Do politicians even think about the consequences their “promises” to voters might have?

The latest ill-informed move comes from Baltimore mayoral candidate Otis Rolley. He proposes a $1 per bullet tax on all bullets purchased in the city. Rolley said the goal is to reduce the “random firings that too often happen around holidays,” as well as increasing the cost of committing a crime.

Imagine for a moment that this is in your own city. No matter how nice it sounds to try and reduce gun violence, bullets aren’t what is causing the crime. Nor are guns.

A high tax on bullets would increase the theft of bullets from stores or homes, while penalizing hunters and those who enjoy marksmanship as a hobby.

And the big problem with this idiotic notion is that bullets are relatively easy to make at home. Yes, folks, making bullets can be done in anyone’s basement or garage at a cost lower than that of purchasing bullets in stores.

If a tax on bullets were implemented, it would most likely cause a small underground movement of bullet-crafting. And that’s just what America might need: yet another activity deemed illegal without proof that it being legal — *cough* drug use *cough* — wouldn’t be just as, if not more, helpful to preventing violence.

To stop crime you have to stop criminals, not impel them to be more inventive. Politicians and even potential voters need to step back and look at the results their cockamamie proposals will have before they rattle their sabers in a show of bravado.