And this just in from the Texas Tribune:


The state Senate on Thursday gave the green light to a proposal to designate one weekend a year when Texas shoppers would not have to pay sales tax on guns.

Senate Bill 228 by Sen. Brandon Creighton, R-Conroe, would create a sales tax holiday for firearms, ammunition and hunting supplies during the last weekend in August. Texas already has tax holidays for two other kinds of products: school supplies and energy-efficient appliances.

The proposed tax break — which Creighton calls a Second Amendment tax holiday weekend — would come one week ahead of hunting season and one week before a similar weekend in Louisiana. Texas would lose $3.6 million per year in tax revenue under the proposed legislation, according to an estimate from the Legislative Budget Board.

"Since 2009, retailers in east and southeast Texas have been at a competitive disadvantage when it comes to their Louisiana counterparts," Creighton said in a statement. "Providing this sales tax break prior to the start of hunting season will be an economic driver for small businesses and will provide our hunters much deserved savings."