'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 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.

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More know-nothing feel-goodism.