The Right to Bear Arms and Bare Fingers

In 1 651, the Puritans in New England expressed their aversion toward materialism by legislating Sumptuary Laws “against excess in apparel, both of men and of women.” These regulations, directed mostly at inferior classes of society, prohibited men from the “wearing of gold or silver lace or buttons, or points at their knees, to walk in great boots; or women of the same rank to wear tiffany hoods or scarves.” These laws, which attempted to directly control people’s dress, were unenforceable and eventually went out of style. Instead, governments tend to have better success by incentivizing for and against various behaviors through more indirect means, for example, by embedding values into the tax code. Luxury taxes on furs, tobacco tariffs, and child tax credits do not primarily aim to fund the government but rather to seek to curb unhealthy behavior and encourage a lifestyle that benefits families and society. Read Full Article »