Testimony presented to the Finance, Revenue, and Bonding Committee in opposition to H.B. No. 5040: An Act Establishing An Excise Tax on Ammunition.
I am asking this committee to oppose this legislation as I believe it to be overtly political.
I have introduced legislation over the past several years that would accomplish the proponents’ intended purpose of this bill which is to curb gun violence without resorting to extremely punitive taxation of our state’s law-abiding gun owners. However, instead of funding law enforcement or other non-partisan entities to help with this issue, such as funding the State Firearms Trafficking Task Force, my colleagues insist on funding political anti-gun action groups who are determined to enact partisan gun control legislation. This is unacceptable.
Furthermore, there is an overwhelming amount of current and former residents in opposition to H.B. No. 5040. Twenty thousand courageous people have signed a petition asking this committee to vote against this bill because of the excessive tax on ammunition. We must consider those who feel personally impacted by this legislation enough to make this plea.
Thank you for your consideration and I look forward to working with my colleagues to find an acceptable and less punitive alternative to prevent gun violence in Connecticut.
State Senator Rob Sampson of Wolcott represents the 16th Senate District.
Getting money from law abiding gun owners to pay for criminals who shoot up the inner city’s and gangs using illegal guns over drug turf is so wrong to punish law abidding gun owners .Put the blame on the soft sentencing they impose on law breakers .The gangs in the inner city’s .People in Ct are going to continue to flee the state as Demorats sit up there in Hartford and keep dreaming up new streams of revenue.
Actually, people are staying because there’s no place like home.
Millennials are coming back from NYC, the south and other Millennial hot spots.
They’re saying it’s safer, there’s more career opportunities and you can actually breathe here.
Other states are overcrowded and if you’re not making 300K a year you’ll live in their ghetto which are WAY worse than the ones here.
While there are ‘safe havens’ for illegal immigrants here in CT, it can’t really thrive here like in other states thanks to our many suburbs and wealthy folks.
Also, the state is the best place to raise a family and the most beautiful.
Very cozy and American.
So much so, some Lifetime movies have been shot here.
Democrats have banned the sale of rifles and are taxing ammunition because of mass-shooters from the suburbs who target random people in public places unlike the ‘gangsters’ who only kill each other in their areas.
See who’s more of a public threat?
Connecticut failed to finish the job when it banned the sell of AR-15 rifles to civilians under Malloy because there’s still hundreds of thousands of civilians in CT with rifles who bought them before the ban.
Some of which have actually threatened mass-shootings.
Right-wing extremism will always be a threat as long as they’re armed.
There’s also hundreds of thousands who ask why some get to keep their rifles but they can’t buy one which puts the 2nd amendment in limbo.
The state needs to finish the job and confiscate the remaining rifles or allow the sale of them again.
I don’t support police or military bringing their rifles home because they too are civilians when off-duty.
Years back I read CT State Police yelled at Malloy when he suggested they go door to door and confiscate the rifles.
Cowardice must be put aside for the sake of public safety.
Confiscate the remaining military rifles, shotguns, hunting rifles and any other long guns still left in the civilian population. Yup.
Stop taxing law abiding citizens, that is the dumbest way to look at it, just because someone steels a gun form a legal owner dose not mean the legal owner should have to pay. That’s like saying that because you got into a car accident with a drunk driver you should have to pay because you had a car! Sounds really smart doesn’t it, about as smart as ripping off gun owners who have already been ripped off!