10-Cent Ammunition Fee Will Surely Misfire

I know The Times never met an anti-gun law it did not approve of and invent reasons to support; however, your support for Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas’ (D-Los Angeles) bill for a 10-cent fee -- in effect, a tax -- for each round of ammunition to ostensibly pay for trauma services marks a new low (“No Vacation From Violence,” editorial, April 22). First you support taking guns away from law-abiding citizens, ensuring that only criminals will have guns and that citizens won’t have them for self-defense. Now you want the law-abiding to also pay for the crimes of the criminals. I suppose the out-of-state ammunition sellers will be happy to sell over the Internet, and my friends on the reservation are cranking up plans to expand their Smoke Shop to Smokes ‘n’ Ammo. I am sure that your war on ammunition will be at least as successful as the war on drugs.

Jim Dodd

San Diego

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It is outrageous that The Times would support a 10-cent tax on each round of ammunition to help pay for trauma care. It is unfortunate that 40 million people are uninsured. It is also unfortunate that many of these uninsured are probably the victims of senseless violence and crime. Rather than blame bullets, go to the root cause of the trauma -- the murderer. We as a society need to mete out quick and swift justice for these murderers. California needs to say loudly and clearly that if you murder someone with a gun, you will be put to death. Think of it as a performance contract. Lingering for 20 years (or longer) on death row is cruel and unusual punishment for the guilty and the victim’s family.

Taxing bullets is a well-intentioned but seriously misguided idea. It is poor economics and arguably unconstitutional to tax the law-abiding citizens who use arms for defensive and sporting purposes. Even if a tax could be justified, at 10 cents a round, the price of a “brick of .22-caliber ammunition,” which generally costs around $10, would jump to $60. Even the taxes on smokers (who are not protected by the Constitution) are not that draconian. Criminals won’t register their guns and they won’t buy their ammo in California. They will smuggle it in from more gun-friendly states like Arizona and Nevada.

Myke Rost

Altadena

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Re “New Fees May Skirt Tax Vote,” April 23: Someone should tell our “representatives” that it remains legal to purchase ammunition from out of state via telephone, telegraph, fax, Internet, carrier pigeon and smoke signal. This proposed “fee” is just another attempt to drive gun dealers (who also sell ammunition) out of business -- and to harass law-abiding gun owners.

James F. Glass

Chatsworth