Explore The NRA Universe Of Websites

APPEARS IN News

Hillary Clinton’s History of Support for Prohibitive Taxes on Firearms and Ammunition

Friday, June 10, 2016

Hillary Clinton’s History of Support for Prohibitive Taxes on Firearms and Ammunition

Last Sunday, ABC This Week host, and former Clinton White House Communications Director, George Stephanopoulos questioned Hillary Clinton about her support for gun control. While Clinton’s evasive response as to whether she believes the Second Amendment protects an individual right has garnered a great deal of attention, Clinton’s response to a follow-up question about taxing firearms is also of interest. It has been reported that Stephanopoulos was a relative voice of reason within the Clinton White House, skeptical of the efficacy of gun control.

To preface his question, Stephanopoulos showed Clinton a video clip from a September 30, 1993 Senate Finance Committee hearing on President Bill Clinton’s plans to overhaul the U.S. health care system. Clinton testified before the committee as chair of the President’s Task Force on National Health Care Reform. In the clip, Clinton was asked by Sen. Bill Bradley (D-N.J.) if she supported a 25 percent tax on firearms to fund the cost of the president’s healthcare proposal. Clinton responded, “I'm all for that. I just don't know what else we're going to do to try to figure out how to get some handle on this violence… We will look at your proposal and be happy to talk with you about it. I'm speaking personally, but I feel very strongly about that.”

After playing the video, Stephanopoulos asked Clinton, “Do you still believe that?” In her response, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee failed to reject the radical policy, stating, “I'm not going to commit to any specific proposal. I was speaking personally then. I would have to, you know, consider any proposal in light of how it interacted with all the others that we want to continue to advocate for, particularly, as I said, comprehensive background checks.” Clinton then proceeded to make a series of policy arguments on behalf of a severe gun tax.

The clip of the September 1993 committee hearing is often used to show Clinton’s support for a prohibitive firearms tax, for good reason. However, it is important to note that the idea of using an exorbitant firearms tax to fund Bill Clinton’s health care project did not originate with Sen. Bradley in that committee hearing.

Less than a month after her husband assumed office, the Clinton-led President’s Task Force on National Health Care Reform was already contemplating a gun tax. A February 17, 1993 New York Times article, titled, “2 Dozen New Taxes Weighed To Pay for Health Care Plans,” noted, “Confidential work papers from Mrs. Clinton's task force show that the Administration is considering taxes on insurance premiums, corporate health benefits, alcoholic beverages, tobacco products and guns, among other sources of revenue for health care.”

In November 1993, Clinton entertained an even more excessive tax on handgun ammunition proposed by Sen. Daniel P. Moynihan (D-N.Y.). Moynihan’s legislation would have imposed a tax ranging from 11-50 percent on center-fire handgun ammunition, and a whopping 10,000 percent on a particular type of self-defense ammunition. According to a Minneapolis Star Tribune article from the period, Clinton said Sen. Moynihan’s proposal deserved “serious consideration.”

Whether or not Clinton chooses to acknowledge it, the Supreme Court’s decision in Heller, which recognized that the Second Amendment protects and individual right to keep and bear arms, is the law of the land. Further, the Court has rejected taxes aimed at curbing the exercise of constitutionally protected rights. In the 1983 case Minneapolis Star Tribune Co. v. Minnesota Commissioner of Revenue, the plaintiff challenged a Minnesota tax on paper and ink products used for publication. The Court held the tax to be a violation of the First Amendment and explained the dangers of such a scheme by noting, “A power to tax differentially, as opposed to a power to tax generally, gives a government a powerful weapon against the taxpayer selected.”

Further, the significant burden of a new tax on firearms or ammunition can only be grasped if one understands that firearms owners already pay a sizable excise tax, albeit for a worthy cause. The Pittman-Robertson Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Act, signed into law in 1937, imposes a 10-11 percent tax on firearms and ammunition. These funds are distributed through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to benefit wildlife habitat and to promote the shooting sports by funding hunter education programs and range development and maintenance.

With her recent ABC interview, Clinton has now publicly contemplated prohibitive taxes on firearms and ammunition over a span of nearly a quarter-century. Clinton’s consideration of imposing severe taxes on the exercise of our rights is just one reason among many that gun owners and other supporters of individual liberty must actively join the fight to protect the Second Amendment. For more information about what you can do to help preserve our Second Amendment rights, please visit https://www.nraila.org/take-action/.

BY NRA-ILA Staff

TRENDING NOW
Gun Control “Journalist” Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

Gun Control “Journalist” Says the Quiet Part Out Loud

Pure gun control. As in disarmament and banning of firearms. It’s rare that anti-gunners get straight to the exact point that we have been warning of for decades. 

The Desperate Deflection to the “Red State Murder Problem”

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

The Desperate Deflection to the “Red State Murder Problem”

California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) may have thought he had scored against President Donald Trump in a recent war of words over rampant crime and the deployment of federal law enforcement agents to Democratic-led cities

Due Process: The Backbone of Legal Legitimacy

News  

Monday, September 8, 2025

Due Process: The Backbone of Legal Legitimacy

Close observers of the gun debate often see references to due process.

Illinois: Governor Signs Mandatory Firearm Storage Law

Wednesday, September 3, 2025

Illinois: Governor Signs Mandatory Firearm Storage Law

Earlier this month, Governor JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 8 into law. This legislation imposes new mandatory firearm storage requirements on law-abiding gun owners.  

Third Circuit Strikes Some New Jersey Carry Restrictions in NRA Case

Thursday, September 11, 2025

Third Circuit Strikes Some New Jersey Carry Restrictions in NRA Case

Yesterday, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Siegel v. Platkin, striking some of the carry restrictions New Jersey enacted in response to the NRA’s landmark Supreme Court victory, New York State Rifle & ...

Update: North Carolina House Reschedules Veto Override Vote

Tuesday, August 26, 2025

Update: North Carolina House Reschedules Veto Override Vote

Today, the House rescheduled the veto override vote on Senate Bill 50, Freedom to Carry NC, to Monday, September 22. 

Colorado: CSSA Files Suit Challenging "Polis Permission Slip" Permit-to-Purchase Law

Tuesday, September 9, 2025

Colorado: CSSA Files Suit Challenging "Polis Permission Slip" Permit-to-Purchase Law

Last week, the Colorado State Shooting Association (CSSA), the official state affiliate of NRA, filed a lawsuit challenging Senate Bill 25-003...

Florida: Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday Signed by Governor

Monday, July 7, 2025

Florida: Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday Signed by Governor

Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed the Florida Budget for Fiscal Year 2025–2026, which includes a Second Amendment sales tax holiday from September 8 through December 31, 2025. The NRA is thankful for Governor DeSantis’ strong ...

Grassroots Spotlight: Oklahoma Rifle Association Annual State Convention

Take Action  

Monday, September 8, 2025

Grassroots Spotlight: Oklahoma Rifle Association Annual State Convention

Each year, the Oklahoma Rifle Association (ORA), the NRA's State Association for Oklahoma, hosts its Annual State Convention in August. 

NRA Files Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Hear Challenge to Washington’s Magazine Ban

Monday, September 8, 2025

NRA Files Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Hear Challenge to Washington’s Magazine Ban

Today, the National Rifle Association filed an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant certiorari in a case challenging Washington State’s ban on firearm magazines that hold more than 10 rounds.

MORE TRENDING +
LESS TRENDING -

More Like This From Around The NRA

NRA ILA

Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the "lobbying" arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.