Gun Control = Big Government

Axis: Handgun Control Inc./ Brady Center's gun control grades by state (F=0, A=4) for year 2001

Ordinate: State-only taxes per capita, year 2000 from http://www.bcnys.org/whatsnew/2001/0717txgp.htm

The correlation isn't as nice as applied statisticians would prefer but I think we have an obvious trend. Anti-Second Amendment states, in general, have higher taxes than pro-Second Amendment states. Gun control is about controlling people, and so is big government; it speaks for itself.

Black marker = Handgun Control Inc./ Brady Center grade (F=0, A=4), year 2001
Red marker = state tax per capita, year 2000

Examples: CA, CT, HI, MA, NY: "strict common sense gun laws" plus some of the highest per-capita state taxes in the nation.

AL, AZ, FL, LA, TX, true "common sense gun laws" and some of the lowest per-capita state taxes in the nation.

Anomolies: MD, IL (high gun control, moderate taxes)

Alaska, DE,  VT, WY (low gun control, high taxes). A good part of Alaska's revenues, however, may come from oil.

See the above chart sorted (a) in ascending order of gun control ratings and (b) in ascending order of taxes per capita