Chicago Bullet Tax

Gun violence is a real problem in Chicago that local offiicials understandably want to solve. But is a bullet tax the right approach?

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle will submit a budget proposal Thursday that calls for a tax of a nickel for each bullet and $25 for each firearm sold in the nation's second-largest county, which encompasses Chicago.

Preckwinkle's office estimates the tax will generate about $1 million a year, money that would be used for various county services including medical care for gunshot victims.

It is difficult to conceive how this policy would do anything other than convince law-abiding handgun owners to purchase their ammunition online or from neighboring counties in order to avoid the tax. It certainly will not cause gun-toting street criminals to lay down their arms en masse because the game has suddenly become cost-prohibitive.

Right?