It’s been called the only tax we’re happy to pay, the excise fee that each of us shells out every time we buy a new gun or the ammunition to feed it. Because this federal tax—it is 11 percent on most long guns and all ammunition, 10 percent on pistols and revolvers—isn’t displayed on price tags or sales receipts, it’s easy to overlook.
But this revenue, which is collected by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and then redistributed annually to state fish-and-game agencies to be used for everything from wildlife management to hunter education materials to land acquisition, is the engine for most of our wildlife successes in America, and can be credited for creating the shooting and hunting culture that most readers
