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Bob Oberst, owner of the Palmetto State Shooting Center in Okatie, said customers have made plans to come by his store today and Saturday to make tax-free purchases.
"Gun sales are up substantially, and I think primarily because of the recent election," Oberst said. "People are deathly afraid (Obama's) going to impose sanctions on our Second Amendment rights."
He said his store's gun sales are up 90 percent over last month. That compares to national retail figures for 2007, when sales jumped from October to November by 3.1 percent, according to the U.S. Census Bureau data.
Doug Pennington, spokesman for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, said Obama has been misrepresented as staunchly anti-gun. Pennington said a U.S. Supreme Court ruling overturning Washington's gun ban makes it "constitutionally impossible" for an Obama administration to prevent Americans from buying guns.
But the National Rifle Association points to Obama's transition team Web site, which states Obama and Vice President-elect Joe Biden support changing several Bush Administration policies, including making a federal ban on assault weapons permanent and making background checks a requirement at gun shows.
Lynn Davis, who co-owns Lowcountry Outfitters near Moss Creek, said she's had several customers put guns on layaway so they can purchase them during the two-day sales tax holiday, which lasts through Saturday. She said gun sales at her store also are up, but she wouldn't disclose by how much.
WHO GETS A BREAK?
The tax break applies to handguns, rifles and shotguns, but not to ammunition or antique or collectible handguns.
Though Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed the bill creating the tax holiday, his veto was overwhelmingly overturned in both legislative chambers. Former Sen. Catherine Ceips of Beaufort and Reps. Bill Herbkersman of Bluffton, Richard Chalk of Hilton Head Island and Shannon Erickson of Beaufort all voted for the holiday.
Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said the governor would "rather have tax relief applied in a broad-based fashion over the entire year than a particular holiday for a particular item."
Though the legislature defended it as an expression of support for gun rights, the holiday comes as the state is facing steep revenue declines. Florida and Maryland have scaled back sales tax holidays due to sharp drops in revenues.
The state Board of Economic Advisors estimates the upcoming sales tax holiday will result in about $15,000 in consumer savings and lost revenue.
Herbkersman said $15,000 in lost revenue is well worth helping out gun buyers.
He said the state's back-to-school sales tax holiday weekend also was good policy. That holiday, which has been held in August over the last nine years, gives tax breaks on computers, clothes, school supplies and other items, and the Department of Revenue has estimated it led to between $2.8 million and $3 million in consumer savings and lost tax revenue.
"I can't tell you how many families that helped," Herbkersman said.
