Buying guns isn't exactly cheap. Even a low-end firearm tends to cost $100 at least, and if you want something you can actually trust your life to, you're paying a lot more. So taxes can add up pretty quickly on a purchase like that, but sales taxes are just part of life.
Colorado, though, wants to charge even more just because you're buying a gun, and the NRA is taking issue with that.
They announced they've filed a lawsuit with a Colorado man challenging the new excise tax on gun sales in a press release sent out on Monday:
Today, the National Rifle Association of America (NRA), together with the Firearms Policy Coalition, Second Amendment Foundation, Colorado State Shooting Association, Magnum Shooting Center, and an NRA member, filed a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s 6.5% excise tax on the retail sale of firearms, firearm precursor parts, and ammunition.
Colorado’s tax is set to take effect on April 1, 2025. The tax is levied on vendors, but the amount is passed through to law-abiding Coloradans every time they purchase such constitutionally protected items. The law also imposes burdensome registration and recordkeeping requirements on vendors and subjects them to harsh punishments for violations.
“Colorado’s firearms excise tax is an overt assault on the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Coloradans and a deliberate attempt to discourage the exercise of constitutionally protected freedoms,” said John Commerford, Executive Director of the NRA Institute for Legislative Action (NRA-ILA). “Recently, anti-gun activists in Colorado have been adopting California’s radical gun control agenda to systematically erode gun rights in the state. We are pleased to join with other Second Amendment advocates in this lawsuit to protect and defend the fundamental right to keep and bear arms.”
The United States Supreme Court recognized long ago that a right to tax is essentially a power to destroy. Thus, the Court has repeatedly held that the exercise of a constitutional right cannot be singled out for special taxation. But Colorado’s law does precisely that, penalizing Coloradans for exercising their constitutional right to keep and bear arms through an infringement-by-taxation scheme.
Our complaint argues that the tax violates the Second Amendment. We seek a declaratory judgment stating that the tax is unconstitutional and a permanent injunction forbidding its enforcement. The case, Langston v. Humphreys, was filed in the Denver County District Court.
The filed Complaint can be read here.
Honestly, in my mind, an excise tax on guns is a poll tax on the right to keep and bear arms. It's not even something like a concealed carry permit that conveys additional anything to someone who ponies up the money. It's just a straight-up tax on owning a gun.
Much like a poll tax was a tax on exercising your right to vote.
The main difference is that guns can be given as gifts. Even then, though, is that an appreciable enough difference? Not really. If your right starts to depend on the generosity of others, you don't have a right. You have a privilege that can be shared.
The lawsuit will likely not be a quick process, either, which means a lot of people may find themselves unable to buy a gun or simply discouraged from exercising their rights.
That's not a good thing, and I hope the courts fix this. I'm just disappointed it's necessary at all.
