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9th November 2012, 08:16 PM
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/09/15054382-25-a-gun-sales-tax-approved-in-chicago-area?lite&ocid=msnhp&pos=4$25-a-gun sales tax approved in Chicago area
By NBC News
A controversial "violence tax" on guns in the Chicago area was approved Friday by Cook County commissioners, NBCChicago.com reported (http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Cook-County-Cigarette-Bullet-Taxes-Budget-178078191.html).
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The $25 tax on every gun purchased in the county -- city law prohibits gun sales in Chicago -- is meant to offset health care and other costs of gun violence, Board President Toni Preckwinkle said.
"Gun violence is a real problem for us," she said. "It's a problem for us in our criminal justice system and it's a problem for us in our health care system, and I make no apologies for the proposal."
Preckwinkle said the average shooting victim cost taxpayers $52,000 in acute care because nearly 70 percent of the victims don't have health insurance, NBCChicago.com reported.
Obama Care will help these poor folks out !
The vote follows a violent Chicago summer, when some weekends left multiple people killed and dozens of others injured in shootings, NBCChicago.com reported. The city's murder rate is up 25 percent for the year, and the Cook County Jail is near capacity with 9,000-plus inmates.
Watch US News crime videos on NBCNews.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/21427653#21427653)
The National Rifle Association ahead of the vote said the "misguided and burdensome" gun tax "continues to penalize law-abiding gun owners for exercising their fundamental right to keep and bear arms."
The gun tax, which takes effect April 1, was passed as part of Cook County's $2.9 billion spending plan for 2013.
By NBC News
A controversial "violence tax" on guns in the Chicago area was approved Friday by Cook County commissioners, NBCChicago.com reported (http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Cook-County-Cigarette-Bullet-Taxes-Budget-178078191.html).
Follow @NBCNewsUS (http://twitter.com/NBCNewsUS)
The $25 tax on every gun purchased in the county -- city law prohibits gun sales in Chicago -- is meant to offset health care and other costs of gun violence, Board President Toni Preckwinkle said.
"Gun violence is a real problem for us," she said. "It's a problem for us in our criminal justice system and it's a problem for us in our health care system, and I make no apologies for the proposal."
Preckwinkle said the average shooting victim cost taxpayers $52,000 in acute care because nearly 70 percent of the victims don't have health insurance, NBCChicago.com reported.
Obama Care will help these poor folks out !
The vote follows a violent Chicago summer, when some weekends left multiple people killed and dozens of others injured in shootings, NBCChicago.com reported. The city's murder rate is up 25 percent for the year, and the Cook County Jail is near capacity with 9,000-plus inmates.
Watch US News crime videos on NBCNews.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/21427653#21427653)
The National Rifle Association ahead of the vote said the "misguided and burdensome" gun tax "continues to penalize law-abiding gun owners for exercising their fundamental right to keep and bear arms."
The gun tax, which takes effect April 1, was passed as part of Cook County's $2.9 billion spending plan for 2013.