Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.comment From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Sen. Moynihan and his 1,000 percent tax on ammunition Date: Sun, 8 Nov 92 15:50:37 EST Message-ID: \SE B;COMMENTARY;EDITORIAL;LETTERS \HD Sen. Moynihan and his 1,000 percent tax on ammunition Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the brilliant senator from New York, who is perhaps best known for advising "benign neglect" to cope with our restless black population, has once more shown how some people can be educated well beyond their intelligence. Mr. Moynihan recently announced that he had the long-sought solution to the epidemic of criminal use of firearms. And, given New York's proven success in gun control, who should know better? Mr. Moynihan's solution to gun crime? Slap a 1,000 percent tax on the sale of three types of bullets: .9mm, .25-caliber and .32-caliber. (Presumably, these are the three most abused calibers.) He managed to corral a herd of emergency-room doctors who bloviated before a Senate committee, pleading that something - anything - be done to end the bloodshed. Mr. Moynihan suggested that the tax money collected via this novel plan should be used to treat the gunshot victims packing our hospital emergency rooms. Have you ever noticed that whenever a politician says we need a law bad, we get just that, bad laws? This is one of those occasions; mark it on your calendars. Mr. Moynihan's tenuous grasp on reality has apparently so befogged his mind that it didn't occur to him that if you price 9mm ammunition out of the reach of street thugs, they'll simply buy - or more likely steal - what's available. They've consistently done just that in response to every gun-control measure ever passed. What's next, laws covering .38-caliber, then .45-caliber, ad infinitum, until all ammunition is burdened by a 1,000 percent tax? What a perfect opportunity for underground reloaders to get rich quick! It's an open secret that the liberals' ultimate aim is to do away with all guns; this otherwise laughable antic is their latest attempt. The press laughs at Vice President Dan Quayle because he can't spell. What about a U.S. senator who can't think? When the politicians talk about punishing criminals and controlling crime - not taxing bullets and controlling guns - they'll get my attention. Until then, Mr. Moynihan, Sarah Brady of Handgun Control Inc., the other gun-control lobbyists and the liberal news media must be made to understand that freedom and democracy cannot be sacrificed for a momentary - and false - sense of security. With Slick Willie soon to be ensconced in the White House and montebanks like Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Howard Metzenbaum in the Senate, the next four years are certain to be perilous ones for freedom and the republic. TOM FILKINS Manassas This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM