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Market oriented solutions to the problem of too many guns

Summary:
There are too many guns in the USA. If you don’t agree, no need to bother reading on. The market oriented solution is obvious, has no Constitutional problems, and is simple. 1) tax gun production and imports. They don’t grow on trees. A tax of $ 5000 per gun would be useful. Better a higher tax on semi-automatics and a lower tax on shot guns. I don’t give a damn about the risk of depriving poor people of an easy way to kill themselves and each other. 2) Higher tax on alcohol too. Basically most gun deaths involve alcohol. This is obvious. 3) Pay list price for a new gun + the tax for guns and melt them. So the tax is just a don’t kill someone before you sell this gun back deposit. The solution is simple. People respond to prices. Yes gun nuts might

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There are too many guns in the USA. If you don’t agree, no need to bother reading on. The market oriented solution is obvious, has no Constitutional problems, and is simple.

1) tax gun production and imports. They don’t grow on trees. A tax of $ 5000 per gun would be useful. Better a higher tax on semi-automatics and a lower tax on shot guns. I don’t give a damn about the risk of depriving poor people of an easy way to kill themselves and each other.
2) Higher tax on alcohol too. Basically most gun deaths involve alcohol. This is obvious.
3) Pay list price for a new gun + the tax for guns and melt them.

So the tax is just a don’t kill someone before you sell this gun back deposit.

The solution is simple. People respond to prices. Yes gun nuts might decide to become super rich people instead.
Fine by me.

Robert Waldmann
Robert J. Waldmann is a Professor of Economics at Univeristy of Rome “Tor Vergata” and received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University. Robert runs his personal blog and is an active contributor to Angrybear.

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