Nebraska Lawmakers Consider Ammo Tax

Do you live in Nebraska? Do you shoot guns? Then you need to know that, right now, your state legislators are looking at bringing in another tax on ammo in order to pay the government’s bills.

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Tax games

The law in question is proposed Legislative Bill 65, which was heard in committee in early August. You can read the proposed bill here, but the gist of it is this. Nebraska’s state politicians want to add another 5 percent tax to ammunition sales in the state.

The funds raised would be split 35-15-50. Thirty-five percent would be given to the Wildlife Management Grant Program. Fifteen percent would be given to support programs for the victims of PTSD, and the remaining half of the money would be used to make up a shortfall in state funds, which is expected as leaders want to reduce property taxes.

Nebraska’s leader says the tax is modeled after the Pittman-Robertson tax. This flat 11 percent tax has been used to raise funds for wildlife conservation since 1937, raising billions for conservation across the U.S. since its introduction.

But despite the benefits of Pittman-Robertson, the NRA’s stance on LB65 is that it’s a bad copycat. Their response says this:

“The NRA has sued states like California for their unconstitutional excise taxes and this would most assuredly also face a legal challenge if enacted. Nebraska should be looking at ways to reduce the cost burden on Nebraskans wishing to exercise their constitutional rights instead of making it more costly and difficult. Property tax relief for Nebraskans is an admirable goal for the special session but doing so by saddling Nebraska gun owners with an unconstitutional tax on ammunition is not how to deliver that relief.”

So. Don’t expect this to go unchallenged if passed.