If you haven’t already, you may soon be forwarded by someone you know a hoax email titled “Look what’s on your the 2010 Tax Return” [sic]. It is full of lies, distortions, and half-truths. (I have reproduced the original viral email in its entirety at the bottom of this essay.)
The email in question asserts that the Obama administration has passed legislation which would require gun owners to list all their guns on their 1040 income tax form and pay a $50 tax on each one. And, of course, it’s simply not true. (In case you have to ask and you believe it’s relevant, no, I am not a supporter of the current administration nor of 99% of its agenda.)
There are two reasons I can think of why someone would deliberately create an untruth such as this email:
- The hoaxer was an opponent of the current administration, and wanted people to believe the worst about it, regardless of the ethical problems involved with barefaced lying; or
- The hoaxer was a supporter of the current administration, and wanted to make right-wingers salivate with something so blatantly bogus and easily exposed, that they could yell, “See? All of the attacks on the administration are LIES!”
Either way, those of us on the Right of the political spectrum need only search for the TRUTH. Exposing lies, from whatever source, can only strengthen our moral position. The Truth is more than enough to win the day. It will truly set us free.
Here are the worst of the deceptions of the email, and what the truth is:
LIE: “Look What’s on the 2010 Tax Return: Now ALL GUNS must be listed on your next (2010) tax return! Senate Bill SB-2099 will require us…”
TRUTH: Senate Bill 2099 from the 111th (current) Congress is a bill “To suspend temporarily the duty on certain heaters.” (And that’s heaters as in those used in “the interior and windshield of electrically powered vehicles” – NOT heaters as slang for “guns”!)
And lest anyone think they were referencing Senate Bill 2099 from a recent Congress, S-2099 from the 110th Congress (2007-2008) was the “Preserving Access to Laboratory Services Act of 2007” and S-2099 from the 109th Congress (2005-2006) was the “Spent Nuclear Fuel On-Site Storage Security Act of 2005.” (You’ll see below that “SB2099” is an inert, ancient, dead, buried, and forgotten piece of history.)
Replying to the specific question “Is it true that Senate Bill SB-2099 will require owners of firearms to pay a $50 charge per gun and list each gun on their federal tax form?” even the US Senate’s own website goes to great pains to assert that there is no such legislation being considered by the Senate.
SOURCES: U.S. Government Printing Office, U.S. Senate
LIE: “Senate Bill SB-2099 will require us to put on our 2009 1040 federal tax form all guns that you have or own.” (from the “I Can’t Even Be Internally Consistent about Dates in my Own Hoax Email” Department!)
TRUTH: The IRS has long-since created and published the 2009 version of the 1040. And nowhere on it do the letters “gun” appear together in any context.
SOURCE: IRS
LIE: “Gun owners… look what’s on the 2010 tax return / VERIFIED – TRUE by snopes.com”
TRUTH: This is a blatant and total lie. Snopes.com specifically calls this SB2099 allegation “FALSE”! Here’s what they report: “The referenced bill, SB 2099 (the Handgun Safety and Registration Act) is not currently before Congress. It was introduced to the Senate back in February 2000 (not 2009), and it was referred to the Committee on Finance, where it languished without ever coming to a vote. It also had no provisions for requiring handgun owners to list their guns on federal income tax returns.”
What the hoaxer has done is splice together lying information about this never-passed Senate bill together with information about a House bill that calls for stricter registration of handguns (see below) – as if somehow they jointly verify each other.
SOURCE: Snopes.com
LIE: “VERIFIED – TRUE by snopes.com … Obama’s Congress is now starting on the firearms confiscation bill. If it passes, gun owners will become criminals if you don’t fully comply. It has begun … Whatever Obama’s ‘Secret Master Plan’ is … this is just the ‘tip of the iceberg!’ Very Important for you to be aware of a new bill HR 45 introduced into the House. This is the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sale Act of 2009.”
TRUTH: While it is true that there is a bill (languishing in House Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security) called HR 45 “Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009,” Snopes.com has revised its verdict of the information in this part of the email from “True” to “Partly True.” While there is a lot to be concerned about in this bill for many people (though our hoaxer has even lied about its contents; see below), there seems to be little chance of this bill ever becoming law.
SOURCE: U.S. Government Printing Office, Snopes.com
LIE: “Even gun shop owners didn’t know about this because the government is trying to fly it under the radar as a ‘minor’ IRS revision, and, as usual, the ‘political’ lawmakers did not read this bill before signing and approving it!”
TRUTH: Which is it, hoaxer – a not-yet-passed bill or a “signed and approved” law? According to ESPN Outdoors correspondent Wade Bourne (as quoted by Snopes.com), the chance of this bill becoming law is virtually nil:
“Pro-gun activists are vigilant but don’t seem overly worried about it. They point out that the bill’s failure to attract co-sponsors is an indication of a lack of enthusiasm for it among other congressmen. They feel it is too far-reaching and repressive of gun owners’ rights to merit serious consideration by a majority of Congress. Lawrence Keane of the NSSF [National Shooting Sports Foundation] states, ‘If this bill passes, Democrats would likely lose (control of) their chamber in upcoming mid-term elections (2010). The leadership in the House knows that.’ Keane says some 80 million-plus U.S. citizens own firearms, representing nearly half the households in the nation. He believes that House Democrats will allow the Blair Holt bill to die in subcommittee rather than risk the ire of so many pro-gun voters.”
SOURCE: Snopes.com
LIE: “Basically this would make it illegal to own a firearm – any rifle with a clip or ANY pistol unless… You will submit to a physical & mental evaluation at any time of their choosing.”
TRUTH: Under the bill, should it (against all odds) ever become law, applicants for handgun registration would only have to authorize the release of any existing mental health records.
SOURCE: Snopes.com
LIE: “They would have the right to come and inspect that you are storing your gun safely away from cessibility [sic] to children and fine [sic] is punishable for up to 5 years in prison.”
TRUTH: Under the bill, should it (against all odds) ever become law, the right of inspection to ascertain compliance with the law would apply to “any place in which firearms or firearm products are manufactured, stored, or held, for distribution in commerce,” not to ordinary households.
SOURCE: Snopes.com
“You will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.”
JOHN 8:32 (NASB)
(Here’s the original, uncut, unabridged viral email, as I received it.)
PASS THIS OFF TO ALL GUN OWNERS THAT YOU KNOW OF.
THIS COUNTRY IS HEADED FOR SOCIALISM.
BELIEVE ME WE ARE ABOUT THERE.
Look What’s on the 2010 Tax Return
Gun owners… look what’s on the 2010 tax return
VERIFIED – TRUE by snopes.com
http://www.snopes.com/politics/guns/blairholt.asp
As if we didn’t have enough to get upset about! If you have a gun, I hope it isn’t registered!
It begins … more Freedom gone …. the right to protect yourself and your family gone! Now ALL GUNS must be listed on your next (2010) tax return!
Senate Bill SB-2099 will require us to put on our 2009 1040 federal tax form all guns that you have or own. It will require fingerprints and a tax of $50 per gun. This bill was introduced on February 24, 2009, by the Obama staff. BUT, this bill will only become public knowledge 30 days after the new law becomes effective! This is an amendment to the Internal Revenue Act of 1986. This means that the Finance Committee has passed this without the Senate voting on it at all. Trust Obama? You must be kidding!
The full text of the IRS amendment is on the U.S. Senate homepage: http://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.
Text of H.R.45 as Introduced in House: Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h45/text
Obama’s Congress is now starting on the firearms confiscation bill. If it passes, gun owners will become criminals if you don’t fully comply.
It has begun … Whatever Obama’s “Secret Master Plan” is … this is just the ‘tip of the iceberg!’
Very Important for you to be aware of a new bill HR 45 introduced into the House. This is the Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sale Act of 2009.
Even gun shop owners didn’t know about this because the government is trying to fly it under the radar as a ‘minor’ IRS revision, and, as usual, the ‘political’ lawmakers did not read this bill before signing and approving it!
To find out about this – go to any government website and type in HR 45 or Goggle HR 45 Blair Holt Firearm Licensing & Record of Sales Act of 2009. You will get all the information.
Basically this would make it illegal to own a firearm – any rifle with a clip or ANY pistol unless:
1) It is registered
2) You are fingerprinted
3) You supply a current Driver’s License
4) You supply your Social Security number
5) You will submit to a physical & mental evaluation at any time of their choosing
Each update change or ownership through private or public sale must be reported and costs $25. Failure to do so you automatically lose the right to own a firearm and are subject up to a year in jail.
There is a child provision clause on page 16 section 305 stating a child-access provision.. Gun must be locked and inaccessible to any child under 18. They would have the right to come and inspect that you are storing your gun safely away from cessibility to children and fine is punishable for up to 5 years in prison.
If you think this is a joke – go to the website and take your pick of many options to read this. It is long and lengthy. But, more and more people are becoming aware of this. Pass the word along. Any hunters in your family pass this along.
This is just a “termite” approach to complete confiscation of guns and disarming of our society to the point we have no defense – chip away a little here and there until the goal is accomplished before anyone realizes it.
This is one to act on whether you own a gun or not.
Search Results – THOMAS (Library of Congress) “http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c111:H.R.45>
H.R.45: Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009
U.S. Congress – OpenCongress http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-h45/show>
H..R.45: Blair Holt’s Firearm Licensing and Record of Sale Act of 2009 (GovTrack.us) “http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h111-45>
Please copy and send this out to EVERYONE in the USA, whether you support the Right to Bear Arms or are for gun control.
We all should have the right to choose.
Being the doting uncle that I am, undoubtedly I’ll fulfill my pledge, and we’ll all trek to the local digital showing of M. Night Shyamalan’s CGI-heavy live-action re-make. But the critics have not given me much hope of being cinematically satisfied.
The Blind Side
[Predictably, not all critics agreed, including a friend of this Basham whose world view is “diametrical opposite” from hers.] “It’s formulaic,” he opined. I countered: “Why, because it is about an athlete overcoming great odds to reach even greater success? There are countless movies about singers/actors/painters who drink and drug themselves to death. They are all also true stories. We don’t call them formulaic. We give them Oscars.”
Hancock then echoed my own belief that some viewers are contemptuous of emotionally uplifting story arcs no matter how based in reality: “I think some people are so cynical that anytime they find themselves moved, they turn around and go, ‘You must have manipulated me.’ And of course there’s the hip, cool quotient. If some people in the film community think I don’t have street cred because I try to make honest, moving films, then fine. If they want to call it corny, fine. This is a great story, and it’s a true story. If what the Touhys did is somehow corny, I hope there are a lot more corny people out there.”
Red Cliff [Chi Bi]
In one example of many, two distinguished warriors meet to decide whether to join forces against the tyrannical emperor. Once they discover that they’re both musicians, they signify their decision by playing a duet on traditional stringed instruments. In a lesser film the duet might be no more than a pretty gesture. In this one it’s a daringly extended interlude with as much dramatic development, in its way, as Mr. Woo has devoted to some of the intricately conceived battles, or to an astonishing sequence in which a homing pigeon leads the camera on an eye-popping survey of the dictator’s troops. Red Cliff is a legendary filmmaker’s visual symphony.
Grover's Take on Things 