Quote:
|
That's certainly a factor, but from what I can tell, they weren't that common before the NFA 34 act and that's part of why it was possible to push it through.
|
They weren't
rare, but they weren't very widely owned.
When Attorney General Cummings originally pitched the NFA to Congress, it would have also taxed handguns at $1 each. While the NRA didn't blanch much at the tax on machine guns and silencers (which were also pricey and uncommon at the time), the tax on handguns was deemed to be overreach and was deleted from the bill.