This coming weekend, your neighbors in Louisiana will enjoy an exemption from their state and local sales and use taxes on individual purchases of firearms, ammunition and hunting supplies. Since 2009, the Sportsmen’s Paradise has celebrated a “Second Amendment Weekend Sales Tax Holiday” during the first full weekend in September. This places firearm and sporting goods retailers in East and Southeast Texas at a competitive disadvantage around the time hunting season begins.
State Senator Glenn Hegar (R-Katy) is calling for enactment of a similar “Back to Hunt” tax-free holiday weekend in Texas, pointing out that “[i]mplementing a tax-free weekend for sportsmen in Texas will stimulate new hunting participation while also increasing economic activity.” Click here to view his press release. In 2011, Senator Hegar sponsored a similar measure when the state was faced with serious fiscal and economic challenges. During the 2013 session, legislation establishing a tax-free holiday for these items was introduced by state Representative Jeff Leach (R-Plano), but this bill never received a hearing by the House Ways & Means Committee.
NRA members should urge their state lawmakers to support the future establishment of a tax-free weekend for firearms and hunting supplies, which will support businesses in the Lone Star State and encourage more hardworking Texans to go afield. Click here to identify your state Senator and state Representative and to access their contact information.