Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle has proposed a 'violence tax' that would be applied to the purchase of guns and ammunition, the Huffington Post reported.
The Chicago Sun-Times reported the tax would be meant to generate revenue, curb the number of guns in circulation, and offset the societal cost of gun violence.
Preckwinkle's chief of staff, Kurt Summers, told the Sun-Times that the average health care cost to treat a gunshot victim is $52,000. He added that 70 percent gunshot victims do not have health insurance.
The tax plan faces opposition by the Illinois State Rifle Association. The organization's excutive director, Richard Pearson told the Huffington Post that the proposal as "just another scheme concocted by the Chicago Machine to punish law-abiding firearm owners."