ATLANTA – The Georgia Senate’s Republican majority passed legislation Wednesday seeking a waiver on sales taxes for firearms over an 11-day period in October.
Senate Bill 47 passed 31-21 in a party-line vote following a partisan debate, with Republicans touting gun rights and Democrats pointing to the mass school shooting at Apalachee High School in September.
“Are you all tone deaf? It’s like taking a knife and sticking it into the heart of a parent who has lost a child,” said Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta. “What is this blood lust for guns?”
Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, D-Duluth, held a baby during her speech on the Senate floor, saying the Republican party’s priorities “are jacked up.”
Republicans said the line of criticism was, in the words of Sen. Randy Robertson, R-Cataula, “disgusting.”
Fellow GOP Sen. Carden Summers of Cordele said anything — a pickup truck, like the one driven into a crowd in New Orleans last month, or a pressure cooker, like one used to bomb marathon runners in Boston a dozen years ago — can be used as a weapon.
Hunters produce millions of dollars in sales tax revenue and deserve a break, said Sen. Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, the bill’s sponsor. People who arm themselves against others deserve the tax break, as well, his fellow Republicans said.
“Our citizens have the right to self-defense,” said Sen. Tim Bearden, R-Carrollton. “Our families are precious to us.”
The legislation would offer a tax break on firearms, ammunition, gun safes and “related accessories,” such as stocks, barrels, scopes and magazines. It would run for 11 days beginning the second Friday of each October through 2029.
Official estimates put the annual loss of state and local tax revenue at $3 million to $7 million a year should the bill become law.
The Senate passed a similar bill last year offering a 5-day tax holiday, but the GOP-led state House of Representatives did not act on it.
Anavitarte said after Wednesday’s vote that he would consult with members of the House about passing the tax break this year.