In the past 6 or 8 months, there have been quite a few posts about "SB-2099" or "HB-2099," depending on the source. It seems to be a chain e-mail, so another community member and I checked it out a few months back. This is what we found...

The original e-mail generally says something like this:

Gun owners beware!

Back Door Bill (SB-2099)

Senate Bill SB-2099 will require us to put on our 2000 1040 federal tax Form all guns that you have or own. It may require fingerprints and a tax of $50 per gun. This bill was introduced on Feb. 24. This bill will become public knowledge 30 days after it is voted into law. This is an amendment to the Internal Revenue Act of 1986. This means that the Finance Committee can pass this without the Senate voting on it at all.

The full text of the proposed amendment is on the U.S. Senate homepage: www.senate.gov/. You can find the bill by doing a search by the bill number. (SB-2099) You know who to call; I strongly suggest you do. Please send a copy of this e-mail to every gun owner you know to help STOP this bill!!

Sometimes the wording is a little different, but it's still the same warning.

Scary, right?

Well, this is what the NRA has to say about it:

Clearing Up the Rumors: The Truth About The “Gun Tax Bill”
 
Friday, May 29, 2009

In the last few weeks, NRA-ILA has received hundreds of e-mails warning us about “SB-2099,” a bill that would supposedly require you to report all your guns on your income tax return every April 15.

Like many rumors, there’s just a grain of truth to this one.  Someone’s recycling an old alert, which wasn’t even very accurate when it was new.

There actually was a U.S. Senate bill with that number that would have taxed handguns—nine years ago.  It was introduced by anti-gun Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.), and it would have included handguns under the National Firearms Act’s tax and registration scheme.  This has nothing to do with anyone’s Form 1040, of course.

Fortunately, S. 2099 disappeared without any action by the Senate, back when Bill Clinton was still in the White House.  We reported about it back then, just as we report about new anti-gun bills every week.  Now, it’s time for gun owners to drop this old distraction and focus on the real threats at hand.

You can read it for yourself here:

www.nraila.org/legislation/federal/read....

And if you would like to learn more about the NRA's response to valid legislative concerns, you can read about them here:

www.nraila.org/Issues/

Good luck and be safe this season!

Thanks!

OK, I'll admit that I'm not usually a fan of televised duck hunting. The constant screeching of the duck call drives me crazy, so I don't watch it. I know other people love it, and that's great, but it's just not my thing.

However, a couple of weeks ago I stumbled across this new Duck Commander show. Have you guys been watching it? Seriously - it's hysterical. Sort of a cross between American Chopper and Deadliest Catch, but for duck hunting. I kind of want to hang out with this family now... I bet they'd be a blast around a poker table too!

Anyway, congratulations to Outdoor Channel for getting this girl to watch a duck hunting show and actually enjoy it!! :-)