posted 06-07-2002 11:27 AM            

Bullet tax clears Senate committee; opponents vow floor fight
By DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writer
Published 4:45 p.m. PDT Wednesday, June 5, 2002
SACRAMENTO (AP) - A first-in-the-nation proposal to tax each bullet sold in California cleared a Senate committee Wednesday.
The Senate Health and Human Services Committee approved the measure, but it now faces uphill fights in the Revenue and Taxation and Constitutional Amendments committees.

The bill by Sen. Don Perata, D-Oakland, would put a five-cent tax on each bullet, with the money going to hospital emergency rooms.

If it reaches a Senate vote, Sen. Ray Haynes, R-Riverside, predicted Republicans will uniformly vote against the measure.

Perata predicted he will get the single GOP vote he needs to send the measure to the Assembly.

Because it is a proposed constitutional amendment, it must clear the Assembly and Senate with two-thirds majorities, one more than the number of Democratic senators and four more than the number of Democratic assembly members. The bill is controversial because it not only levies a tax on bullets, but does so in an election year. If it is approved by both chambers, voters would decide the matter in November.

Gun groups say Perata would be better off punishing criminals who send victims to emergency rooms, rather than law-abiding citizens who buy bullets legally.

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms suggested legislation requiring anyone convicted of shooting someone to pay their victim's medical costs before they are freed from prison. The California Rifle and Pistol Association proposed a 25 cents per bullet tax credit for gun owners "for the tremendous public benefit their firearms provide."

Perata said there are no statistics on how many bullets are sold each year in California, but he estimated that $21 million could be raised annually, based on an assumption that one gun averages 50 bullets a year. He acknowledged that's a fraction of the cost of treating gunshot victims.

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On the Net: Read the proposal, SCA12 at www.sen.ca.gov