The federal government collected $3.5 trillion in taxpayer money in 2019. How much of that is being spent on demonizing guns? How much is being spent on advertising campaigns and public programs that are trying to take away your Second Amendment rights? How much of your taxpayer dollars are being spent on research that will be used to slowly erode your gun rights?
The answer is “a lot”—although it’s hard to track exactly where it’s all going. Still, let’s dig into this question and try to find out how you—yes, you—are inadvertently funding gun control when you pay your taxes.
Follow the Money…
Thanks to the devious nature of politics and the questionable dealings of politicians, it would be a near-impossible exercise to follow one individual’s taxpayer dollars directly to what we would call a “gun control” organization. Remember, we are paying the government (with our taxes) to do and make things that are supposed to serve our interests as a society. It may not always feel like this in practice, but that is the theory.
In reality, it’s easy to see how the government misuses the dollars you provide as a taxpayer. Take education, for example; often the organizations that receive funds from the government use those funds to teach ideas in schools, create textbooks and videos that are promoted in libraries, and push ideologies that might strongly go against your individual values. All of which is done with funds that you send to the IRS every spring.
So, a similar thing is happening with your taxpayer dollars and gun control. In the same way that the money you spend is funding textbooks, your taxpayer dollars are funding gun control. Here’s how.
Research Dollars
Additionally, each year, a large portion of our taxpayer dollars goes to government-funded research. Research and development are essential to the growth, prosperity, and flourishing of our nation. It’s what keeps us at the forefront of the world’s military powers and at the top of world economy rankings. Organizations that are funded by our taxpayer dollars include the Department of Defense and all of its branches, the Department of Education, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Justice—and many, many others.
The department that will be of primary interest to Second Amendment supporters who are concerned with the infringement of their right to bear arms is the Department of Health and Human Services. This department includes within it two noteworthy agencies: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) and the National Institute of Health (“NIH”). According to the missions of each agency, the NIH seeks to “enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability” and the CDC works “to protect America from health, safety and security threats,” respectively.
If you worked at either agency, would you assume that researching firearm control would fall under your job description? Does gun control count as a health threat? Until recently, it didn’t due to “the Dickey Amendment,” which is a 1996 federal omnibus bill provision that forbade the CDC from putting research dollars towards anything that advocated for or promoted gun control.
Gun Control Research?
However, things changed in 2018, when lawmakers edited the language of the Dickey Amendment to allow gun control research to begin.
How much of your tax dollars went to the CDC and NIH in 2020? $25 million, to be exact—split down the middle between both agencies for allocation to gun control research.
What do we know about how the money is being used? The CDC says that it has committed “$7,836,869 to fund sixteen research awards under RFA-CE-20-006: Research Grants to Prevent Firearm-Related Violence and Injuries” and that “[t]he purpose of this initiative is to solicit investigator-initiated research to understand and prevent firearm-related injuries, deaths, and crime.”
The NIH says they have allocated $8.5 million to “research to improve understanding of the determinants of firearm injury, the identification of those at risk of firearm injury (including both victims and perpetrators), the development and evaluation of innovative interventions to prevent firearm injury and mortality, and the examination of approaches to improve the implementation of existing, evidence-based interventions to prevent firearm injury and mortality.”
We’ve yet to see where the rest of the $25 million will go. Those are your taxpayer dollars at work, right there.
An “Epidemic”
Much of the taxpayer money being funneled toward gun control is happening because of the shifting terminology of “gun violence.” The current federal administration has labeled gun violence a “public health epidemic.” And the re-labeling of the Second Amendment as an issue that touches on public health is allowing the administration to allocate funds in new places—which could victimize gun owners and their constitutional right to bear arms.
For example, buried in President Biden’s 11,700-word plan for revitalizing the infrastructure of the U.S. is one sentence that allocates $5 billion over eight years to “evidence based community violence-prevention programs.” These programs treat “gun control” as a public health crisis and would continue to send your taxpayer dollars toward programs aimed at demonizing firearms—whether purposefully or inadvertently.
“Charities” at Work Against the Second Amendment
Another way your tax dollars could be inadvertently funding gun control is through charities—501(c)(3)s and 501(c)(4)s, for example—that promote gun control agendas. Charities, of course, get substantial tax breaks or don’t have to pay taxes at all. There are 29 different types of 501(c) organizations, and one of the most well-known is the tax-exempt 501(c)(3), which is usually a non-political religious, educational, or scientific organization. That’s one of the big designations of a 501(c)(3): they aren’t allowed to get involved in politics. Next down the line are 501(c)(4) organizations, which are social welfare charities that can touch on and lobby political issues as long as politics don’t become the primary purpose of the charity.
You may have heard of one of the most prominent anti-gun organizations out there: Everytown for Gun Safety (“Everytown”). Everytown purports to be “the largest gun violence prevention organization in America.” But did you know this organization is actually registered as a dual charity under the IRS? It’s a sly way of operating: both as a tax-exempt charitable organization and a political lobbying power.
How do they do it? Well, according to their website, the organization is split into two entities. The Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund is a 501(c)(3) organization, “which focuses on awareness and educational work related to gun violence prevention.” This is the organization that’s not supposed to get into politics. Then there’s the Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, which is registered as a 501(c)(4) organization. It’s this “Action Fund” organization “which focuses on advocacy and legislative work.” So, you have one organization that’s cleverly using the system to demonize firearms and law-abiding gun owners while getting huge tax breaks in the process.
Is That Where It Stops?
Those are just the dollars you can track. But what about the ones you can’t?
In a recent story, an investigation by Fox News showed that banks and financial institutions across the country are slowly severing their ties with the gun industry. In fact, 19 senators wrote and sent a letter to Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin, voicing displeasure that “several of the nation’s systemically important financial institutions (“SIFI”), including Citibank, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and others, continue to use their market dominance to financially discriminate against legal and compliant businesses for political reasons,” including “the firearms and ammunition” industry.
“Financial activism by banks is by far one of the largest emerging threats against Second Amendment rights,” Philip Watson, founder of Washington Public Relations, told Fox News. “The federal government allows the financial industry to receive vast amounts of federal funds; however, those exact same funds free up their balance sheets enough to discriminate and play politics.”
And it doesn’t stop there: see the case of the mom-and-pop store selling replica, non-workable, vintage guns that were banned from “Square,” which is a payment platform. All of these moments seem like concerted efforts to demonize the use of guns and firearms—a constitutional foundation of our country. Where will it stop?
In Conclusion
The federal government seems set on moving “gun violence” into the bucket that counts as a public health concern. President Biden continues to call it an “epidemic.” And that means you can expect more and more of your taxpayer dollars to be funneled into research for gun control and against the Second Amendment.
If you have any questions, call U.S. LawShield and ask to speak to your Independent Program Attorney.
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The current federal administration has labeled gun violence a “public health epidemic.” The LARGER logical fallacy is the term “Gun Violence” It is not gun violence. It is People Violence. I have never seen a gun get mad and kill someone, I have never been robbed by a 12guage shotgun, I have never been mugged by a .45 Colt, My home has never been invaded by a tec-9 with a meth habit, and beaten. I have never been assaulted by a Ruger mini-14. to call it ‘gun violence’ is as illogical to call someone who hits another with a hammer as “Hammer Violence”, I have never met a violent hammer. It is the same as a drunk in a car crash into a family of four, killing them. Who do you blame? the tool, or the fool?
They don’t call it car violence. How about accidentally cutting someone with a pair of scissors, who happens to be holding a piece of cloth for you to cut when making a blouse? Do they call that Scissor Violence? No. What about a run down tour bus that crashes and burns on the interstate, killing all aboard in a flaming wreck? do they call that Bus Violence? No. Then we have idiot teenagers tossing a concrete block off of an overpass, hitting a car windshield, and killing the driver of the car, and causing a pile up. Do they call that “Concrete Block” Violence? No. In summary, I could let a loaded .50 Desert Eagle, lay on a table, locked in a room for a thousand years, and someone could break in after 900 years, and that handgun would not go off on its own and kill the burglar. All acts of VIOLENCE are caused by PEOPLE pulling the Trigger, tossing the Concrete Block, Stabbing with the Knife, Driving while DRUNK, Knowingly being on the road with a Bus way past it’s use by date, having not been inspected for road worthiness by another HUMAN. So, take your ‘gun violence’ “Appeal to Fear” logical fallacy, and run it down the road!
Address the underlying causes of people violence, because you will not get anywhere by yelling at guns, or imploring them to behave. Gang bangers, thugs, bonafide alcoholics, drug addicts, religious extremists, rageaholics, delusional psychopaths sociopaths, & mentally ill people should not possess firearms. Then they will start doing knife violence, or pipe bomb or pressure cooker violence, or caustic acid-in-the-face violence, or running people over with monster truck violence, or taking the bus for a spin through a crowd of Christmas shoppers in France and Germany violence.
AMEN!
Rich, you are staying the argument perfectly! May I quote this comment?
By all means, Elizabeth, and anyone else who feels the same way!
The difference being that cars, scissors, and concrete blocks all have different purposes not related to violence so your argument is a little silly. When you replace your hammer with your Glock, maybe your argument will work better. Also, I would avoid using cars as an example here as there are numerous legislations and constant studies on how to make cars safer.
Erik. ANYONE who gets drunk and gets behind the wheel has a higher probability of turning that car into either a
‘Rocket’, like it they fall asleep at the wheel at 50 miles per hour, and hits someone, or some people, turning that car into a WEAPON. Anyone who is drunk and in a foul tempered mood, and gets behind the wheel and decides
to engage in road rage turns that car into a guided missile, and hence turns it into a WEAPON. Anyone who has severe impulse control issues, and is a nascent sociopath, can just as easily turn a concrete cinder block into a WEAPON and maim or kill someone with it. E.G.; https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/two-asian-women-repeatedly-attacked-cinder-block-they-closed-baltimore-n1266378. The scissor argument was intended as snark.
Cars around the world have been weaponized. Ask any combat veteran who has done time in the sandbox in Afghanistan or Iraq about CAR BOMBS. Ask any survivors of of the terrible incident in Nice France whether that vehicle was turned into a weapon: https://www.stripes.com/news/europe/france-s-truck-attack-marks-deadly-twist-in-european-terror-1.419251 France’s truck attack marks deadly twist in European terror. Then you also have the Christmas Market terror attack in Germany, ask any survivors of that heinous act whether the truck was not turned into a WEAPON that was used against them: https://www.dw.com/en/berlin-remembers-victims-of-christmas-market-terror-attack/a-55999113 Legislation and Studies do not make cars safer. It is the occupant driving those cars and trucks who are either responsible drivers, or are mentally ill, delusional, or
have unresolved political, religious, or ideological issues that turn those vehicles into WEAPONS. My logic stands.
Erik: “When you replace your hammer with your Glock, maybe your argument will work better.”
Might I recommend the following examples of Hammer Violence? War Hammers were used to great effect in the Middle Ages. They were, and still are, weapons of war. So were maces, morning stars, and other blunt force trauma implements.
Woman Bashes Asian Victim’s Head With a HAMMER After Demanding to Remove Mask in NYC
https://news.yahoo.com/woman-bashes-asian-victim-head-183830443.html
—
Sikh man attacked with a Hammer
https://newyork.cbslocal.com/tag/hammer-attack/ (page has many incidents of various Hammer Attacks)
—
Man Caught On Camera Attacking Woman With Hammer In Koreatown, Police Call It Hate Crime
https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2017/03/16/koreatown-attempted-murder-arrest/
The argument is not silly at all! The point being made is that people commit the crimes and not the guns. I have owned guns all my life and never shot another human being. Just because something has a specific purpose does not mean it could not be used as a weapon. For example, what if someone who didn’t have access to a gun decided to use their vehicle instead to drive into a highly populated crowd of people with the intent of doing harm. And there it is….intent!! Let’s take a look at the PEOPLE committing the crimes and start truly addressing the problem.
Kudos to YOU SUE! You hit the proverbial nail on the head!
Erik: Car as Guided Missile:
https://news.yahoo.com/texas-man-accused-driving-group-144422054.html
Sun, May 9, 2021, 9:44 AM
KATY, Texas (AP) — A Texas man is facing a murder charge after authorities allege he killed his mother when he drove into a group of people who had been fighting in the parking lot of a suburban Houston restaurant, according to authorities.
I am a responsible gun owner a long time license holder and also long time member of Texas Law Shield. I don’t mind the Government using my tax dollars for gun control and I also in favor of gun control if it will prevent people who should not possess guns are prevented from owning or purchasing a gun/s. I lived in California for 10 years and failed to own a gun because of their very strict gun laws. In Japan the only people who have guns are either the police or criminals and yet Japan is a lot more peaceful there compared to the USA specifically Texas. I used to own six guns but gave some of them to my children for protection. Now Abbott is even advocating for constitutional carry which I believe would aggravate the situation. Guns are out of control in Texas. There must be a type of control to prevent people who can’t have guns should not be able to own any type of firearm. It’s quite obvious that the second amendment is being abused. This must stop and if gun control would do it so be it.
Amado, I agree 110%.
Gun/Firearm control should be a topic of constant discussion. I’m not for loss of gun/firearm from public, but I am for more tightening of what seem to be a somewhat lawless agenda from many responsible and respectful gun owners.
Gun control does not mean, you lose your right to own a gun/firearm, it just means they’ll be less people unlawfully carrying. Period.
I’m for that.
I don’t think this is the a “give ’em inch and they take a mile” type of situation.
We are FAR from the days of the Old West when two individuals drew and the Sherriff just sat back and witnessed a “lawful” challenge okay out. So Gun control has happened, and an inch more “guidance” in law is definitely necessary in my opinion.
Agree.
Amado; Did Prohibition work? No. It went from being federally regulated and being taxed, right into the hands of the criminal underworld. Has Nixon’s Drug War worked? No. It has been an epic failure, and now we have cartels delivering TONS of Heroin, Fentanyl, Meth, and other addictive and fatal drugs to our southern border, and to our east and west coasts. Marijuana has now been made legal either for medicinal purposes, or for recreational use in almost half the country. In those States that allow it, they are benefiting from the much needed tax revenue created by the market for it in those States. Now, to segue into Firearms; Having legal outlets to purchase firearms generates tax revenue, there is a chain of custody from manufacturer to dealer to client. Bullets can be traced to the barrel that it went through when it was fired. Shell casings can be traced back to the firing pin that ignited the primer, which fired the bullet. Criminals are making their own ghost guns without serial numbers, without paying taxes on on the weapons, and allowing lawless, sick and hate filled people the chance to say with their trigger fingers that which they are incapable of elaborating on with their speaking ability. Gun control will be a Sisyphean task, and will result in less law and order, and more crime and deaths. I love my 2nd amendment right. I love having a LTC. I am however, in deep fear that when Texas makes Constitutional Carry the law of the land, that many people will buy guns and rifles that they never should have been able to own in the first place. We have to have a license to drive cars, and pass a few tests to show we can safely operate a vehicle. We are doing ourselves a disservice by allowing just about anyone to go into a gun store and buy a weapon, and then carry it. Police and Military have to pass tests on their use of firearms, I see no reason why we need to change the standard now. If you take away guns at a wholesale confiscation, people will use knives (Ginsu paring knives up to huge Arkansas Toothpicks, etc), Take away knives, and out come the blunt force trauma weapons (2×4’s, baseball bats, steel pipes, etc). Whenever you close one door, another door or window of opportunity will open for criminals and other miscreants. It is NOT the fault of the weapon, it is the fault of the human being operating that weapon. Guns and rifles are neither good nor evil. People however, are.
The IDIOCY of the term “Assault Weapon” as a “Weapon of War”:
No civilians own “Assault” weapons. In military terms, an Assault Weapon is defined as an AUTOMATIC, SELECT FIRE SWITCH ENABLED MACHINE GUN. UNLESS one has a Military Curio and Relics Collectors permit (A C&R license is a Federal Firearms License issued by the BATFE—specifically known as FFL Type 03 – Collector of Curios and Relics. Essentially, a C&R license allows individuals to purchase C&R-eligible firearms without going through a third party and paying transfer fees or filling out form 4473).
A semi-automatic weapon like the AR-15, in either 5.56mm/.233 caliber (AR means ARMALITE. ArmaLite sold the AR-15 Design to Colt in 1959, AR does NOT mean Assault Rifle), and the civilian released versions of the AK-47 and Draco Pistol models in 7.62mm/ .308 caliber do not qualify as assault weapons. Weapons do not assault people. They are TOOLS. People, however, DO ASSAULT other people WITH weapons ranging from Buck Knives to Buses.
The civilian versions require a pull of the trigger for each shot fired.
Select Fire Enabled Assault Weapons only require one pull of the trigger to send all rounds stored in the magazine of the weapon down range.
NO modern standing army, navy or marine forces of any nation deploy their troops with semi automatic rifles such as the AR-15 or the Civilian versions of the AK-47. Those are NOT “Weapons of War”, nor can they by themselves, assault anyone.
An M-4 Carbine is an Assault Weapon. An M-2 .50 caliber machine gun is an Assault Weapon, An M-60 machine gun is an Assault Weapon, the M61 Vulcan is a hydraulically, electrically or pneumatically driven, six-barrel, air-cooled, electrically fired Gatling-style rotary cannon which fires 20 mm, is an Assault Weapon. THOSE ARE WEAPONS OF WAR!
AR-15’s are great home defense weapons, as are AK-47 rifles, and AR & AK type pistols are as well. In addition, AR-15 rifles are great for sport and target shooting, and also used in hunting deer for food, and vermin control, as in the case of feral hogs.
The Japanese Samurai had an adage from centuries ago, as true now as it was then: Satsujinken, Katsujinken – The sword that takes a life is also the sword that saves a life. In our modern parlance: A good guy with a gun is what it takes to defeat a bad guy with a gun.
Bingo!
So there is not anything we can do about it?
Well yes but it would be mountain to climb that would require replace the old guards (current leaders in Washington) with new guards to the Republic. Outside of a violent resistance by the people (American Citizens) in the event of a actual forced gun confiscation campaign by a unapologetic tyrannical-turned government, no. we would need a new financial system that would divorce us from the western central bank and enable us to have physical assets to counter any forced currency control by banks and government over watch.
I also understand some businesses donate to gun control is there a web site so that we don’t their products or services?
Good question 🤔
Gun control corporations:
https://www.newsweek.com/mcdonalds-chickfila-grades-guns-down-america-1475682
and
https://www.forbes.com/sites/emmagoldberg/2016/06/15/these-are-the-u-s-billionaires-who-back-gun-control/?sh=10cc1a3c7d9e
Question: How effective are counties that have declared themselves 2nd amendment sanctuaries?
I just don’t understand as to why there is so much fear and apprehension on people losing their 2A right. If the public/gun owners would just tell their senators, state representatives, mayors and governors that WE THE PEOPLE will NOT comply or obey any further restrictions, alterations or infringements upon our Bill of Rights especially the first and second amendments then that should be it, or risk a violent resistance by the American citizenry upon the very enforcers they send out to unconstitutionally violate and strip us of our rights. Further our so called “leaders” need to be reminded of why we have a 2A in the first place and that place is a deadly threat and check to THEM on never to infringe upon our rights period by the very means they will use (law enforcement officers-SWAT,FBI-DHS-ATF, KFC, BMW whatever) to subdue or take our lives should we not comply or resist to their illegitimate violations to our rights without prior offense or due process or probable cause. “CONGRESS SHALL MAKE NO LAW…” For those who don’t understand yet, that means law enforcement (FBI-CIA-DHS etc) in the event they attempt to execute or enforce ANY order even executive order or law that falls outside of the boundaries of our Constitution. Period. The moment LEOs choose to violate their oath and decide to prioritize their pensions and careers over the Bill of Rights and our Freedoms under the Republic, they then become tyrannical domestic enemies that should not be complied with and must be dealt with in the same manner they will use to deal with us. That’s all folks. Freedom is never free. we must Live Free or Die. Give Us Liberty or Give Us Death. Of course all of this being that you have not committed any crimes.
Considering that there are over 150 million gun owners in a US population of over 330 million people it would seem to me that if firearm deaths were a public health issue we would have far more deaths particular since 60% of firearm deaths are suicides not homicides.
Gun control has always been about the leadership fearing a violent armed uprising of the citizenry that will hold them accountable should they overstep their duties and not fulfill their promises that got them elected to office to represent us and refuse to address our grievances (as to why they have capitol hill fenced off). They (congress, mayors, governors, even the executive branch and supreme court) have always feared “abolishment” and the creation of a new government and new leaders replacing them as our constitution states. That is why NO politician, not even Trump ever spoke about the true meaning of the second amendment. They always refer to it as a right to protect yourself, your home and family from street criminals and gangs or hunting. But never mention government. They don’t want the people to hold them accountable under threat of armed deadly force which the second amendment was written for. It targets them, and they know it but don’t want to remind us. That’s why they use vague terms of government like communist or foreign enemies, never domestic enemies that can become enforcers of tyranny like law enforcement. They avoid the term of militia as well and try to make it seem as if the national guard is the modern day militia but its not. The American people need to wake up and relearn their constitution and their rights.
If one were to read the Declaration of Independent along side 2A it becomes clear the purpose of 2A is the people can resist a tyrannical oppressive government. To quote, a government of the people, for the people by the people.