Georgia Democrats condemn passage of firearm tax holiday

ATLANTA (CN) — In a 31–21 vote, the Georgia Senate passed a bill Wednesday to create an annual 11-day sales tax exemption for purchases of firearms, ammunition, gun safes, and related accessories.

Senate Bill 47 expands the five-day period passed by the Republican majority last year despite major pushback from Senate Democrats and the recent shooting at a Georgia high school that left four dead and several others injured.

“It’s very unfortunate that this is the first action this legislative body is taking in the wake of what just happened 168 days ago,” said state Democratic Senator RaShaun Kemp.

“The gun that was used was legally bought. This does not support our mission of making our schools and communities safer. Instead, we could be supporting bills introduced to ensure that these guns are safely stored,” added Kemp.

Multiple Democratic senators have proposed bills aimed at promoting safe storage of firearms, including one that creates a misdemeanor offense for failing to adequately secure a firearm around minors.

Colin Gray, the father of the Apalachee High School shooting suspect, faces charges for purchasing his 14-year-old son an assault rifle and allowing him to keep it next to his bed.

“Had this bill been law a year and a half ago, that weapon could have been purchased during this tax holiday,” said Democratic Senator Jason Esteves.

“This bill is disrespectful to gun violence victims and survivors. Instead of bringing solutions, we’ve seen this body respond to tragedy after tragedy with guns, guns and more guns. We have a duty to protect our constituents and this bill does not do that,” he added.

Georgia also ranks 46th in the nation for weakest gun laws, which spurred the creation of a safe firearm storage committee last year led by Senator Emanuel Jones.

Jones said that pediatricians from across the state urged them to do something to protect children from firearms with data showing a devastating rise in injuries and deaths from unintentional shootings by children.

“Every day a child is harmed by firearms simply because a parent did not have safe storage. No one came to me saying we need a holiday to save taxes on weapons,” he said.

On Wednesday, Jones and several other democrats criticized the bill as doing nothing to help the majority of Georgians and, instead, suggested a tax exemption on cars, clothing, school supplies or menstrual products.

Senator Jason Anavitarte, the Dallas Republican who is sponsoring the measure, said the tax break would promote hunting and the control of Georgia’s deer population.

He argued that people wanting to break the law are always going to find a way to get weapons.

“An assault weapon is a Ford truck that was used to kill people in New Orleans,” said Republican Senator Carden Summers, who also compared gun deaths to ones caused by pressure cookers.

Other Republicans, such as Senator Tim Bearden, expressed support for the bill out of interest in bolstering the Second Amendment.

“We have the right to defend our families in a way that we have to. And so parents can buy that shotgun for their kid and teach them how to hunt and respect nature. If this allows families to go do that together, then let’s do that,” said Bearden.

But Democrats said they don’t believe that Republicans are just interested in promoting hunting, noting that they rejected an amendment to limit the tax break to hunting rifles.

Senator David Lucas, a Democrat, told the Senate floor that he, too, loved hunting growing up and did it often, but tax revenue lost from this exemption could have been used to benefit Georgians in need, particularly those affected by Hurricane Helene.

The state would lose anywhere from $3 million to $7 million, said Senator Nan Orrock. The Democrat urged the other senators to put themselves in the shoes of parents of students at Apalachee High School.

“You turn on your TV or smartphone and read that the Georgia Senate — hoorah — has passed a bill to give a sales tax break on gun sales. It’s like sticking a knife right in the very heart of a family that has lost a child, a teacher, a parent.”

Orrock praised the success of the state’s tax exemption measure on school supplies, which she said benefited a vast majority of Georgians, but was ultimately ended in 2016 reportedly due to loss in tax revenue.

“Firearms don’t kill anybody there’s someone standing behind the trigger. Don’t go stand on the bodies of children because you don’t like the Second Amendment,” said Republican Senator Randy Robertson.

That argument was denounced by Senator Josh McLaurin, who said the measure sends the wrong message.

“If the guns aren’t doing it, why is the culture the way it is? People in this country not only love guns but fetishize guns,” said the Democrat.

“Bills create culture, and bills happen because of the culture. When a kid goes and shoots up a school, it’s because the culture taught them that’s the way to solve their problems. And we are all responsible for creating that culture,” he added.

The bill is likely to be approved by the state’s Republican Governor Brian Kemp, who has boasted his passage of Georgia’s “Constitutional Carry” law in 2022.

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