La. reinstates Second Amendment sales tax holiday for Labor Day weekend

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - If you’re into guns or maybe have considered buying your first one, this weekend you’ll be able to shave a little extra off on your purchase. State lawmakers have revived a sales tax holiday that was suspended back in 2018 known as the “Second Amendment Holiday.”

State Sen. Stewart Cathey (R) brought the holiday back now that the state is in a more comfortable financial position. The tax break was suspended back in 2018 out of budget concerns but the state now has almost 2 billion in surplus dollars.

“I’ve had several retailers that reached out and said hey we’d really love to see this come back. There are so many more things than just firearms that are exempted from taxes this weekend that we’ll probably sell more non-firearms than any firearms this weekend,” said Sen. Cathey.

The tax break is expected to cost the state around $1.3 million in revenue. And according to the ATF, it’s estimated more than half of Louisiana households own firearms. The law exempts sales taxes on any firearm purchases, archery equipment, hunting apparel, and even things like deer corn. However, it does not include things like off-road vehicles such as ATVs and boats.

“I think it’s going to be a great opportunity for the customers. I mean state and local sales tax here is about 10% and that puts some products out of people’s ability to purchase,” said Christopher Woosley with Precision Firearms who says the tax break is good for business all around.

He says when the tax holiday was first put in place, most who took advantage were people from all over, even out of state came into their stores.

“That’s money that stays here in Louisiana that would go to another state if we didn’t have this tax holiday. Honestly, I think it’s a win-win for everyone involved,” added Woosley.

The holiday will be in effect from September 1- 3.

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