'Bullet Tax' Proposed By Mayoral Candidate

[Feuer Frei!]

A mayoral candidate's plan to reduce violence in Baltimore includes a "bullet tax" that he said will increase the cost of committing a crime.Otis Rolley said he would, if elected, propose a $1 per bullet tax on all bullet purchases in the city. The idea was part of an overall crime plan (http://www.wbaltv.com/pdf/28596094/detail.html) he unveiled Tuesday.
Rolley also said, according to I-Team lead investigative reporter Jayne Miller, that he's willing to touch what Miller called the third rail of Baltimore politics -- the police budget."This is not a revenue enhancement tool," Rolley said of the tax idea. "It's a 'make it difficult for you to buy bullets in the city' tool."The bullet tax is part of Rolley's public safety plan, which includes a change in how the city treats some drug use. He wants to make possession of small amounts of marijuana a summary offense. That would treat the offense more like public drunkenness than a drug crime, Miller reported.

Rolley said the bullet tax would cause a decrease in "random firings that too often happen around holidays" and put a high price tag on the cost of committing a crime.
"While the courts have consistently ruled against significant gun control legislation, there is still a way to decrease crime: substantially increase the cost of its commission," Rolley's plan states."Increasing the cost of guns won't work, because many criminals don't purchase new guns, and they can be borrowed or even rented in some areas," his plan states.

SOURCE (http://www.wbaltv.com/r/28595846/detail.html)

More know-nothing feel-goodism.

[Matador.es]

Lol, how to make crime profitable :)

[kraznyi_oktjabr]

How this is supposed to decrease crime?
Criminals ofcourse buy ammo (almost) like everyone else but I doubt black market weapons dealers would add this magnificent tax to their prices and pay that to city. Also for criminal buying ammo from legal source just doesn't make sense - why to make law enforcements job easier?

[Feuer Frei!]

Lol, how to make crime profitable :)
Someone also advise him of the difference of a cartridge and a bullet. And a lot of .22 rimfire cartridges come from factories in boxes of 500 or 550, and boxes of 5000! :haha:

[mookiemookie]

How much is real estate going for at the Baltimore city line? I wanna open an ammo store. :D

[Anthony W.]

How much is real estate going for at the Baltimore city line? I wanna open an ammo store. :D

You and me both.

[August]

So I guess this Rolley guy would not be opposed to imposing a dollar per word tax on everything a politician says. After all more people have been killed and injured over the years as a result of what a politician has said more than anything else.

[Sailor Steve]

Some years ago another arrogant airhead proposed putting a serial number on every single bullet. :doh:

[AngusJS]

Some years ago another arrogant airhead proposed putting a serial number on every single bullet. :doh:What's wrong with that? As long as it can't be filed away easily, it sounds like it would be helpful in solving murder cases.

Anyway, this clip is obligatory for this thread.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuX-nFmL0II

[August]

What's wrong with that?

Because it is impossible.

An M-16's .223 bullet for example is about 1/2 inch long and a 1/4 inch wide. Where and how would you inscribe a unique serial number that doesn't affect it's ballistics and is long enough to mark even a fraction of the billions of bullets that are out there while still making it readable in a pristine condition, let alone after it has been fired and fragmented?

Secondly how could you enforce compliance with this scheme? People can reload their own rounds and cast their own bullets and there are tens of thousands of reloading rigs currently in civilian hands. Unregistered reloading rigs i might add.

Finally even if it were possible it would immediately create a black market in unmarked/remarked bullets for the same reasons a market for unmarked guns exists. We have enough problems with the black markets we already have without adding new ways to make criminals rich.

[gimpy117]

what happens when i buy a 500 round value pack of .22lr? :hmmm:

[Sailor Steve]

What's wrong with that? As long as it can't be filed away easily, it sounds like it would be helpful in solving murder cases.

Someone also advise him of the difference of a cartridge and a bullet. And a lot of .22 rimfire cartridges come from factories in boxes of 500 or 550, and boxes of 5000! :haha:
That's what's wrong with it. Ten billion bullets sold every year is what's wrong with it. The code being destroyed when the bullet is fired is what's wrong with it.

On the other hand there are people trying to make it work. If they can accomplish it, more power to them.
http://www.ammocoding.com/

[antikristuseke]

I suppose one way to mark batches of bullets is to put a chemical marker into the metal alloy used to fill the jacket, but that would only narrow it doen to a batch and if those batches are in small enough numbers to actually be moderately useful it would increase cost by a fair bit, if the batches are too large however the entire process would be pointless and still add to cost of production.

[Anthony W.]

This will boost the economy of the surrounding cities, and hurt the economy of the city itself. Great platform to run on for a mayor.

[Tribesman]

It does sound like its out of an Ali-G piece.
While there is a kind of logic in the tax the proposal the idea is just plain silly.