New Gun Tax for Cook County, Previous Gun Tax Ruled Unconstitutional

Chicago Police iStock-625383406
Chicago has terrible gun violence, despite some of the strictest gun laws in the world. IMG iStock-625383406

U.S.A.-(AmmoLand.com)- On November 4, 2021, the Cook County (where Chicago is located), Illinois board amended a gun and ammunition tax which had been ruled unconstitutional by the Illinois Supreme Court on October 21, 2021.

From chicagotribune.com:

Cook County commissioners voted Thursday to amend a guns and ammunition tax that was found unconstitutional by the Illinois Supreme Court, aiming to give the measure another lifeline by designating that money for violence prevention.

In a 12-2 vote, with three commissioners absent, the county board approved the amendment, which states all revenue from the firearm and ammunition tax must go toward programs or operations geared toward gun violence prevention. The passage follows an Oct. 21 ruling from the state’s highest court that found the levy was unconstitutional.

Chicago Murders By Area, 2008 Chicago Tribune Data And Map
Chicago Murders By Area, IMG 2008 Chicago Tribune Data And Map

This fulfilled the prediction of Justice Michael J. Burke, in a special concurrence. From the Illinois Supreme Court ruling:

Justice Michael J. Burke, specially concurring:

Moreover, the reason why those statutes preempt handgun regulations, not handgun taxes, is obvious—the Illinois Constitution only allows the legislature to preempt regulations, not taxes. And taxes that infringe the right to keep and bear arms are already precluded by the Illinois Constitution. See Ill. Const. 1970, art. I, § 22; id. art. VII, § 6. Moreover, even if the statutes mentioned by the County did intend to specifically preserve for home rule units the power to tax handguns in the manner under consideration here, that would not show that the framers of our constitution intended to authorize a home-rule unit’s discriminatory taxation of firearms, where the text of that constitution clearly prohibits taxation that infringes on the right to keep and bear arms.

A new challenge to the amended tax seems likely. It is too early for a lawsuit to have been crafted and filed in court. A visit to the Guns Save Life.com website did not reveal any announcement of their response to the amended tax.

The Supreme Court decision on October 21 was unanimous with Chief Justice Anne M. Burke abstaining.  It is not known why the Chief Justice did not participate in the decision. Her husband Edward Burke is a power broker in Chicago politics, an Alderman of the 14th Ward.

From npr.org:

There’s no evidence to suggest that Anne Burke, who is about to become the state’s highest-ranking judge, deliberately swung cases to benefit her husband’s clients. But one thing is indisputable: Some of the Supreme Court decisions Justice Burke helped shape spared some of her husband’s clients from significant financial and legal risk.

Chief Justice Burke avoided any appearance of impropriety in the gun tax case by not participating in it.

This correspondent predicts the words of Justice Michael J. Burke will appear in the next lawsuit challenging the gun and ammunition tax. From the decision:

Again, I believe that the majority’s analysis wrongly leaves the door open for a municipality to enact a future tax on firearms or ammunition that is more narrowly tailored to the purpose of ameliorating the cost of gun violence. The only problem with that approach is that it would still violate the Illinois Constitution.

Will Justice Burke continue to abstain in a new gun tax lawsuit? No one knows. No reason was given for her abstaining in the recently decided case.

The last lawsuit took nearly six years, from December 17, 2015, to October 21, 2021 to work its way to the Supreme Court, and for the Court to find the gun tax unconstitutional. The Cook County Board took two weeks to re-institute the amended tax. Will it take another six years for a new lawsuit to go to the Supreme Court again? Will the people of Illinois be continually subject to an Illinois legal game of whack a law?

The gun tax in Cook County is premised on a flawed assumption, The claim is: More guns equal more illegitimate violence. The evidence does not support this assumption. There is more evidence the number of guns does not make a difference in the level of violence, and the number of legal guns does not affect the number of illegal guns.


About Dean Weingarten:Dean Weingarten

Dean Weingarten has been a peace officer, a military officer, was on the University of Wisconsin Pistol Team for four years, and was first certified to teach firearms safety in 1973. He taught the Arizona concealed carry course for fifteen years until the goal of Constitutional Carry was attained. He has degrees in meteorology and mining engineering, and retired from the Department of Defense after a 30 year career in Army Research, Development, Testing, and Evaluation.

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Laddyboy

GET the COMMUNISTS and DemoKKKrats OUT OF OFFICE!!!!!!!!!!

Hazcat

I’m getting real close to the ‘by any means necessary’ point.

WI Patriot

All the while “defunding” the police…makes one wonder where all those tax $$$ are going…

crazy joe

PAYING FOR THEIR PROTECTION

Henry Bowman

In their pocket, methinks.

Bubba

Why is that even legal? If you are an anti gunner you should not allowed to make money or have protections from anyone or anything with a firearm. Call the police if you need more help. If you are an anti-gun actor or actress then you are not allowed to make movies anymore with any firearms in the movie at all. If you have private security and are an anti-gunner(Bloomberg, Gates, Zuckerberg, Dorsey, and all the Demonkrats), than you shall only be allowed to have security guards with Billy clubs and brass knuckles. You can call the police. As for… Read more »

Choogie

Yeah, I agree and it’s a damn shamed we can’t do more than vote to kick their sorry asses out of office. It’s all rigged.

Henry Bowman

The problem under the law that ticks me off is the blatant double standards. One set of laws for us plebs, and no laws for the political and celebrity class. It aint right.

WI Patriot

Had crossed my mind a time or two…

gregs

“designating that money for violence prevention,” did they state how they were going to prevent violence? the only way they think of reducing violence is by keeping law-abiding citizens from possessing firearms, not the criminals though.
government officials should have to prove that the laws are constitutional before they enact them. taxpayers shouldn’t have to litigate unconstitutional laws.
are the politicians going to tax the gangbangers and drug dealers to ameliorilate the cost of gun violence? why put the burden on law-abiding citizens?
evil or idiots?

Montana454Casull

The people of Illinois are reaping what they have sown . If they don’t like the overreach and pocketpicking idiots then vote them out , it’s that simple !

Henry Bowman

I’d tend to agree with you, but I lived just over the state line in Indiana and I can say with authority that Chicago has a saying, “Vote early and often”. Election-rigging was born in Chicago more than half a century ago, and that is not going to stop anytime soon. Election-rigging has since gone nationwide ever since a certain Chicago Democrat was ‘elected’ to be POTUS.

Choogie

Yeah!!! AND just how do you vote out a crooked voting machine. I guess you think those don’t exist. Nothing is as simple as it looks. Eventually it will wind up looking like Detroit.

MarkE

Of the 77 neighborhoods that comprise Chicago, probably 90% of the gun violence occurs in 5 – with Garfield Park, Englewood and Austin in a dubious class by themselves. The issue here is not the number of illegal guns in the city. The issue is that the city has allowed a handful of neighborhoods to become a virtual Mad Max Thunderdome. And the solution is not “ameliorating”, after the fact, the cost of the violence – the solution is attacking, and prosecuting, the source of the violence. At this point, common sense, reason, and logic would say that reducing law… Read more »

Beowulf

It’s called gang violence. Guns don’t commit violence.

MarkE

Actually, I grew up in Chicago and thought the same – and, until about 5 years ago, this was true. While gang violence is still rampant, stats now show that the gang violence is actually decreasing as a percentage (and is supported by FBI data). The increase, over the last 5 years or so, has now become neighborhood issues (the 3 worst noted above). In other words, it has now morphed into a demographics problem that encompasses not just the gang(s), but everyone else in these neighborhoods. If you haven’t seen it, check out HeyJackass.com (best site for real-time Chicago… Read more »

Tank

Courts are just as corrupt as the whole Masonic Zionist system in place. Political or Fiat Currency or Lobbyist makes no difference. All ROOTS meet & connect underground. Expose the ROOTS & you will get results.

Tempted Teacher or appointments all work the same.

Cui Bono vs. Cui Plagalis ?

Stupefying ignorance.

Opinion is the medium between knowledge & ignorance.
Plato

Last edited 2 years ago by Tank
hoss

Whenever I hear the words “white supremacist” I think of you. One question I have for you; Is your head shaved?

Bubba

I take offense to that statement. My head is shaved and I’m a Jew. Can’t be a white Supremacist.

Vince

The courts are intolerant of parties trying to do end runs around their decisions.

Choogie

That remains to be seen. They totally ignored the Supreme Court. Is that intolerance or is it being intolerant?

StLPro2A

I contend there is a direct correlation between the number of Defective Citizens and crime. Tax parents for raising their Defective Citizen offspring.