a National Rifle Association lobbyist<br \/>\nwho works in Springfield.  <\/i><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"body.text\">\n<i>He said this is an unfair tax on a constitutional right that will hurt the poor.<\/i><\/div>\n<div class=\"body.text\">\n<i>\u201cIt is another way to enact a Jim Crow law and keep people from exercising their constitutional right, he said.<\/i><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"body.text\">\n<i>\u201cAll you\u2019re doing is jacking up the price of guns<br \/>\nand ammunition \u2014 for someone who can least afford it,\u201d he said. \u201cThe<br \/>\nproblem with something like this is that you\u2019re hurting people who don\u2019t<br \/>\n have the ability to get out of Cook County. So if you have someone in<br \/>\nEnglewood, they have to venture out to DuPage County, to Will County? I<br \/>\ndon\u2019t think so.\u201d<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"MsoNormal\" style=\"margin: 0in 0in 0pt;\">\nBoard President Preckwinkle has not yet disclosed the amount of the tax. She is expected to announce her budget next week and the tax will likely be part of it.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.suntimes.com\/15657108-761\/preckwinkle-defends-proposal-to-tax-guns-ammo-in-cook-county.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">In a later Sun-Times article, Preckwinkle defends her &#8220;violence tax&#8221;<\/a> against the pushback she has received today.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\n<i>Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle defended a plan to put a special tax on bullets and ammunition, saying the county has to find ways to pay for the health costs associated with gun violence and to curb such violence.<\/i><br \/>\n<i><br \/><\/i><br \/>\n<i>\u201cCook County suffers from systemic gun violence,\u201d she told reporters at a press briefing Tuesday about the so-called violence tax, which was first reported by the Chicago Sun-Times. \u201cThe wide availability of ammunition exacerbates the problem.\u201d<\/i><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Preckwinkle has already declined to raise either property or sales taxes to fund the shortfall. When asked about a tax on sugary drinks, she responded that &#8220;gun violence&#8221; (sic) is a bigger problem than obesity. Given the years of draconian gun control laws in Chicago and Cook County, it might have been a bit more honest on her part to say that soda drinkers and manufacturers are a bigger voting bloc\/lobby than gun owners and she didn&#8217;t want to cross Coke and Pepsi&#8217;s lobbyists.&nbsp; To paraphrase the movie Chinatown, &#8220;It&#8217;s Chicago, Jake.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.examiner.com\/article\/illinois-democrats-seek-new-punitive-taxes-on-ammunition\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kurt Hofmann, the St. Louis Gun Rights Examiner, also has a column on these taxes<\/a> as well as on proposals to levy such a tax on ammo statewide.<\/p>\n<p><b>UPDATE:<\/b> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pagunblog.com\/2012\/10\/09\/taxing-a-right\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sebastian at Shall Not Be Questioned<\/a> notes that taxing a right for the purposes of discouraging it is unconstitutional.&nbsp; He outlines the Supreme Court precedents in his post.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/daysofourtrailers.blogspot.com\/2012\/10\/legal-gun-owners-responsible-for-cook.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Thirdpower at Days of our Trailers points out the irony of Democrats<\/a> objecting to voter ID laws on the basis of it disproportionately impacting the poor while doing the very same thing with the proposed &#8220;violence tax&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p>The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, the sister organization of the Second Amendment Foundation which successfully sued Chicago, issued a pointed rejoinder to Board President Preckwinkle:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"tr_bq\"><p>\n<i>BELLEVUE, WA \u2013 The Citizens<br \/>\n      Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms today criticized a proposed<br \/>\n      \u201cviolence tax\u201d on firearms and ammunition sold in Chicago and surrounding<br \/>\n      Cook County suburbs as a means of closing a multi-million-dollar budget<br \/>\n      gap.<\/p>\n<p>The tax proposal by Cook County Board President Toni<br \/>\n      Preckwinkle would be designed to help close what the Chicago Sun-Times<br \/>\n      reports is a $115 million gaping hole in the 2013 budget. The reasoning<br \/>\n      behind this idea is that \u201croughly two-thirds of the budget pays for both<br \/>\n      the county\u2019s public health clinics and two hospitals along with the<br \/>\n      criminal justice system that includes the courts and jail,\u201d the newspaper<br \/>\n      said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLaw-abiding firearms owners in Cook County should not be<br \/>\n      shouldering the bills for criminals,\u201d said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb.<br \/>\n      \u201cUnder Preckwinkle\u2019s plan, honest citizens would be financially punished<br \/>\n      for the bad behavior of a criminal element that appears to be rampant and<br \/>\n      unchecked, considering the number of shootings and murders that have been<br \/>\n      tallied.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis violent crime surge,\u201d he continued, \u201cseems to<br \/>\n      correlate with the election of Rahm Emanuel as Chicago\u2019s mayor. Maybe<br \/>\n      President Preckwinkle should send the bill to Emanuel. Of course, he might<br \/>\n      have an empty wallet, considering the money he\u2019s spent fighting court<br \/>\n      battles to thwart gun rights in the city, not to mention the $399,950 he<br \/>\n      had to finally pay to the Second Amendment Foundation this year for legal<br \/>\n      costs because the city lost the McDonald case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The newspaper<br \/>\n      quoted an aide to Preckwinkle who claimed the tax on guns and ammo would<br \/>\n      be \u201cconsistent with our commitment to pursuing violence reduction in the<br \/>\n      city and in the county.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s a pretty smug attitude,\u201d Gottlieb<br \/>\n      said, \u201cconsidering the body count so far this year. In September, just in<br \/>\n      Chicago, there were 41 slayings. That doesn\u2019t reflect much of a commitment<br \/>\n      to reduce violence, but this tax idea certainly suggests that Preckwinkle<br \/>\n      \u2013 like so many other Chicago politicians \u2013 is trying to shift the blame<br \/>\n      for her problems to someone else. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cPerhaps Preckwinkle should<br \/>\n      consider an alternative,\u201d he added. \u201cHow about a tax on politicians for<br \/>\n      impairing the gun rights of law abiding citizens by preventing them from<br \/>\n      protecting themselves, their families and their homes from the county\u2019s<br \/>\n      violent criminals?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a problem in Cook County, alright,\u201d<br \/>\n      Gottlieb concluded, \u201cbut law-abiding gun owners didn\u2019t create it, and<br \/>\n      should not be taking the rap for it, financially or otherwise.\u201d<br \/>\n            <\/i>\n            <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px;\" class=\"sharethis-inline-share-buttons\" ><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;The President of the Cook County Board Toni Preckwinkle is proposing a \u201cviolence tax\u201d to be levied on gun&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2916","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2916","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2916"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2916\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8425,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2916\/revisions\/8425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2916"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2916"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onlygunsandmoney.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2916"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}