The assault weapons ban of 1994 worked. Mass shootings immediately plummeted after implementation, and naturally they immediately resurged as the law expired in 2004.
'Assault weapons'
What defines an assault weapon exactly these days? This ban indicates certain semi-automatic rifles but any weapon can be considered an assault weapon based on the textbook definition of 'assault'.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/assault
If we are talking about rifles like an AK-47, SCAR or anything that someone can build from scratch, good luck getting those banned.
If you are talking about automatic weapons, those are already banned unless the gun was manufactured before 1986 (can't remember the exact date but it's part of Firearm Owner's Protection Act)
How?
require comprehensive gun safety training programs
What would this entail? This is already required if you choose to obtain a concealed carry license. It isn't necessarily 'comprehensive' as that's an ambiguous term, but it's there and required by each state in which you can get a license.
I mean, there are only so many ways you can say 'Keep your finger off the trigger unless you are ready to fire' or 'Do not store a loaded gun in an unlocked container' or 'Do not clean your gun when it is loaded'. It's up to the user of the firearm to be responsible about it. If they have a negligent discharge, that is not on the state who granted the license, the instructor who taught the class or the manufacturer. It is the responsibility of the person who caused the ND. If we require people to take an intelligence test to own a firearm as part of the comprehensive safety plan, I propose we also do it before people decide to conceive a child.
When anyone gets their driver's license, they do safety courses that involve the ramification of not wearing your seatbelt. People will still get behind the wheel and drive their vehicle without wearing a seatbelt. Yes, we fine people for that but it doesn't
prevent people from doing it. We fine people for negligent discharges, but it doesn't
prevent it from happening and neither do safety classes. Less than 1000 negligent discharges happen per year. How many gun owners are there in the US? In the tens of millions I imagine. I should probably know this.
implement a steep sales tax on gun purchases
This is already happening in a way. Not a sales tax, but a proposed increase in the tax on the manufacture of firearms and ammunition is proposed in Congress. The increase in tax on ammo would essentially legislate away the right to carry a firearm because it would be too cost prohibitive to even own one or practice with one. Would you agree with this legislation or would you agree that it hurts people who want to own firearms for any reason:
First link that popped up on Google:
https://www.atr.org/gun-tax-bill-doubles-federal-gun-tax-quintuples-ammo-tax
Actual text of the bill:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/5103/text
Section in question:
``SEC. 4181. IMPOSITION OF TAX.
``There is hereby imposed upon the sale by the manufacturer,
producer, or importer of the following articles a tax equivalent to the
specified percent of the price for which so sold:
``(1) Articles taxable at 20 percent:
``(A) Pistols.
``(B) Revolvers.
``(C) Firearms (other than pistols and revolvers).
``(D) Any lower frame or receiver for a firearm,
whether for a semiautomatic pistol, rifle, or shotgun
that is designed to accommodate interchangeable upper
receivers.
``(2) Articles taxable at 50 percent: Shells and
cartridges.''.
(b) Exemption for United States.--Subsection (b) of section 4182 of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended to read as follows:
``(b) Sales to United States.--No firearms, pistols, revolvers,
lower frame or receiver for a firearm, shells, and cartridges purchased
with funds appropriated for any department, agency, or instrumentality
of the United States shall be subject to any tax imposed on the sale or
transfer of such articles.''.
I believe the current tax on manufacture of firearms is 10% so that increase isn't
too substantial (edit: from the ATF website:
First imposed on February 25, 1919,
Section 4181 of the Internal Revenue Code imposes an excise tax on imported firearms and ammunition when the importer sells or uses the firearms or ammunition (FAET). A tax if 10 percent of the sales price is imposed on pistols and revolvers, and a tax of 11 percent of the sales price is imposed on other portable weapons (e.g., rifles and shotguns) and ammunition. The excise tax is not imposed again unless the firearms and ammunition are further manufactured. At one time, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) was responsible for collecting FAET. However, since January 2003, this responsibility rests with the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB), U.S. Dept. of Treasury.
.
However, the tax on ammunition will pretty much kill the firearms industry. A box of 50 round 9mm target ammunition (ie: range ammo) averages 12-14 dollars depending on the company selling it, the grain of the ammunition and other things. I can find boxes on sale for under 10 dollars recently. This would essentially almost double the price of a box to 20 dollars as it'll be passed to the consumer to offset that price. It doubles the amount of money I have to spend to become
proficient with a firearm and be able to practice safely handling it with ammunition in the firearm. I am unaware what the actual cost is to manufacture a single round of 9mm ball ammo, but increase it by 39% to offset the tax.
This doesn't take into account the fact that personal protection ammunition is already more expensive than the price of regular 'ball' ammo (ie: what you use at the range). Personal protection ammo is also known as hollow point ammunition for those who are not aware. If the price increases, people will be more likely to use ball ammo (which has a tendency to go through a person and into walls or other potential innocents) for protection rather than a bullet that will expand on impact and not go through the person and limit casualties. A box of 9mm hollow point ammuniton varies, but I can find 50 round boxes of ammunition online for 25 dollars which is a really good price. If you go to a big box store, you can only find the ammo in 25 round quantities and it's roughly 18-24 dollars for that at a big box store.
The first headline isn't entirely accurate since there's already a tax on it so obviously fake news.
