A Tax-Exempt Second Amendment Celebration

It marks the third year the unique promotion has taken place, after a measure authorizing the event was signed into law by Gov. Bobby Jindal.

"This is a great opportunity for all hunters and campers to save money on the equipment they need to enjoy Sportsman's Paradise. The weekend-long event will also bring more customers to our local hunting and sporting stores, which will further benefit our businesses and Louisiana's economy," Governor Jindal said this week.

On its way to Gov Jindal in 2009, the Louisiana Senate voted 34-0 to establish the annual tax holiday event the first weekend in September. The tax break only applies to consumer purchases.

As defined by Senate Bill 52, purchases eligible for the three-day tax exemption include "all consumer purchases of firearms, ammunition and hunting supplies. Firearms eligible for the sales tax exemption include shotguns, rifles, pistols, revolvers, or other handguns, which may be legally sold or purchased in Louisiana. Ammunition intended to be fired from a gun or firearm is eligible for the sales tax exemption."

The list also includes such things as archery supplies, off-road vehicles and vessels such as ATVs, airboats and pirogues, accessories, animal feed, apparel, shoes, bags, float tubes, binoculars, tools, rangefinders, treestands, blinds, chairs, and holsters.

Louisiana was the second state to pass a tax-exempt holiday that includes firearms purchases, but the first state to officially enact one. A bill creating South Carolina's Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday was originally passed in 2008, though found to be unconstitutional because it was attached to another measure. A subsequent bill authorizing the state and local taxes to be temporarily waived for the sale of "fixed-cartridge handguns, shotguns and rifles" was passed in 2010.

As a result, South Carolina's two-day firearms sales-tax holiday now occurs annually for the two days following Thanksgiving.