"muskets, pistols, and other fire arms; swords, cutlasses, hangers, and other side arms..."

Chap. [27] An act for raising a further sum of money for the protection of the frontiers, and for other purposes therein mentioned.

   ss l. Be it enacted, &c. That from and after the last day of June next, [July 1, 1792], the duties now in force upon the articles hereinafter enumerated and described, at their importation into the United States, shall cease and that, in lieu thereof, there shall be henceforth laid, levied, and collected, upon the said articles, at their said importation, the several and respective rates or duties following, viz.--Wines, namely: Madeira, of the quality of London particular, per gallon, fifty-six cents: Madeira, of the quality of London market, per gallon, forty-nine cents: Other Madeira wine, per gallon, forty cents: Sherry, per gallon, thirty-three cents: Saint Lucar, per gallon, thirty cents: Lisbon, per gallon, twenty-five cents: Oporto, per gallon, twenty-five cents: Teneriffe and Fayal, per gallon, twenty cents. All other wines forty per centum, ad valorem: Provided, That the amount of the duty thereupon shall, in no case, exceed thirty cents per gallon. Spirits, distilled, wholly or chiefly, from grain: Of the first class of proof, per gallon twenty-eight cents . . . Articles ad valorem: China wares, looking glass, window and other glass, and all manufactures of glass, black quart bottles excepted; muskets, pistols, and other fire arms; swords, cutlasses, hangers, and other side arms; starch, hair powder; wafers; glue; laces, lines, fringes, tassels, and trimmings, commonly used by upholsterers, coach-makers, and saddlers, and paper hangings; painter's colours, whether dry or ground in oil, fifteen per centum ad valorem...." [Pg. 239]

[PUBLIC AND GENERAL STATUTES PASSED BY THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. FROM 1789 TO 1827 INCLUSIVE, WHETHER Expired, Repealed, or in force; ARRANGED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER, WITH MARGINAL REFERENCES, AND A COPIOUS INDEX, TO WHICH IS ADDED THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES AND AN APPENDIX. PUBLISHED UNDER THE INSPECTION OF JOSEPH STORY, ONE OF THE JUSTICES OF THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES. BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY WELLS AND LILLY. 1827.]

   Well, there's the Alcohol and Firearms. My guess is that we didn't import tobacco. So then, it is quite clear the federal government does have power to tax the importation of firearms. Just as they have delegated authority over the exportation of the same articles:

"Chap. [44.] An act to continue in force the act, entitled "An act prohibiting, for a limited time, the exportation of arms and ammunition; and for encouraging the importation thereof."[Act of June 1797, ch. 2.

     "ss 1. Be it enacted, &c. That the first, second, third, and fourth sections, of the act entitled "An act prohibiting for a limited time, the exportation of arms and ammunition, and for encouraging the importation thereof," be, and are hereby, continued in force for one year, from and after the present session of congress, and from thence to the end of the next session of congress thereafter, and no longer."Pg. 494]

   It is my contention however, that all power and authority ends there. At least when it involves arms in the hands of We The People. For our Constitution explicitly declares that; "The Right of the People to Keep and Bear Arms shall not be infringed."

   Mr. Justice Story also warned us:

 “In England...A large proportion of the most valuable of the provisions in Magna Charta, and the bill of rights in 1688, consists of a solemn recognition, of limitations upon the power of parliament; that is, a declaration, that parliament ought not to abolish, or restrict those rights. Such are the right of trial by jury; the right to personal liberty and private property according to the law of the land; that the subjects ought to have a right to bear arms...”--Joseph Story, U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Constitutional scholar, [Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1833; Book III at 718, § 1858)]

“One of the ordinary modes, by which tyrants accomplish their purposes without resistance, is, by disarming the people, and making it an offence to keep arms, and by substituting a regular army in the stead of a resort to the militia. The friends of a free government cannot be too watchful to overcome the dangerous tendency of the public mind to sacrifice, for the sake of mere private convenience, this powerful check upon the designs of ambitious men."--Joseph Story, U.S. Supreme Court Justice and Constitutional scholar, [Familiar Exposition of the Constitution of the United States (1840)]