I’m a gun owner, and I support taxing guns and ammo

To the editor: Columnist George Skelton tells us {that a} tax on weapons and ammunition is a nasty factor with out, oddly, telling us why. Income from the tax would assist gun violence prevention. He says cash for gun violence prevention ought to come from the state normal fund.

Gun house owners are instantly chargeable for the dearth of gun regulation on this nation by their assist of the Nationwide Rifle Assn. That in flip is chargeable for the proliferation of weapons, which is very correlated with the epidemic of gun violence.

Why not tax those that bear accountability for gun violence to mitigate the injury? Why ought to non-gun house owners pay for damages not of their making?

I personal a shotgun, which I sometimes take pleasure in utilizing to shoot at clay pigeons. I might be completely happy to pay a further 11% for shotgun shells figuring out that the taxes are going to assist stop gun violence.

George Vine, La Cañada Flintridge

..

To the editor: If Skelton had attended the funeral of one of many 60 individuals killed within the 2017 Las Vegas mass capturing, possibly he would perceive why many people in California don’t suppose Gov. Gavin Newsom ought to veto Meeting Invoice 28, which might levy an 11% excise tax on firearm and ammunition gross sales.

Many Californians labored laborious this legislative session, calling and writing our representatives in Sacramento and even exhibiting as much as the Capitol to voice our assist for a invoice that, sadly, solely begins to handle gun violence.

In keeping with analysis by Everytown for Gun Security, gun violence prices American taxpayers $12.6 billion yearly. This doesn’t account for quality-of-life prices, which I can let you know — having watched a grieving father communicate through the packed memorial service for his daughter, who was killed in Las Vegas — can by no means be quantified.

Typically, to “prioritize spending,” as Skelton says, our Legislature should impose a tax. And this one ought to be levied in opposition to the industries instantly chargeable for the lethal hurt brought on by their merchandise.

Sarah Vogel, Laguna Seashore