Democrats Push 1,000 Percent Excise Tax on AR-15s

A clerk hands a customer a California legal, featureless AR-15 style rifle from TPM Arms L
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images

House Democrats introduced legislation Friday that would place a 1,000 percent excise tax on AR-15s and other firearms they refer to as “assault weapons.”

FOX News reported the tax would also apply to “high capacity” magazines.

Rep. Don Beyer (D) and 24 other Democrats are behind the tax which they also pushed last year.

The imposition would force the price of a $500 firearm to jump to $5,000 and “a weapon that normally costs $2,000 would force customers to pay more than $20,000.”

The push for new taxes on AR-15s and other firearms was put forward one day after Democrats sent a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R), urging him to allow votes on gun control.

Breitbart News noted the letter to McCarthy came after the House recessed early without taking up any gun control.

The Hill pointed out the letter said, “We are disappointed that Republican leadership cancelled votes in July with so many pressing issues facing our country. Foremost amongst those is the gun violence crisis that is the leading cause of death for children in America.”

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.

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