I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 3139
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the excise tax
on firearms and to earmark the increase for juvenile justice and delin-
quency prevention programs.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
OCTOBER 25, 1999
Mr. KENNEDY of Rhode Island (for himself, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York,
Mr. TIERNEY, Mr. THOMPSON
of Mississippi, Mr. SERRANO, Ms.
MILLENDER-MCDONALD, and Mr. PAYNE) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addi-
tion to the Committees on Education and the Workforce, and Commerce,
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the
committee concerned
A BILL
To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase
the excise tax on firearms and to earmark the increase
for juvenile justice and delinquency prevention programs.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Gun Excise Tax Funds
to Prevention Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
Congress finds the following:
(1) Medical costs are a substantial burden to
society. For example, the cost for acute care and fol-
lowup treatment of gunshot injuries in 1994 in the
United States was $2,300,000,000, of which
$1,100,000,000 was paid by government programs,
according to an article in the Journal of the Amer-
ican Medical Association.
(2) The mean medical cost per gunshot injury
is about $17,000.
(3) For hospital-admitted survivors of gunshot
injuries, estimates suggest that Federal, State, or
local government is the primary payer of medical
costs of the injuries in 44 percent of the cases.
(4) The excise tax on firearms and ammunition
has not changed in 60 years.
(5) This excise tax has raised more than
$2,600,000,000 during that time.
(6) Congress needs to ensure that the revenue
raised by this excise tax is used for the proper pur-
poses.
SEC. 3. INCREASE IN EXCISE TAX ON FIREARMS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Section 4181 of the Internal Rev-
enue Code of 1986 (relating to tax on firearms) is
amended—
(1) by striking ‘‘10 PERCENT’’ and inserting ‘‘15
PERCENT’’, and
(2) by striking ‘‘11 PERCENT’’ and inserting ‘‘16
PERCENT’’.
(b) RETENTION
OF PRIOR RATE
FOR TAXABLE
SALES TO GOVERNMENT.—Section 4182 of such Code is
amended by adding at the end the following new sub-
section:
‘‘(d) SALES TO GOVERNMENT.—Except as provided
in subsection (b), in the case of a sale for the use by the
United States, a State, or a political subdivision of a State
(or any department, agency, or instrumentality of any of
the foregoing), the tax imposed by section 4181 shall be
determined by substituting ‘‘10 percent’’ for ‘‘15 percent’’
and ‘‘11 percent’’ for ‘‘16 percent’’.
(c) USE OF PROCEEDS OF EXCISE TAX.—Subchapter
A of chapter 98 of subtitle I such Code is amended by
adding at the end the following new sections:
‘‘SEC. 9511. DELINQUENCY PREVENTION TRUST FUND.
‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab-
lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund
to be known as the ‘Delinquency Prevention Trust Fund’,
consisting of such amounts as may be apportioned or cred-
ited to such Trust Fund as provided in this section or sec-
tion 9602(b).
Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 5781 et seq.) (relating to incentive
grants for local delinquency prevention programs).
‘‘(d) COORDINATION
WITH
OTHER
FUNDS.—So
much of the rate of tax as is taken into account in deter-
mining amounts appropriated to the Delinquency Preven-
tion Trust Fund shall not be taken into account in deter-
mining amounts deposited into any other fund.
‘‘SEC. 9512. EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES FOR CHIL-
DREN TRUST FUND.
‘‘(a) CREATION OF TRUST FUND.—There is estab-
lished in the Treasury of the United States a trust fund
to be known as the ‘Emergency Medical Services for Chil-
dren Trust Fund’, consisting of such amounts as may be
apportioned or credited to such Trust Fund as provided
in this section or section 9602(b).
‘‘(b) TRANSFERS TO TRUST FUND.—
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There are hereby appro-
priated to the Emergency Medical Services for Chil-
dren Trust Fund amounts equivalent to half of the
net revenues received in the Treasury from the tax
imposed by section 4181 (relating to tax on fire-
arms), to the extent attributable to a tax rate great-
er than 10 percent, in the case of pistols and revolv-
ers, and greater than 11 percent, in the case of fire-
arms (other than pistols and revolvers), shells, and
cartridges.
‘‘(2) NET REVENUES.—For purposes of para-
graph (1), the term ‘net revenues’ means the
amount estimated by the Secretary based on the ex-
cess of—
‘‘(A) the taxes received in the Treasury
under section 4181 (relating to tax on fire-
arms), over
‘‘(B) the decrease in the tax imposed by
chapter 1 resulting from the tax imposed by
section 4181.
‘‘(c) EXPENDITURES.—Amounts in the Emergency
Medical Services for Children Trust Fund shall be avail-
able, as provided in appropriation Acts, only for carrying
out the purposes of the Emergency Medical Services for
Children program (administered by the Department of
Health and Human Services and the National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration).
‘‘(d) COORDINATION
WITH
OTHER
FUNDS.—So
much of the rate of tax as is taken into account in deter-
mining amounts appropriated to the Emergency Medical
Services for Children Trust Fund shall not be taken into
account in determining amounts deposited into any other
fund.’’.
(d) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sections
for subchapter A of chapter 98 of subtitle I of such Code
is amended by inserting after the item relating to section
9510 the following new items:
‘‘Sec. 9511. Delinquency Prevention Trust Fund.
‘‘Sec. 9512. Emergency Medical Services for Children Trust
Fund.’’.
(e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by
this Act shall apply to sales after the date of the enact-
ment of this Act.
Æ