The argument for imposing a 'sin tax' on guns and alcohol is analytically flawed and, in practice, doomed to fail.
This is DA MP Ian Cameron's response to Dean Peacock and Claire Taylor's opinion. The Daily Maverick sent its piece to Cameron before publication, and he agreed to respond. You can read the Peacock-Taylor opinion piece Here.
Dean Peacock and Claire Taylor ask with moral certainty, “If alcohol and guns promote violence, why aren't we taxing them appropriately?” This is an attractive question because it seems bold, decisive and signals seriousness in a country that often lacks the necessary seriousness when it comes to real solutions.
But, sadly, it is also analytically flawed and, practically speaking, doomed to fail when it comes to actual community safety strategies.
Let us start with what they feel is right.
There is a crisis of violence in South Africa. Women are often murdered by intimate partners. Young men are often shot in bars and taxi ranks. Children are tragically caught in the crossfire. South Africans experience crime not as a matter of policy debate or quarterly crime statistics, but as their daily realities.
But identifying a crisis is not the same as accurately diagnosing it. And when you misdiagnose, you prescribe the wrong medication and potentially worsen the condition.
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