Everyone has heard it, you've seen it in an email, on a forum, from a friend or even has been posted on twitter.
"Senate Bill SB-2099 will require us to put on our 2009 1040 federal tax form all guns that you have or own. It may require fingerprints and a tax of $50 per gun.
This bill was introduced on Feb. 24. This bill will become public knowledge 30 days after it is voted into law. This is an amendment to the Internal Revenue Act of 1986. This means that the Finance Committee can pass this without the Senate voting on it at all.
The full text of the proposed amendment is on the U.S. Senate homepage, http://www.senate.gov/
You can find the bill by doing a search by the bill number, SB-2099."
So is this thing real?
Could it be that they are trying to pass yet another gun control measure that would force us to pay. We have received many emails about this, people alerting us and wanting us to put the word out. So here we go.
As with all internet rumors there is a bit of truth. SB-2099 really did exist. And it was introduced on Febuary 24. What the emails and all of the alerts do not tell you is the year. SB-2099 was the "Handgun Safety and Registration Act of 2000". Holy moly that was almost 10 years ago, but ever year since then it has changed. Like this year it says "of 2009".
What was the bill really for?
Well again therumor is not all wrong. Here is a quick summary of the bill.
" Handgun Safety and Registration Act of 2000 - Amends chapter 53 (Machine Guns, Destructive Devices, and Certain Other Firearms) of the Internal Revenue Code to, among other things: (1) require the registration of handguns in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record; (2) provide for the sharing of registration information with Federal, State and local law enforcement agencies; and (3) provide for the imposition of the five dollar transfer tax on handguns and a $50 tax upon the making of each handgun.
Authorizes appropriations."
So what happened with the bill?
As the email blast does state correctly the bill was introduced on February 24th 2000 by Senator Jack Reed. It was read twice then was referred to committee and never made it out. SB-2099 was introduced in the 106th congress. Congressional sessions last for two years, and at the end of each session all proposed bills and resolutions that haven't passed are cleared from the books. Often members will reintroduce the bill for the next session, however this one was not.
So where do we go from here?
Stop forwarding these emails, stop helping to spread the rumor. If you want to, go ahead forward the email but please make sure that you put the correct information. Let the person who sent it as well as anyone else you sent it to know that it is false. There are much more pressing and real issues that we need to be talking about rather than spreading a 10 year old rumor.
Here are a few links for you if you would like to further research SB-2099.
Gov Track for SB-2099
SB-2099 Summary
SB-2099 Full text.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/taxreturns.asp
NRAILA's Look on SB-2099.
