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Gun Reduction Incentives

The essence of the bill was to act as an incentive for legal owners of assault weapons to surrender them in exchange for a tax reprieve. It was introduced as party of an initiative to reduce privatively owned weapons with the objective of increasing public safety. To this end, the Bill proposed amendment of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reduce tax deductions for individuals who voluntarily surrender certain assault weapons to the authorities. H.R. 1745: Support Assault Firearms Elimination and Reduction for our Streets Act was proposed by the Democrat Representative of Connecticut’s third congressional district, Rosa DeLauro, on April 13 2015. It was referred to the House Committee on Means and Ways.

The first part of the act (a) dealt with allowance of credit. The act stated that if an individual surrenders an assault weapon specified by the gun control and safety initiative at a particular time to the government at the federal, state, local level will be entitled to credit against the tax imposed equivalent of $2000. The above credit allowed will be given half in the taxable year of surrender of the weapon and the rest will be received in the next taxable year. Part b of the Act dealt with special rules to increase its legality and effectiveness. Firstly, the weapon had to be possessed by the individual lawfully at the time of surrender. Secondly, for the person to receive the above credit they ought to substantiate the surrender officially in written form to the respective governmental entity where the firearm in question is surrendered. Thirdly, the benefits accruing to the taxpayer from this particular section will apply to only one weapon. Any subsequent surrender in the course of the same taxable year will receive no credit against any other provision from the same chapter. This is aimed to deny double benefit by an individual. The term ‘specified assault weapons’ is relevant to particular models of arms specified in the act ranging from rifles to shotguns.

The opposition to the Bill was overwhelming in comparison to the support. Some believed that it would have no real impact in the gun violence conundrum in the US. The opposition has elaborated the fallacy behind the bill’s power to reduce violence. On the contrary, the tax credit will tacitly fund increment of guns. A person can buy free guns with the corresponding ammunition at $600 and recoup his cost using the credit from said Act. Similarly, selective control of guns is ineffective (Gilmore 1). Handguns are more common in the public domain than assault firearms. It follows they contribute to the present gun violence than the more sophisticated weapons. Thirdly, criminals actively search for weapons and they are never from legally sources. Therefore, if more citizens are lured into the buybacks they expose themselves to insecurity. This highlights the contravention of the Second Amendment, which states that a truly secure state requires a regulated militia (Waldan 4). Another claim by the opposition is that the government should focus on proper implementation of the existing gun laws rather than adding new ones (Yablon 1). None of the supporters had a valid argument to support their stand other than excitement for the potential financial benefit. If I were a congressional representative or senator my decision will be in line with the prevailing outcome, reject motion to proceed.

Works Cited

“H.R. 1745: Support Assault Firearms Elimination and Reduction for our Streets Act.” The Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson, 13 April 2015. Web. 29 October 2015 <http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c114:H.R.1745>

congress.gov. Web. 29 October 2015. <https://www.congress.gov/bill/114th-congress/house-bill/1745>

Gilmore, Dan. “Another Gun Grab: Tax Breaks for ARs.” The Patriot Post, 8 April 2015. Web. 29 October 2015. <http://patriotpost.us/articles/34450>

popvox.com. Web. 29 October 2015. <https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/114/hr1745#comment>

Waldman, Michael. The Second Amendment: A Biography. Simon and Schuster, 2015. Print.

Yablon, Alex. “Here Are the 90+ Gun-Related Bills Currently Sitting in Congress.” The Trace, 10 September 2015. Web. 29 October 2015. <http://www.thetrace.org/2015/09/congress-federal-gun-legislation/>