By: Creighton, Nichols	S.B. No. 228
	(In the Senate - Filed December 5, 2014; January 28, 2015,
	read first time and referred to Committee on Finance;
	April 23, 2015, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
	Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 12, Nays 1; April 23, 2015,
	sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 228	By:  Kolkhorst

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to an exemption from the sales tax for firearms and hunting
	supplies for a limited period.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter H, Chapter 151, Tax Code, is amended
	by adding Section 151.358 to read as follows:
	Sec. 151.358.  FIREARMS AND HUNTING SUPPLIES FOR LIMITED
	PERIOD. (a)  In this section, "hunting supplies" means ammunition,
	archery equipment, hunting blinds and stands, hunting decoys,
	firearm cleaning supplies, gun cases and gun safes, hunting optics,
	and hunting safety equipment.
	(b)  The sale of a firearm or hunting supplies is exempted
	from the taxes imposed by this chapter if the sale takes place
	during a period:
	(1)  beginning at 12:01 a.m. on the Saturday of the last
	full weekend in August and ending at 12 midnight on the following
	Sunday; or
	(2)  beginning at 12:01 a.m. on the Saturday of the last
	full weekend in October and ending at 12 midnight on the following
	Sunday.
	SECTION 2.  (a)  Notwithstanding Section 151.358(b)(1), Tax
	Code, as added by this Act, if this Act takes effect September 1,
	2015, the exemption provided by that subdivision from the taxes
	imposed by Chapter 151, Tax Code, applies to a sale that takes place
	during a period beginning at 12:01 a.m. on the Friday before the
	first full weekend in September 2015 and ending at 12 midnight on
	the following Sunday if the sale otherwise meets the requirements
	of that section.
	(b)  If this Act receives the vote necessary for immediate
	effect as provided by Section 4 of this Act, this section has no
	effect.
	(c)  If this section takes effect, this section expires
	October 1, 2015.
	SECTION 3.  The change in law made by this Act does not
	affect tax liability accruing before the effective date of this
	Act. That liability continues in effect as if this Act had not been
	enacted, and the former law is continued in effect for the
	collection of taxes due and for civil and criminal enforcement of
	the liability for those taxes.
	SECTION 4.  Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this
	Act takes effect immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of
	all the members elected to each house, as provided by Section 39,
	Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this Act does not receive the
	vote necessary for immediate effect, this Act takes effect
	September 1, 2015.
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