A second Second Amendment tax holiday

By now, you know from my earlier posts that South Carolina will hold its second annual Second Amendment tax holiday later this year.

But if you can't wait until the end of November to buy your firearms sans sales tax from Palmetto State gun dealers, consider a Labor Day weekend trip to Louisiana.

Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) has signed into law a measure that calls for his state to hold its own three-day Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday each year starting on the first Friday in September.

This year, that means the tax-free firearms holiday will fall on Sept. 4-6. During that time, the state as well as local jurisdictions will forgo collection of sales taxes on firearms, hunting supplies and ammunition.

On another holiday's heels: Louisiana shoppers just had the chance this past Friday and Saturday to buy tax-free firearms if they wished during the Pelican State's general sales tax holiday.

During that two-day event, any item purchased for personal use that didn't cost more than $2,500 was tax free.

So why have a separate tax holiday just for firearms? Lawmakers who supported the measure pointed to its "constitutional significance."

Some folks, however, argue that all sales tax holidays are simply gimmicks and poor tax policy. In Second Amendment holiday misses target, an opinion piece published in Sunday's Shreveport Times, Mark Cohen, a summer fellow at the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation, wrote:

"It has been argued that this holiday increases recognition of the importance of the Second Amendment. However, it is absurd to think that tax policy should encourage individuals to exercise a specific right."

Then again, absurdity has never stopped lawmakers, both at the federal and state levels, from doing a lot of things, including trying to influence public behavior via taxes.

Details, detail, details: The law is so new that the Louisiana Department of Revenue has not yet posted any official word or guidelines about it on its Web site.

However, the Department's Policy Services Division has issued an Emergency Rule regarding the fast approaching firearms holiday.

In addition to noting the event's dates and reminding shoppers that purchases must be for individual, not business, use, the declaration elaborates on exactly what firearms, ammunition and hunting supplies will be tax-exempt.

Careful reading of the rule also reveals that there is no dollar limit on qualifying purchases. So get ready to buy that expensive deer rifle you've always wanted and all the ammo you need.

And all you hunters, gun aficionados or anyone else who simply feels compelled to pick up some weaponry without having to pay sales taxes, make plans now to visit Louisiana over the Labor Day weekend.

Guns magazine image courtesy Sedanman