The Los Angeles field division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had a response to the following tweet that had a lot of people including me saying what's in the above meme: Well, there it is.
First, here's what the LA ATF was responding to:
Just for you clueless members of @HouseDemocrats @SenateDems this means the government is getting their $200 tax stamp, and you can have a short barrel riffle, a suppressor even an automatic weapon with the correct license. Funny how they leave out Biden's years? Why is that? https://t.co/gyugMekQLX
— LeonNiala (@Hunter4Jail) January 8, 2024
Here's the LA ATF's post related to firearm registration and taxation:
The National Firearms Act (NFA) introduced in 1934 requires NFA firearms to be registered & taxed. The $200 tax was quite prohibitive at the time, which was the goal of the NFA. All taxes collected for NFA go to the general fund of the U.S. Treasury Dept.
— ATF Los Angeles (@LosAngelesATF) January 8, 2024
"The $200 tax was quite prohibitive at the time, which was the goal of the NFA."
Yep, there's nothing like a "prohibitive" constitutional right!
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Thanks for saying the $200 tax was to keep poor people from owning weapons.
— EducatëdHillbilly™ (@RobProvince) January 10, 2024
Not all constitutional rights are for people who don't have a lot of money, or something -- according to the ATF LA.
"The $200 tax was quite prohibitive at the time, which was the goal of the NFA."
— ACME's #1 Customer (@Zaphod_Erisberg) January 9, 2024
You probably weren't actually supposed to say that out loud.
And yet there it is!
“The $200 tax was quite prohibitive at the time, which was the goal…”
— MN Gun Owners Caucus (@mnguncaucus) January 9, 2024
Mask off. https://t.co/KqBknpliVe
What part of "shall not be infringed" do they not get?
The difference between illegal and legal is $200. If you can afford it, you poors https://t.co/8xiTV7QrSc
— Carlos (@txiokatu) January 10, 2024
“The $200 tax was quite prohibitive at the time, which was the goal of the NFA.”
— avsterbone (@avsterbone) January 9, 2024
The federal government just admitted that the entire point of the NFA was to be a punitive and prohibitive process to acquire certain firearms. The act had NOTHING to do with safety. https://t.co/NASIz5fmWQ
Every now and then they just come right out and say it.