U.S. Senator Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas) and a dozen of his Senate Republican colleagues have introduced legislation to eliminate the $200 tax imposed by the government since 1934 on firearms and suppressors (silencers) regulated by the National Firearms Act (NFA).
The legislation is known as the Repealing Illegal Freedom and Liberty Excises (RIFLE) Act.
Joining Cotton as co-sponsors are fellow Republican Senators Marco Rubio and Rick Scott (Florida), Roger Marshall (Kansas), Steve Daines (Montana), Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts (Nebraska), Kevin Cramer (North Dakota), Markwayne Mullin (Oklahoma), Marsha Blackburn (Tennessee), John Cornyn (Texas), and John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis (Wyoming). Republican Congresswoman Ashley Hinson of Iowa has introduced companion legislation in the House, Cotton’s office noted in a release.
According to the announcement from Cotton’s office, the National Rifle Association and National Shooting Sports Foundation both endorsed the RIFLE Act. Add to that the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, which said in a statement to the media it has “energetically thrown its support” behind the measure.
“For decades, law-abiding American citizens choosing to own NFA-regulated firearms have been required to pay unnecessary taxes to exercise their Second Amendment rights,” explained CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb. “This is, and always has been, wrong and we’re delighted Senator Cotton and a dozen of his Senate colleagues have made this important move to correct the problem. We’re encouraged by Rep. Hinson’s introduction of companion legislation in the House that this measure will get the attention it deserves.
“Over the past few years,” Gottlieb continued, “ownership of NFA-regulated items has increased by more than 250 percent. The use of suppressors primarily as hearing protection at shooting ranges, and for hunting, is expanding. The RIFLE Act would only remove the tax on these items, while leaving other requirements including background checks and registration in place. We’re encouraging gun owners to support Senator Cotton’s legislation.”
Cotton listed the following facts about this legislation, which would not impact the long-standing Federal Aid to Wildlife Restoration/Pittman-Robertson excise tax supporting state and federal wildlife programs:
- The 1934 National Firearms Act (NFA) regulates short-barreled shotguns and rifles, fully automatic firearms, suppressors, and a catchall category of explosives. In addition to background checks and registration, NFA regulated items have a $200 tax.
- The ATF has acknowledged the tax was intended “to curtail, if not prohibit, transactions” of firearms. The $200 tax, unchanged since 1934, is equivalent to $4,648 in today’s dollars.
- Since 2018, ownership of NFA regulated items have grown by more than 250% as more sportsmen, shooters and firearm enthusiasts exercise their Second Amendment right.
- The RIFLE Act does not modify the current checks and registration; it solely removes the federally mandated financial burden on law-abiding gun owners.
“Law-abiding Americans who exercise their Second Amendment rights should not be subject to unnecessary taxes and restrictions preventing them from doing so,” Sen. Cotton said. “Passed into law in 1934, the National Firearms Act needs to be amended. Our legislation will remove the red tape that places an undue financial burden on would-be gun owners.”
“The federal government should not be placing financial barriers on the inalienable rights of Americans,” Rep. Hinson concurred. “This unconstitutional tax on certain firearm purchases is a direct violation of the Second Amendment and must be repealed. As the Biden Administration and Democrats push proposals that unfairly target law-abiding gun owners, I will continue to stand up for Iowans’ right to keep and bear arms.”
“The RIFLE Act does not modify the current checks and registration; it solely removes the federally mandated financial burden on law-abiding gun owners,” Cotton’s press release emphasized.
According to Fox News, Ambler Law attorney Oliver Krawczyk asserted that the current taxes on NFA firearms are “indistinguishable from poll taxes.”
Krawczyk specializes in Second Amendment law, the Fox report noted.
“This would undermine the constitutional basis of the NFA altogether,” Krawczyk observed, “because it’s a purported exercise of Congress’s enumerated taxing power. But the Founders would have scoffed at the notion that it could be a felony to possess a short-barreled rifle or shotgun in the first place.”
Whether the measure gains traction on Capitol Hill remains in question. Not a single Democrat has signed on, and they hold the majority in the Senate. Republicans, meanwhile, have a thin House majority, where Hinson’s companion bill might fare better.
About Dave Workman
Dave Workman is a senior editor at TheGunMag.com and Liberty Park Press, author of multiple books on the Right to Keep & Bear Arms, and formerly an NRA-certified firearms instructor.
I will ask again, WHEN will the ILLEGALLY FORMED, by a MEMO from an IRS DIRECTOR, ATF BE DEFUNDED AND REMOVED?
WHY is TAXING a CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT ACCEPTABLE???
Retire the NFA in it’s entirety, that’s what needs to be done! Worthless gun control legislation from the start!!
Just the tax? Why not the whole NFA? The stinking piece of legislation was a violation of the 2nd amendment from the get go but with the FDR stacked supreme Court and the idiotic prohibition era it was a way they used the interstate commerce clause to skirt the 2nd amendment. Back door “we can’t ban them, so we’ll illegally tax them” nonsense. I mean why would they leave it in the hands of the Feds? Just leave the unconstitutional back ground checks that all criminals fill out for the states. Oh, wait, sorry, all law abiding. Criminals STEAL their… Read more »
This acknowledges at least they understand that while federal government is becoming more anti-2A (i.e. treasonous), the states and the citizenry is becoming more and more pro-2A. The goal of course is to get rid of all federal gun control acts and bureaucrats. And for the states to make it a 1st degree felony or even treason for any agent, actor, operative (covert or not), spy, informant, NGO or 3rd party representative to work against the rights of citizens, or target, investigate, harass, dox, financially undermine, or infiltrate them in order to create a crime instead of using true probable… Read more »
Some people will complain about free ice cream.
It’s a small step in the right direction. Unlikely to succeed with the current senate and president. Next year, the year after and the year after that?
Oh, look! The same politicians that voted FOR infringement are now introducing a semi pro-2A bill that will go absolutely nowhere. There must be an election coming up. Time to pretend to be pro-2A again!