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As part of his next proposed state budget, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is planning to give tax breaks to residents who purchase guns and firearm accessories during the first half of the summer.
Tax “holidays” are commonly used by governors and state legislatures to promote certain industries or give relief to consumers during a specific time of year — a popular tax holiday, for example, is a sales tax reprieve for parents buying supplies for their children in the months leading up to the start of school.
DeSantis’s proposed budget includes six separate tax holidays. Among them is a “Second Amendment Summer” sales tax holiday that would last for over a month — from Memorial Day Weekend to the Fourth of July.
DeSantis’s office is estimating that the sales tax holiday for firearms and accessories would save state gun buyers around $8 million in purchases during that time. Of course, those savings also amount to $8 million in lost revenues for the state, which could be used for any number of projects for the common good, rather than for the promotion of weapons purchases.
Only two other states — Louisiana and Mississippi — provided a firearms and firearm accessories sales tax holiday in 2024.
Polling demonstrates that most Floridians support tighter gun restrictions, suggesting that the gun sales tax holiday may not be a popular move among most residents (especially since rates of gun violence tend to increase during the months when the holiday would happen). Notably, Florida saw 32 mass shootings last year alone — an increase from the 30 shootings that were seen in 2023.
Last summer, former U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy declared firearm violence a public health crisis, particularly for children, as the leading cause of death in the U.S. for youth is gun violence. Murthy also pointed out that gun violence affects children in different ways, including psychologically.
“Every day that passes we lose more kids to gun violence, the more children who are witnessing episodes of gun violence, the more children who are shot and survive that are dealing with a lifetime of physical and mental health impacts,” Murthy said at the time.
To address gun violence, states should enact laws that lessen gun industry immunity, Truthout’s Schuyler Mitchell wrote in a column in September, noting that at least nine other states have enacted laws that reduce immunity standards for gun manufacturers in civil lawsuits. Florida is not one of them.
“As other states consider gun control measures, we must continue to push for enhanced industry accountability,” Mitchell wrote, urging an approach that disregards more criminalization as a way to deal with gun violence.
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