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‘Sin Tax’: California’s Gavin Newsom Signs 11% Excise Tax on Guns
On Tuesday, Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom of California signed a gun control package that includes an 11 percent “sin tax” on firearms and ammunition.
According to a Breitbart News story from August 23, 2023, California Assemblyman Jesse Gabriel (D) is working to pass legislation that would impose an 11 percent excise tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition in the state.
He praised the legislation as a way to provide the state government with approximately $160 million in yearly revenue. Due of California's “$31.5 billion budget imbalance,” former assemblyman Marc Levine (D) endorsed Gabriel's excise tax, the Sacramento Bee reported.
Tuesday saw the new tax's enactment, and the California governor responded to questions about it during the Q&A that followed.
A reporter questioned Newsom about why he supported this tax increase after pointing out that Newsom had previously opposed them.
Newsom said, “For me this is a little different. This is an excise tax related to gun safety. It funds mental health services, funds school safety programs…I see this a little bit differently, in that context. This is not a general income tax, not a corporate tax, this is…from my perspective, more of a sin tax, where there is a cause and effect and justification.”
Another reporter asked what Newsom has to say to people who believe he should be fighting gun violence out of the general fund instead of establishing a new tax.
Newsom said, “I respectfully disagree, and my signature represents that disagreement.”
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