OLIVE BRANCH, Miss. — The sales tax-free weekend is no longer just for school supplies. In Mississippi, guns now have their own sales tax holiday.
“Obviously the more you spend the more you save,” Jeff Duncan, owner of the Gun Exchange in Olive Branch, said.
He showed us the savings you can get this weekend.
“This one retails for about a thousand dollars, so you save $70 on that,” Duncan said as he showed us a gun.
For the first time, Mississippi shoppers won’t pay the seven percent state sales tax when they purchase handguns and accessories Friday, September 5, through Sunday, September 7.
It’s the Magnolia states first Tax Free Sales Weekend for guns.
“We’ll be running some sales on different firearms and ammunition to get people in the door and spur the economy on,” Duncan said. “These are big-ticket items that people in the South really support, so it makes a lot of sense. If you go out and purchase a thousand dollar firearm, you are gonna save $70. You acquaint that to a tank of gas or a couple of outfits for your children. So it’s definitely beneficial. ”
You’re probably accustomed to the tax-free weekend on school supplies. Well, it’s the same thing, only for guns and supplies.
“My grandfather he hunts a lot and the ammunition is really expensive for him to buy all of that. So for him it would be a good time to stock up,” Amy Hayes of Olive Branch said.
What has some people firing mad is how much is included in the gun sales tax-free weekend, compared to what’s excluded in the school supply one. This weekend, not only can you pick up a pistol or a rifle, you can also save on the bullets, holster and cleaning kits.
Yet when it comes to the school supply weekend, things like backpacks, sports gear, and even computers aren’t included in the savings.
“It’s kind of senseless. You are buying guns for recreational use. You have the tax-free day where you are buying clothes and supplies for your kids for school, that makes sense, but having tax-free gun supplies and accessories, no,” Frank Acree of Ingram Mill said.
“They should have more for schools. It should not be more for guns,” Vanessa Hardin of Byhalia said.
The Mississippi Legislature passed the new sales tax free weekend on guns this year, more for the sport of hunting. State Senator David Parker of Olive Branch supported it, saying it’s a good way to promote the start of hunting season.
“Just making people aware of hunting season, gets people enthusiastic, involved and best prepared,” Parker said.
Still, he said he wishes the tax-free weekend on school supplies, which was passed before he took office, included more items. He said he plans to push for that during the upcoming session, but thinks the two tax-free holidays can’t really be compared.
“I think our second amendment rights are very important, and I think our children and their education are very important. I don’t think they are in the same kind of conversation. They are important for different reasons,” Parker said.
If you don’t live in Mississippi, you can still purchase a gun there and save the tax, but the gun has to be transferred to a gun dealer in your state for you to pick it up. You also still have to pass a background check in your state.