The Missouri House is considering a bill that would exempt sales tax on guns and ammunition.

The Senate has already passed the bill, sponsored by state Senator Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville. He said constitutional rights should not be taxed.

“These are levied taxes against what is a right of people to be able to partake in this constitutional right,” Brattin said. “Unlike any other right that we have, this is one that requires a purchase of a firearm to exercise that right and for us to levy those taxes against a constitutional right, I feel, is a bad move on our part as a government.”

In addition, Brattin has a problem with an excise tax, equating it to being taxed twice.

“It’s attributed to every single manufactured round, every single manufactured firearm in the entire nation, and it’s an 11% tax, and what happens in that is passed on to the consumer,” he explained to a House committee. “So, you’re having to pay a sales tax, and then on top of that, you’re paying an excise tax that’s sent to the federal government.”

Democrats like St. Louis Representative Barbara Phifer call this constitutional right abhorrent.

Click here for more information on Senate Bill 131.

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