Tax-free weekend for Miss. firearms

Holiday runs through Sunday

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David Humphreys couldn’t say as of Friday afternoon that he’d seen much of a bump in gun sales so far, but he was confident he would be smiling by the time the weekend is over.

“Compared to where we were at this point in the weekend last year, we’re probably actually down a little,” said Humphreys, manager of Sportsman’s Warehouse in Southaven. “But compared to a regular weekend, there’s no question it’ll be good.”

When Humphreys refers to “the weekend,” he’s talking about Mississippi’s tax-free weekend on guns and ammunition.

The state’s third Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday began at 12:01 Friday and runs through midnight Sunday. During the period, consumers can

buy any type of firearm, ammunition, archery equipment and other hunting-related accessories without paying Mississippi’s 7 percent sales tax.

The tax holiday on firearms and ammo comes amid an ongoing national debate over guns and gun control measures during a presidential election year. FBI statistics show a record number of firearm background checks have been processed each month this year through July, the most recent month recorded.

Humphreys said people buying guns for protection are certainly a part of the increased sales that result from the tax-free weekend, but sportsmen are a big part of the story as well.

“The good thing about this year, the tax-free weekend was moved up a week from last year to get ahead of dove season,” Humphreys said. “A lot of hunters will be getting ready for that.”

Mississippi’s 90-day dove season begins Sept. 3.

Mississippi Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves, a strong advocate of the sales tax holiday, also promotes the sports angle in a YouTube video promoting this year’s holiday.

“If you love the outdoors like I do,” says Reeves, standing in front of a wall of taxidermal trophies, “you need to go out and buy your hunting and fishing equipment this weekend.”

Whether for hunting or self-defense, Mississippians aren’t the only ones who will take advantage of the tax holiday. Humphreys said he can’t cite numbers, but anecdotal evidence tells him much of the weekend’s increased sales will come from Tennesseans crossing the state line to take advantage.

Tennessee doesn’t have a tax holiday on firearms, but another Mississippi neighbor, Louisiana, will do so next weekend.

Critics argue that sales tax holidays — not only for guns, but in general — aren’t the economic boon they’re cracked up to be.

Richard Borean of the Tax Foundation, an independent tax policy research organization, said during last year’s Second Amendment holiday that while the group doesn’t involve itself in the politics surrounding tax holidays on guns, it thinks sales tax holidays in general aren’t a particularly good idea.

A report by the foundation concluded that sales tax holidays, among other factors, fail to promote economic growth or to significantly increase consumer purchases; are a gimmick that distract policymakers from permanent tax relief; and allow politicians to favor particular products and industries with tax breaks.