House Oversight and Reform Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) introduced two bills on Friday targeting the firearm industry, setting new restrictions for supplying firearms to gun distributors and retailers and imposing a tax on certain guns.
One of the pieces of legislation would make it illegal for a firearm importer or manufacturer to sell guns to a retailer or distributor known or suspected of engaging in practices that could pose a threat to the misuse or criminal use of a firearm.
The bill would also require databases to be created by the firearm importers and manufacturers to keep track of when their products are misused or used in crimes.
The second measure would impose a 20 percent tax on the total revenue for manufacturers or importers that sell semiautomatic assault weapons and would incorporate those funds toward a community violence intervention and prevention trust fund.
“Today’s legislation responds directly to findings from my Committee’s investigation showing that the top assault weapon manufacturers have collected more than $1 billion in revenue selling assault weapons to civilians, while refusing to track the crimes carried out with these weapons,” Maloney, who faces a tough Democratic primary after New York redistricting, said in a statement.
“These bills would impose a 20% revenue tax on these manufacturers so that the family hunting rifle is not taxed at the same rate as an assault weapon, and would ensure that the firearm industry, like others industries in America, takes responsibility for the safety and misuse of its products.”
It’s unclear if the bills will get attention in the House, and they stand little chance in the 50-50 Senate..
Congress earlier this year passed bipartisan gun safety legislation in the wake of several high-profile shootings in Buffalo, N.Y., and Uvalde, Texas.
