From Christopher Boardman, candidate for Sheriff in Harford County:
Harford County Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler has no problems with law-abiding taxpayers picking up the tab for gun violence. Just don’t ask gun owners to pay for it, his reasoning goes.
At a forum sponsored by the Bulle Rock Civic Association near Havre de Grace last week, Sheriff Gahler characterized a proposal by sheriff challenger Christopher Boardman as a “tax” whereby gun owners would have to pay $100 per gun per year to defray the $30 billion spent per year by taxpayers on gun violence in the U.S. Apparently the sheriff does not realize that the general public is already having its taxes spent on the problem, said Boardman, when the people who are responsible for the problem are not paying anything for it specifically.
The figure of $30 billion per year was derived from information obtained from the Gabby Giffords Law Center for the Prevention of Gun Violence. Giffords estimates that it costs taxpayers $700,000 per gun homicide victim and $100,000 per victim wounded from gun violence. With 35,000 gun murder victims in the U.S. and approximately twice that amount of wounding victims, the annual costs of gun violence paid from public treasuries is $30,000,000,000.00.
“That’s an awful lot of infrastructure that could be improved from money that is currently paying for gun violence,” said Boardman. “You could build 15 brand new Red Lines in Baltimore in one year alone with that much money. Not that we would, but we can rebuild bridges and highways throughout the country and improve mass transit in myriad ways if we could free up this money from gun violence by having the people responsible for it pay for their destructive and often-times deadly hobby as they should.”
But as Gahler pointed out, not all gun owners shoot and kill other people with their guns and presumably this would exempt them from the “tax” that Boardman is proposing.
“This is faulty reasoning. Not all car drivers kill pedestrians and other motorists with their cars. Still, they are not exempt from paying car insurance no matter how safe they are as drivers,” said Boardman. “A gun’s purpose is to shoot and kill or threaten to do this, while a car’s purpose is to transport.
Nevertheless, everyone who owns a car and drives is required to buy car insurance or they forfeit their car. That’s the way it should also be with guns, no matter how many self-entitled gun owners there happen to be.”
“An unintended consequence of such a new law will be to encourage gun owners who don’t want to pay the tax to turn their guns in. This will also reduce the risk of accidental shootings that may involve children or family members and so contribute to a safer environment,” said Boardman.
“Overall, this will lessen the epidemic of gun violence in our country and make us safer.
“We can expect Sheriff Gahler to be opposed to this and every other proposal to reduce gun violence. We will be listening for the sheriff to have any constructive suggestion, but frankly the only suggestion we expect him to say is that the gun violence problem can be solved only with more gun violence.”
Dear Mr. Editor
Can you please stop giving this man a platform? The fact that you even entertain this nut case. Sheesh!!!
Your readers are becoming bored.
Actually, , this is one area where Boardman makes sense. I like Gahler, but let’s face it…he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer either. Sad.
If you can make someone pay a tax to exercise their second amendment right then why not their first amendment rights. The second amendment is not a second class right. If you wish to change it by all means try and amend the constitution, but until you do the idea of a gun tax is just a ludicrous as a poll tax.
HCC, Appears you have never been to DC and visited the Senate, House, Court buildings. If you had, you would see people being arrested exercising their Fisrt Amendment Rights. Some are even arrested just for holding a sign. Last week many Harford County residents went to DC and most were arrested for exercising their 1st mendment rights. You argument is baseless. Especialy since no one has ever been arrest for owning a gun, yet people are arrested for 1st Amendment.
Those people were arrested for interrupting Congress, for obstructing public pathways and for causing an unlawful disturbance. You can peacefully protest in designated areas, but when you start blocking public thru ways and are being disorderly in your conduct you run the risk of arrest. That dumb bimbo that climbed that statue in front of SCOTUS should have been arrested and I’m sick of all this feministic crap. There is NO WAR against women. Women have more rights right now than in any other time in history. Women are now lying to get people they don’t like in trouble. It’s sickening. Perjury on any level is pathetic. Especially in the name of politics.
Oh No! Who would have thought Soul Crusher to be a misogynist?
And to top it off he doesn’t believe in the First Amendment – Freedom of Speech! The Right To Protest ! Freedom of Assembly! Without the First Amendment all the rest are bull shit!
Whats the NRA view on women? Women : Can’t live with them! Can’t Shoot them!
Mike, your opinion doesn’t mean a damn thing. You think I’m a misogynist because I called a woman a dumb bimbo for climbing the statue in front of SCOTUS. Guess what? She is a dumb bimbo for doing that and should be arrested. That’s not protesting. She was not in a designated area that protesting is allowable. It’s the same thing when the dumb bimbo climbed the Statue of Liberty a few months back. However, she DID get arrested. You know what Mike, I’m 46 years old and I don’t see “#me too”. I see “pound me too”. I see a bunch of dumb Democratic dipshits using a bunch of lies to harm people for a political agenda. It’s complete stupidity and no reasonable person should approve. Nobody said anything about limiting your 1st Amendment rights, only that you should probably not climb the statues in front of SCOTUS in order to get your picture on the news. That’s the problem with you Dems, you’re dumb…..
Gordon,
I can certainly walk through our nation’s capital and hold a sign, espouse my political opinion, and basically express myself in any way that doesn’t disturb the peace. If I attempted any of that while carrying a gun, even a musket, I would be locked up quite quickly…
You may disagree with my assessment, but my argument is far from baseless. Justice Thomas said it best: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12Gx5Z9TTSRYqZuoJ9ZNVj1uFOibQoHx4/view
I support and will continue to support our Sheriff…. Uneducated people might fall for this garbage, but those of us who have an education will not.
He is doing nothing but perpetuating the stupidity of this county’s citizens.
Sheriff Jeff Gahler is a Gun Nut Cop. He believe the answer to gun violence in Harford and America is ” More Guns,Not Less”
That’s the slogan of the NRA which is a lobby for the gun industry
Gahler likes the idea of “” more guns’ and more gun violence
All studies of gun violence show that it occurs mostly where there are more guns and less common sense gun control!
l The States with the most per capita guns has the States with the most most gun violence!
Gahler as a cop should know better! All cops know the more guns out there , the less safe their jobs are, the less safe the streets are!
But Gahler wants to feed the Gun Violence Culture!
He wants guns in churches. He said he would work for a State law next year to allow guns in churches
To protect students in schools he is warm to the idea of giving teachers guns.!
Gahler likes the idea of “more guns” and more gun violence!
That makes Gahler a Bad Cop! His political view threatens the safety of his own police officers and the community!
Vote For Chris Boardman for Harford County Sheriff – Common Sense, Honesty & Integrity!
Abolish ICE ! Abolish Gahler!
Callahan is boardman
This will lead to there being more and more unregistered guns. This will be a great move… NOT…. I now claim I do not own any guns and I got rid of all my guns…and the government has to take my word for it. Unless the government is now going to search every bodies homes to make sure the are not any firearms in peoples homes.
Gee Jed tell us all about the process of obtaining an unregistered gun. One thing is for sure Harford County is the home of dumb uneducated gun owners.
Many times I disagree with Mr.Boardman’s ideas, but in this case he makes perfectly good sense (and I know that you partisan hacks would never admit it).
Let say you Dad or a friend passes and the gun gets past to you. I now own a unregistered gun. and with this “new” tax people will hesitate registering it to avoid the tax. So it will lead to more unregistered guns….
A gun does not become unregistered when you die. How would you continue to pay the tax after your death?
Please, take an English class.
What exactly does registering a gun accomplish? Absolutely nothing.
resident your estate would until it is settled and the gun becomes someone elses? Thats what probate is for!
When did anyone ever register those guns passed down?
Are you willing to inform the government that you own lets say 6 guns and you will be sending them the $600 a year. Or would you just claim I do no own any guns How would a tax like this be enforced? Are the police going to search every bodies homes to see if people are telling the truth… This can not be enforced.. Period..
If you purchased a gun in the last 40 years the government knows you own it. You should stop while you are behind.
The only behind here is you. Id the owner of a gun passes the gun does not get buried with him, It is handed over to somebody else. If the person does not file the papers it than becomes unregistered. Finally how can you impose a tax that you can not enforce. Is the government/police going to homes and collect the guns of people refusing to pay such an unconstitutional tax..
Resident get your head out you but…. I’m done talking.. I refuse to argue with uneducated morons…
Oh I get it now, it’s like if I get Pop -Pops car after he dies and leave it in his name no one will ever know…..
Pure genius Jed
Your right, but never underestimate the Governments need to try it and spend lots of money to accomplish nothing. All about funding their operations and making a case for their larger existence. HCSO loves this kind of stuff. It allows them to grow.
The average citizen will accept it without saying anything.
just like children on taxes!
Well the first problem with is that people do not have a Constitutional Right to drive cars. I know that liberals hate it when that pesky Constitution gets gets in the way of their socialist agenda, but we are in America and the Constitution is what makes us the greatest country in the world.
Next, if we follow this logic, we will need to also tax knives and hammers because they account for deaths than guns annually.
That’s why the military gave up guns for knives…. Jesus you people have some really lame justifications.
Is not the 11th Amendment the right to own a horse or car?
I’m pretty sure it is? If not it should be!
The 9th Amendment gives us access to many other rights NOT enumerated in the Constitution. The Right to Travel is one of those protected rights. That same 9th Amendment gives women the right to an abortion because SCOTUS proclaimed the right to abortion in Roe v. Wade. All this talk about Roe v. Wade has shown us how people are really uneducated about the REAL law of the land. The Democratic rallying point of “Their going to overturn Roe v. Wade” is the dumbest Democratic lie I’ve heard recently, except that Justice Kavanaugh was a sexual predator. Welcome to the DEMOSOCIONAZIO party because the Democratic Party has ceased to exist….
Oh good grief. Every gun that was purchased before November 30th, 1993 is unregistered, unless you registered it to conform with the new regulation with consent. WE THE PEOPLE do NOT have to consent to any of the codified crap of any of the Codes of Rules and Regulations. It is our decision to conform and consent. Forced consent is treason. Plain and simple. It doesn’t matter if it was handed down to someone from the passing of a relative. ANY GUN PURCHASED BEFORE NOVEMBER 30th, 1993 is unregistered and there are more guns that are out there unregistered than there is registered. Anyone who does NOT realize this is being foolish….Buy an unregistered gun from a private owner. ALL GUN RESTRICTIONS are against the US CONSTITUTION unless you are part of a militia. WE THE PEOPLE do NOT have to consent to the Regulations of the supposed US Militia. Why should I go and risk my life to fight other countries wars? Because my government says so? Boulder dash! You guys need to get a grip. I will fight for my country to keep my country free and I don’t care about the UN or any other country’s problems. That’s just the way it is. Gahler’s support of the 2nd Amendment is correct and everyone who believes otherwise is an uneducated fool or a brainwashed traitor.
SoulCrusher; Wow, That is really going towards the edge of the cliff. Get a grip on yourself before you fall off.
Stop being a traitor and read the real law of the land. Codified crap exists because they can’t pass an amendment to make it real law. Two thirds of Congress is necessary for that. If you don’t realize why codified crap exists it’s because you have been brainwashed.
Re: Soul Crusher
You are the one who has been brain washed by the Federalist Society, the John Birch Society and the NRA! All guns can be regulated.
And you have to stop using the John Birch Society’s favorite word : TRAITOR!
You cant call everybody you disagree with on gun regulation a “Traitor”
. Bullshit hysterics does not enhance your view point!
Less Guns, More Lives Saved —Vote For Chris Boardman For Sheriff – Common Sense, Honesty And Integrity
Your as nutty as Boardman. Government regulating anythings is nothing but trouble. Look how they have managed the Heroin challenge. The Government is the one who created it, by approving drugs that were harmful and addictive to those that took them. Meanwhile they cant figure out how to stop the flow. You think they can regulate guns? Please…..
Mike, I call people who wish to abrogate or diminish any of our GUARANTEED rights a traitor. If someone tried to take your 1st Amendment rights from you I would call them a traitor as well. Warring or testing the Constitution is treason. Once you get that thru your thick skull you will see I was right all along……
No state, legislator, executive or judicial officer can “War” against (or test the limitations of) the Constitution without violating their undertaking to support it (Breach of Oath/Contract, Treason??). The Constitution created a government dedicated to equal justice under law. The Fourteenth Amendment embodied and emphasized that ideal…no State shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Our constitutional ideal of equal justice under law is thus made a living truth. (Book, Our Nation’s Archive © 1999 pg 701) Cooper v. Aaron, By Chief Justice Earl Warren
By the way Mike, I haven’t heard of the Federalist Society or the John Birch Society. I don’t know who John Birch is. Nor am I a NRA Member. I get my opinions from the Constitution. That’s all, no where else. You should read it sometime….
This guy is nuts…..Gahler is not exactly the sharpest knife, but Boardman is a nut. The Democrats cant come up with a better candidate then this guy? I can only imagine how many guns will suddenly become nonexistent. Levy more taxes on the citizens is the answer. How about allowing gun carry in the State of MD? Wait that might actually resolve the problem. We cant do that.
Lets apply this logic to the Heroin epidemic as well while were at it instead of the taxpayer footing the bill for Narcan, ineffective law enforcement, and treatment. Wait that’s right the addict has no money, law enforcement gets to much funding to actually resolve the issue of drugs therefore they wont take effective action. Therefore the taxpayer gets stuck with the bill for both addicts and law enforcement in action.
Did this guy just really compare auto insurance to tax?
“An unintended consequence of such a new law will be to encourage gun owners who don’t want to pay the tax to turn their guns in.”
Wut? Seriously, just like all the people who don’t pay for insurance trade in their cars. Lol
Right, there’s nobody driving around on our roads without proper car insurance, right. Lolol
I think fat people should pay extra taxes…they cost us a bundle and far more than gun owners. We should make it staggered so if you’re a tier one (10% over a healthy body weight) fat person you pay $100.00 a year. Maybe through tier 10, twice what you’re fat behind should weight and you pay $10,000 extra a year. Yes, because fat people are responsible for like 75% of medical costs…diabetes, cancer, heart disease, the list is pretty long. If you take $10,000 away from a fat person annually they might not be able to buy as many Cheetos so it’s a win-win.
Hey Boardman how about applying your logic directly to the people most responsible for gun violence, young black males that live in Baltimore City?
That is a tax we would all support but you don’t have the balls to suggest that.
except that it’s middle aged white men who are responsible for the majority of the mass shootings.
That’s debatable. It does seem to be white males though. This is a problem. To me it seem to be more younger white males. We all have to wonder why is it that young white males throughout this country are committing mass shootings? However, young black males are killing each other all the time and it is usually related to gangs or drugs. Look at Chicago. Look at Baltimore. It’s the same old same old. Another black male gunning down a black male. This doesn’t make black males any less dangerous. They are just less inclined to pull mass shootings and seem to be dangerous to each other. Just imagine if they ever figure out who their real enemy is and take action against them.
When it comes to the majority, you might be right about the race but you’re wrong about the age group
http://time.com/4965022/deadliest-mass-shooting-us-history/
Most gun violence is done by white folks to white folks.
Most mass shooters are white folks!
One third of the gun owners own over half the guns and they are whute folks!
Get your facts straight gun nut!
https://everytownresearch.org/gun-violence-america/.
Mike, I’ll agree with you that most mass shootings seem to occur by white males. That’s a fact I can’t deny and I am a white male. However, you are incorrect about one third of gun owners owning over half of the guns nationwide. Did you NOT read what I said earlier? ANY gun purchased before November 1993 was not and is not registered. That’s a lot of unaccounted for firearms. Furthermore, thousands of guns are smuggled into this country everyday thru the shipping ports. Their is no way to train a dog to detect them and you can’t inspect the contents of every sea container. Your facts that you’re quoting are only related to legal gun sales thru legitimate gun dealers. Do you really think most criminals buy their guns from a legitimate source? If you do you’re not being honest with yourself. The entire legal gun purchasing process only makes it difficult for law abiding citizens to own gun, which is contradictory to why the regulations were initiated. Common criminals have no problem purchasing guns thru illegitimate sources. Why do you think every street hustler in Baltimore owns a gun? Do you think they followed the law? You need to start using common sense and not the convoluted sources you’re quoting as facts.
First take the suicides out of those statistics, that has nothing to do with gun crime. Then read this:
https://crimeresearch.org/2014/03/comparing-murder-rates-across-countries/
The united states has a gun crime problem, but the idea that it is drastically higher than other countries is a fallacy.
Wow the self rightous have spoken again. Right along party lines and always bashing the other party as if their sh*t doesn’t stink. What does one call someone who calls others names like dunb bimbo. Every school I went to those dumb bimbos were the one with the highest grades. Check any teaching institution and who is always at the head of the class. Some dumb bimbo.
By the way Kauvanaugh is probably guilty of what he is accused of.
I’m not a Republican. You’re party’s lies and fake feminism is all about vote tallies. Blasey-Ford’s own yearbook was scrubbed from the internet and suppressed from being used in the Kavanaugh hearings. Her yearbooks clearly showed she was a drunkard and promiscuous. The yearbooks were even taken down by the school’s website, all in preparation to stage her allegations against Kavanaugh. If a woman is a dumb bimbo then I have no problem calling them that. That woman who climbed that statue was a dumb bimbo and I don’t care about your DEMOSOCIONAZIO opinion. By the way, I’ve met some very smart women who acted like a dumb bimbo once they were boozed up. I’ve met some very book smart women that completely lacked common sense. Kavanaugh was not guilty of anything except being nominated by Donald Trump and having opinions that don’t conform to your DEMOSOCIONAZIO party’s philosophy. That’s really what he was guilty of and you should be ashamed of your last sentence. That is you should be ashamed if you’re an AMERICAN and not a DEMOSOCIONAZIO party member….
Mr. Boardman is a hyperpartisan Democrat.
Let’s face it, he hates Republicans. Look at all his activity in the Democrat organizations.
There is no reason for any Republican or Independent to entertain the thought of supporting this monster.
There are plenty of reasons to send a message is a big one of those reasons.
Gordon,
I can certainly walk through our nation’s capital and hold a sign, espouse my political opinion, and basically express myself in any way that doesn’t disturb the peace. If I attempted any of that while carrying a gun, even a musket, I would be locked up quite quickly…
You may disagree with my assessment, but my argument is far from baseless. Justice Thomas said it best: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12Gx5Z9TTSRYqZuoJ9ZNVj1uFOibQoHx4/view
Boardman Hates Republicans.
That’s harsh. I thought you Republicans we’re on a civility kick now.
He does. Research his background. He is very partisan.
Messrs. Jealous, Frosh, and Boardman will keep us safe. They all get an apple.
You do pay a tax to get a permit to assemble in some cities. Soul Crusher if I can only assemble in designated areas can I only keep and bear arms in a designated place? So would it be OK to prohibit carrying on public streets?
According to the Supreme Court, individuals have the right to bear arms in their homes for self defense, yet still says regulations keeping people from owning guns are Constitutional. I disagree. ALL GUN REGULATIONS ARE UNCONSTITUTIONAL, unless you are part of a militia. The government scripted a supposed US Militia law years ago, stating any man between the ages of 18 – 45 is suited for the US Militia and the government used this as an excuse to regulate men and gun ownership. This law doesn’t mean a damn thing unless you consent to it. The US government thinks that registering for Selective Service is a grant of consent to the regulation of American men. This is false and an act of intrinsic fraud by the US government. We don’t consent unless it is explained to us what we are consenting to and this doesn’t happen when the government uses intrinsic fraud. Every aspect of our government is treasonous to the US Constitution and if our forefathers were alive today they would probably start a modern day revolution against the current US Government. Our government has failed and the great experiment is over. Thwarted by Democratic fascism and treason. However, you already knew I feel this way. Why would you need to ask me this question? You should’ve asked one of your fellow Democratic traitors if you wanted a treasonous answer…..
I always find it humorous the “we the people” and “second amendment” crowd are mostly those who are allowing our government to be taken over by a group of guys intent on destroying it to have only rich men rule again. They really believe their “militia” will be enough against tanks, bombers and drones. This protecting the 2nd amendment dog whistle is just a ruse to think they are with the little guy.
Yeah, well I find it repulsive that those who wish to eliminate or hinder rights are not thrown in jail for being the traitors that they are. Every Democrat that is elected to Congress ends up being a rich person that is ruling us. The only difference is the Democrats run for office to steal money from the people they are supposed to serve while destroying this country with the treason people like you are preaching. The armed forces are NOT allowed to attack WE THE PEOPLE of these United States unless there is a revolution or civil war. If members of our armed forces do attack WE THE PEOPLE they have violated their oaths and can be shot on the spot for treason. That’s just the way it is. ALL RIGHTS ARE UNALIENABLE AND ANY PERSON WHO TRIES TO ABROGATE OR DIMINISH THOSE RIGHTS IS A TRAITOR. This includes members of the US Congress and the Maryland State Legislature who have made the Rules and Regulations of the treasonous Maryland Code and the US Code.