Proposed bill would give Texas a tax-free holiday weekend for guns, ammo, hunting gear

It’s possible that one day Texas gun owners could have a tax holiday weekend of their own, if a Texas lawmaker’s bill passes muster.

A proposed tax holiday bill would establish the last weekend in August (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) as a tax-free holiday for those looking to buy guns, ammo, and gun cleaning supploes.

Hunting supplies would also be tax-free.

The bill, HB206, was authored by Republican State Representative Jeff Leach of Plano.

There is already a popular tax free weekend for school supplies, clothes, and other related items in August leading up to the beginning of the school year.

In addition to shotguns, handguns, and rifles, items like deer stands, archery equipment, ammunition, and gun cleaning gear would be tax-free.

There are gun holidays like this one already in Louisiana and Mississippi.

Leach, who first introduced the bill in 2013, says it has the endorsement of the National Rifle Association. An earlier incarnation of the bill would have set the tax-free weekend to coincide with Texas’ Independence Day, March 2.

When Texas’ new Republican-dominated legislature opens next month, expect to hear a lot of chatter behind several new gun laws, including this one.

“We have so many gun bills that have been filed that we can’t have anything but an Open Carry law passed next year,” said C.J. Grisham, founder of the activist group Open Carry Texas, told Reuters earlier this week.

Other notable bills include the “Pop Tart” gun bill, which would protect kids from getting in trouble at school for using hands, playthings and, yes, even pastry items to mimic firearms. There is also a bill that would lower the minimum age for getting a concealed handgun permits from 21 to 18.

Rick Perry’s successor in the governor’s mansion, Attorney General Greg Abbott, has expressed support for the Open Carry legislation.

Source: Houston Chronicle