If you’re a gun owner and haven’t received an e-mail forward warning of the horrors of SB-2099, an alleged U.S. Senate bill that would enforce a federal tax on firearms, then you are one of the few.

This mythical bill, which has been dispelled since 2000, claims that:

• Senate Bill SB-2099 will require gun owners to put on the 2009 1040 federal tax form all guns that you have or own.
• It will require fingerprints and a $50 tax per gun.
• The bill will become public knowledge 30 days after it becomes a law.

All of the above is completely and utterly false (well, according to Snopes). But why would this rumor resurface after being disproved nearly a decade ago? According to About.com’s Urban Legends, the 2008 election was the catalyst.

The latest e-mail about the SB-2099 “bill,” is a combination of the 2000 forward and another e-mail about the Blair Holt bill, which is true. The amalgamation of both bills, however, proves false.

The recent forward resurgence caused the NRA to release a statement in August that said the e-mail ruckus had caused them to receive “hundreds of e-mails warning us about SB-2099”

“Like many rumors, there’s just a grain of truth to this one,” the statement said. “Someone’s recycling an old alert, which wasn’t even very accurate when it was new.”

The video opinion commentary below discusses SB-2099, saying that the whole thing is a hoax, and points to potentially more pressing matters for those who own firearms.