A new legal argument is taking aim at special taxes imposed on firearms and ammunition — and the debate has direct implications for Texas gun owners.
Second Amendment Foundation attorney Konstadinos “Kostas” Moros argues in a new law review article that special taxes targeting commonly owned firearms, ammunition, and related products violate the Second Amendment because they lack a sufficient historical analogue under the Supreme Court’s modern Second Amendment framework.
The argument focuses on taxes that single out the exercise of Second Amendment rights for an additional financial burden.
Texas Gun Rights believes Texas lawmakers should go further: eliminate the state sales and use tax on guns, ammunition, and firearm accessories altogether.
Texas Has Already Seen the Bill
State Rep. Benjamin Bumgarner filed House Bill 920 during the 89th Texas Legislature to exempt firearms, ammunition, firearm accessories, and firearm safety equipment from state sales and use taxes.
The bill was straightforward.
Its language provided that the “sale, storage, use, or other consumption” of a firearm, firearm accessory, ammunition, or firearm safety equipment would be exempt from the taxes imposed under Chapter 151 of the Texas Tax Code.
Texas Gun Rights is pushing to make eliminating those taxes a priority in the upcoming legislative session.
TXGR’s position is simple: Texans should not have to pay the government a tax for exercising a constitutionally protected right.
Taxes Put a Price on Exercising a Right
The legal argument highlighted by AmmoLand distinguishes ordinary, generally applicable taxes from special taxes that specifically target firearms and ammunition.
Moros argues that historical evidence does not establish a broad American tradition of imposing special per-unit taxes on commonly possessed firearms.
Other states have moved in the opposite direction from the policy TXGR advocates. California, for example, has imposed an additional 11% excise tax on firearms, firearm precursor parts, and ammunition, while Colorado enacted an additional 6.5% excise tax on firearms, ammunition, and certain firearm components.
Moros argues those targeted taxes are constitutionally suspect.
Texas Gun Rights does not want Texas following that model.
TXGR instead supports removing the existing state tax burden from firearms, ammunition, and accessories.
TXGR: Eliminate the Tax
For TXGR, the issue is bigger than the dollars collected at the cash register. The organization’s position is that the government should not make Texans pay an additional cost simply because the product they are purchasing is connected to exercising their Second Amendment rights.
“The government shouldn’t be collecting a tax every time a Texan exercises a constitutional right,” says TXGR President Chris McNutt. “Texas should be leading the country by getting the state’s hands out of gun owners’ pockets and eliminating the tax on firearms, ammunition, and accessories.”
If you want to help fund TXGR’s Second Amendment education, legislative accountability, and grassroots programs, chip in to Texas Gun Rights today.
