Why it Matters: On September 12, 2023, Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation’s (CSF) Northeastern States Assistant Manager, Fred Bird submitted a letter of opposition to the Joint Committee on Revenue regarding Massachusetts (MA) House Bill (HB) 2771 An Act Establishing an Excise Tax on Ammunition. HB 2771 is very likely to result in an unintended and consequential diminishment of the state’s conservation funding. The intended purpose of this bill – to fund grants through the community gun violence intervention and prevention program – is being pursued through an avenue that levies a significant tax on law-abiding sportsmen and women on products that are already taxed at the manufacturer level to provide the conservation funding necessary for the work of the Department of Fish and Game (DFG), from which all citizens of the state benefit.
Highlights:
- Massachusetts’ sportsmen and women, the backbone of funding to the MA Department of Fish and Game (DFG), are being called upon to pay an additional excise tax on ammunition to fund gun violence programs.
- In 2022 alone, Massachusetts’s sportsmen and women generated over $24 million dollars for conservation through revenue derived from license sales and excise taxes on sporting-related goods (including ammunition) in the unique “user pays – public benefits” structure known as the American System of Conservation Funding (ASCF).
- Enacted in 1937, the Pittman-Robertson Act redirected previously existing manufacturer-level excise taxes on firearms and ammunition to a dedicated fund to be used specifically for wildlife conservation purposes. Once collected, the taxes are deposited into the Wildlife Restoration Account, which is administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
- Under the Pittman-Robertson Act and per the Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax, firearms and ammunition are subjected to a 10-11% excise tax.
HB 2771 will result in an unintended and consequential diminishment of the state’s conservation funding. For more than 85 years, sportsmen and women have been the primary funders of state-level conservation efforts in this state and are thus an important constituency that provides benefits for all Massachusetts residents. In 2022 alone, Massachusetts’s sportsmen and women generated over $24 million dollars for conservation through revenue derived from license sales and excise taxes on sporting-related goods (including ammunition) in the unique “user pays – public benefits” structure known as the American System of Conservation Funding (ASCF). The funds collected through this program are the lifeblood of state fish and wildlife agencies, including the DFG – the primary manager of Massachusetts’s fish and wildlife resources. Enacted in 1937, the Pittman-Robertson Act redirected previously existing manufacturer-level excise taxes on firearms and ammunition to a dedicated fund to be used specifically for wildlife conservation purposes. Once collected, the taxes are deposited into the Wildlife Restoration Account, which is administered by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Under the Pittman-Robertson Act and per the Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax, firearms and ammunition are subjected to a 10-11% excise tax. By subjecting purchasers of firearms and ammunition to an additional tax beyond the sales tax and manufacturer-level excise taxes that are already paid, HB 2771 will likely curtail much-needed conservation dollars on which state fish and wildlife agencies rely.
CSF looks forward to working with the Massachusetts Sportsmen’s Caucus in opposing MA HB 2771 and protecting the sportsmen self-imposed funding mechanism that has long supported our state partners and conservation efforts that all citizens are the beneficiaries of.
