Bills
| 3.23.22

Would a Tax Credit For Turning In Assault Weapons Make the Streets Safer? (H.R. 1745)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H.R. 1745?

(Updated July 28, 2020)

This bill would create a $2000 tax credit for people who turn over their assault weapon(s) to local law enforcement agencies. A very extensive list of the various rifles, pistols, and shotguns that would be covered under this bill is listed in the bill text.

If you want a general sense of whether your firearm would be included: the bill covers guns that are semi-automatic (meaning they fire with each pull of the trigger), based on a design used by the military or law enforcement, and are “not particularly suitable for sporting purposes, as determined by the Attorney General.” Weapons with detachable magazines, conversion kits, folding or telescoping sights, pistol grips or forward grips would also be covered.

This tax credit would only last for two tax years after this legislation’s enactment.

Argument in favor

This tax credit will make the streets safer by creating an incentive for people to turn in dangerous assault weapons. It may not get all of these guns into government hands, but it would make a difference.

Argument opposed

Why would anyone use a $2000 tax credit to give up a gun that may have cost more than that? These so-called “assault weapons” are primarily used for home defense — criminals don’t care about what types of guns are politically correct.

Impact

Assault weapon owners, local law enforcement offices that would manage the weapon turn-in, gun's rights and gun safety advocates, and the IRS.

Cost of H.R. 1745

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: An identical version of this bill was introduced in January 2013, but it failed to advance out of committee in the House.


Of Note: When discussing her legislation, sponsoring Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) said: 

“Assault weapons are not about hunting, or even self-defense. There is no reason on earth, other than to kill as many people as possible in as short a time as possible, that anyone needs a gun designed for a battlefield.”

Opponents of this bill and others that limit access to these weapons have observed that the term ‘assault weapons’ is very broadly defined, and that: 

“they are arguably less powerful than your average hunting rifle; and they are no more efficient at “killing quickly people quickly” than are common semi-automatic handguns.”

A 2013 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics pointed out that from 1993 to 2011, gun-related homicides declined by 39 percent. Meanwhile, nonfatal gun crimes dropped by 69 percent. The FBI’s statistics on murder weapons from 2011 found that while rifles or shotguns were identified in 679 murders that year, personal weapons including “hands, fists, feet, etc.” were responsible for 728 of the total 12,664 murders that year.


Media:


Summary by Eric Revell
(Photo Credit: Flickr user ScaarAT)