But it’s (ostensibly) for a good cause: Illinois State Representative Kelly Cassidy (D, Chicago) wants to tax the sale of ammunition and use the proceeds to help defray the costs of “high-crime area” trauma centers that treat the results of violent crime.

Illinois Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence Campaign Director, Mark Walsh, actually argues with a straight face

[The money would go] into communities here in Illinois that have been damaged with gun violence.  I think it’s a legitimate way to pursue funding.

This is, at best, naïve.

Illinois State Rifle Association Director, Richard Pearson, makes things clear:

[Criminals are] not buying their ammunition (legally). They’re not paying any part of the tax. They’re getting their stuff illegally[.]

Taxing the law-abiding to pay for the criminals’ actions doesn’t address the problem—that violent crime.  If Illinois wants to lower the costs of violent crime outcomes, the answer is straightforward: reduce the incidence of violent crime.  This begins with enforcing crime laws, even in those “high-crime areas,” not waiting until the violence has been done, and then looking for ways to cover the price.

It’s unacceptable to expect law-abiding citizens to subsidize the outcomes of enforcement failure.  State Congresswoman Cassidy knows this full well—her move is nothing more than another attempt to restrict our firearm possession and ownership and use rights.