Shoppers can buy tax-free guns this weekend

For the second, and possibly last, time, gun buyers will pay no sales tax this weekend. The “Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday” is from just after midnight Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, until midnight on Saturday. There will be no state sales tax on handguns, rifles and shotguns. The state Department of Revenue has answersto frequently asked questions about the tax holiday.

Last year was the first sales tax holiday on guns. State lawmakers had intended for it to be permanent, but they included it in another law that was ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court. So they added it as a temporary measure in this year’s budget. That means this will be the last tax holiday on guns unless lawmakers include it in next year’s budget or pass it as a separate law.

South Carolina Fair Share, a group that works for tax fairness, says the state needs to get rid of the tax holiday on guns and the August tax holiday on back-to-school items. John Ruoff, of SC Fair Share, says, “At a time when we’re laying off state employees, when it seems like every month the fiscal picture gets worse, having this kind of another drain on the state’s revenues is just irresponsible.“ 

He says the tax break doesn’t entice people to buy guns they wouldn’t have bought anyway.

Mike Garrett of Spartanburg was looking at guns Wednesday and says he will buy one during the tax-free weekend. He says he would buy it anyway, but says, “I look at it as an incentive to the people. We pay taxes all year long. We should have a break sometimes.“ 

Chuck Grabbatin, who works at Sportsman’s Warehouse in Columbia, says he doesn’t know whether the tax-free weekend causes any sales that wouldn’t have happened anyway, but the store did sell at least two or three times more guns during last year’s holiday than it does on a normal weekend.

“Every little bit helps,“ he says. “As soon as they hear about tax-free weekend, they come in and spend their money on that particular day, just like they wait for Black Friday sales on other things, you know. It’s the same kind of thing.“

The state has not calculated exactly how much money was lost in tax revenue during last year’s tax holiday on guns, but estimates are it cost the state about $15,000.

The tax holiday is for handguns, rifles and shotguns, but does not include ammunition and accessories.