Georgia State Senate passes gun sales tax holiday amid debate on gun violence

The inside of the Georgia State Capitol building in Atlanta, Georgia. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

The Georgia State Senate passed legislation Wednesday to create an 11-day sales tax holiday for guns, ammunition, gun safes and accessories.

The proposed holiday would start on the second Friday of October every year, around deer hunting season, and would waive both state and local sales taxes. The Senate voted 31 to 21 to pass Senate Bill 47, which now goes to the House.

Wednesday’s 90-minute floor debate turned into one about gun rights and gun violence. Democratic State Sen. Nan Orrock of Atlanta questioned the timing of the legislation in the aftermath of the Apalachee High School shooting in September, during which a 14-year-old student allegedly shot and killed four people at the school.