The New Jersey Second Amendment Society writes:
Democratic gubernatorial nominee Phil Murphy just released a plan to raise $1.3 billion a year in new taxes. According to Murphy’s plan, “all gun sales should be subject to a tax that will fund law enforcement, drug treatment centers, and mental health services.” Though we aren’t the New Jersey Fiscal Policy Society, we do object to Murphy’s absurd proposal to tax gun sales as a way to prevent violence.
While Murphy’s fact-free campaign to become New Jersey’s next governor is cheered on — instead of critically analyzed — by our state’s liberal media, at least one absurd Murphy tax proposal won’t go unchallenged by NJ2AS.
For the purposes of saving space on the internet – or not going insane debunking Murphy’s madness we’re breaking down the proposal to three basic issues:
1. Numerous studies have shown that as gun sales have increased, gun crimes have plummeted. That’s a fact, whether Murphy wants to accept it or not. Actually, the City of Seattle of saw a surge in gun violence after implementing a tax on all guns and ammunition
2. It’s the equivalent of requiring a fee to register to vote and saying the fee goes towards election integrity. Murphy’s lack of respect for the Bill of Rights, unless it benefits him politically, is striking.
3. Given New Jersey’s one-handgun-a-month law, how could Murphy claim his proposal would raise enough revenue to fund law enforcement, drug treatment centers, and mental health services?
It’s safe to say Murphy’s anti-gun comrades at New Jersey Advanced Media (NJ.com) won’t be grilling him on that last question, or even ask him for specifics on the gun sales tax proposal (beyond fluff campaign rhetoric). Observer Media did get a campaign spokesperson on the record, stating that they didn’t “consider that revenue significant enough to factor into the [$1.3 billion] plan.”
In the meantime, NJ2AS will continue to resist Murphy’s insane anti-second amendment agenda and inform the public about his extreme policy proposals.
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ED: For context, here’s Mr. Murphy’s position on gun control [via nj.com]:
When it comes to gun control and Christie, Phil Murphy’s loaded for bear: His campaign website says he would sign “every piece of gun violence prevention legislation that Governor Christie has vetoed.”
Such bills include banning gang members and domestic abusers from owning guns, mandating gun safety training as a prerequisite to firearms purchases, and promoting so-called biometric or “smart gun” technology by requiring all gun retailers to carry at least one smart gun once they are commercially available.
Murphy also would require “timely reporting of mental illness episodes to the national background check database” — something Christie’s opposed.
To cut down on illegal gun sales and transfers, Murphy wants to require individuals to register their firearms and make it a crime to sell one’s gun without first conducting a background check on the buyer.
Finally, he favors an additional tax on firearms purchases to that would “fund law enforcement, drug treatment centers, and mental health services.”