Lawmakers propose 11 day sales tax holiday for Georgia gun purchases

The Georgia legislative session for 2024 is underway and Gov. Brian Kemp is aiming to give state residents relief on taxes.

While Kemp’s plan, according to his remarks at the State of the State address, were focused on lowering state income taxes, some lawmakers have an extra plan in mind.

A group of 21 state senators filed legislation on Jan. 11 to make guns, gun safes, accessories and ammunition tax free for 11 days each year.

According to the legislative text of Senate Bill 344, the bill would make firearms, ammunition, gun safes and related accessories exempt from state sales and use taxes from the second Friday of October to the fourth Monday of October each year.

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The tax free holiday for gun buying would include stocks, barrels, scopes and magazines, in addition to ammo and the guns themselves.

A fiscal note on file with the Georgia legislature from Jan. 8 by State Auditor Greg S. Griffin said the bill would impact state revenues from $1.31 to $3.27 in the 2025 fiscal year while hitting local revenues between $1.1 to $2.73 million.

However, the fiscal note said the lower estimates were based on sales remaining evenly distributed during the 11-day proposed tax holiday, while the higher estimate assumes purchases are higher during the period.

In 2023, the analysis estimates gun sales accounted for roughly $1.06 billion in Georgia, based on national sales of federally registered firearms reported by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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