News Service of Florida — An upcoming four-month sales tax “holiday” on certain camping and hunting gear, including guns and ammunition, is back to round out the year.
The retail industry is hoping people are becoming more conscious of the discount period that begins Sept 1 and ends Dec. 31.
“It's certainly not the same as the back-to-school or disaster relief (sales tax holidays) because all the holidays come down to awareness,” said Scott Shalley, president and CEO of the Florida Retail Federation. “This holiday in particular, hopefully (the weather) is going to start to cool down, and folks will want to get out and enjoy all that Florida has to offer.”
Unlike the month-long back-to-school holiday discount period that included personal computers valued at $1,500 or less, there is no ceiling on the price of firearms, bows and accessories to receive the discount during the “Hunting, Fishing, and Camping” holiday period.
“One of the distinguishing factors this holiday is it covers some pretty high-end items, and the opportunity for savings is maybe more significant because of that,” Shalley said.
The cost of a quality handgun starts around $400 and can easily exceed $1,000. Hunting rifles range from $500 to $2,500, with a scope adding $400 to $2,000. Then there are accessories and ammunition.
The holiday is part of the sales tax package (HB 7301E) Gov. Ron DeSantis signed alongside the 2026-2027 fiscal year budget on June 29.
During the bill signing ceremony in Tampa, DeSantis called the discount period a “really good opportunity” for hunters and campers and noted that the holiday period in 2025 “was a big hit.”
State economists projected the 2025 discount period, which ran from Sept. 8 through the end of the year, would save shoppers $44.8 million.
The month-long back-to-school holiday was projected to save shoppers more than $200 million.
This year, even with the extra week that includes the Labor Day holiday, the discount is projected to cost state and local governments $40 million.
The discount period lifts sales taxes on fishing rods and reels that cost $75 or less, tackle boxes at $30 or less, bait at $10 or less, tents at $200 or less, sleeping bags, portable hammocks, camping stoves, and collapsible camping chairs at $50 or less; camping lanterns and flashlights at $30 or less.
But the key portion focuses on gun buyers.
With no price cap, the discount period removes sales taxes on ammunition, pistols, rifles and shotguns, along with a variety of accessories that include firearm barrels, charging handles, cleaning kits, handguards, holsters, grips, magazines, sights and silencers.
The discount also applies to bows and crossbows, and their accessories, which include arrows, bolts, quarrels, quivers, releases, sights and wristguards.
When the bill was before the House in March, Parkland Democratic Rep. Christine Hunschofsky questioned the provision she said supports “the purchase of unlimited firearm accessories, unlimited ammunition, unlimited guns.”
“We also have other rights that we have in this country, such as the right to petition,” said Hunschofsky, who was mayor of Parkland when 17 people were massacred at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. “I would suggest that maybe making it more accessible for Floridians to go and vote, more accessible for Floridians to have initiatives on the ballot and have their voices heard, would be better uses of tax dollars supporting people's rights.”
But House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Rep. Wyman Duggan, a Jacksonville Republican whose committee crafted the package, said the inclusion of gun accessories is tied to the 2024 measure approved by voters that enshrined the right to hunt and fish into the state constitution.
“Obviously, those are activities that the citizens of our state engage in, and as a component of that in our sales tax holiday, we wanted to include the accessories that go along with exercising that constitutional right,” Duggan said on the House floor.
