It&#x27;s not a tax if it&#x27;s merely covering the costs of the transaction.  That is that if we agree that it is a good thing to require background checks at all, then it will be part of the cost of transferring it.<p>If you don&#x27;t agree that background checks are a good idea at all, then just say so.<p>This proposal is likely a lighter financial burden than either requiring everyone to get a background check for every transfer, or to require everyone go through a federally licensed dealer.<p>It wouldn&#x27;t necessarily need to be indefinitely; how long one wants to require this is a policy choice.  Long enough to catch repeat offenders is all one really needs; stopping a single person from just once committing any crime is pretty hard.