SB-2099 - Bill Requiring Federal Tax on Guns

Take a grain of truth, sprinkle with false and misleading statements, add a heaping dollop of paranoia, and what do you have?

Description: Email rumor
Circulating since: Sep. 2000
Status: Outdated / False

Email example contributed by a reader, Sep. 18, 2000:

PLEASE NOTE: This is an old rumor dating back to September 2000 (see analysis and update below). No such bill was introduced in 2009.


Analysis: As of this writing (September 2000), Senate Bill 2099 (S. 2099) does exist, but the legislation introduced by Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island on February 24 has little in common with the description above.

• Email: "Senate Bill SB-2099 will require us to put on our 2000 1040 federal tax Form all guns that you have or own."

  No, it won't. What the bill would require if it becomes law is the registration of all handguns. Its title is: "The Gun Registration and Safety Act of 2000." There is indeed a provision for a tax on all registered weapons, but it has nothing to do with your federal income tax forms and everything to do with establishing a national database of handgun owners.

• Email: "This bill will become public knowledge 30 days after it is voted into law."

  Nonsense. It has been public knowledge ever since its introduction. Gun rights groups such as the National Rifle Association have been monitoring its progress (or lack thereof) closely and have referenced it in legislative alerts.

• Email: "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."

  Poppycock. The law would involve a revision of the Internal Revenue Act, yes, but this bill has to go through standard Senate protocols before it can be passed. Besides, didn't a previous sentence just say it would become public knowledge only after it is "voted into law?"

• Email: "Please send a copy of this e-mail to every gun owner you know to help STOP this bill!!"

  By all means protest this bill, or support it, if you feel moved either way. But be aware that nobody — including its main sponsor — expects the unpopular proposal to survive committee, let alone pass both houses of Congress. Even the National Rifle Association rates S. 2099 a low priority, having stated as recently as August 25, 2000: "While NRA opposes this legislation, there is no real threat of it passing at this time. Please continue to focus your energy on pending legislation in the U.S. House, and especially, in the U.S. Senate, that poses immediate threats to our freedoms."

• Coyote