Rep. Sparks Plans to Again Propose a Gun Safe Sales Tax Exemption

(Rutherford County, TN) Guns left unattended in vehicles continue to be a contributing factor to increased crime in Tennessee. To help combat criminals access to guns, State Representative Mike Sparks from Smyrna says he will sponsor his gun safe bill again this year in the 113th General Assembly.

Over the past two years, his bill has eliminated taxes on the purchase of gun safes in Tennessee. Sparks talked about what inspired him to push the bill over 2-years ago… Up-and-coming musician Kyle Yorlets was shot and killed by two teenagers in 2019 with a gun that was believed to have been stolen out of a parked vehicle. Yorlets was gunned down while standing outside of his Torbett Street home.

Last year in Nashville alone, over 1,300 guns were stolen out of vehicles that were parked in the Davidson County area. Police report the majority guns that are stolen out of vehicles are later used in crimes throughout Middle Tennessee. While Representative Sparks agreed it's dumb to leave guns unattended in a vehicle, he noted that special gun safes are available for cars and trucks that bolt to the chassis or floorboard of the vehicle that make the weapon less accessible to the common criminal...

The gun safe bill by Sparks allows retailers to cut-out any sales tax charge that is normally collected when a purchase is made. Such a savings for shoppers equals about $200 on a $2,000 gun safe, $100 on a $1,000 gun safe and almost $50 on a $500 gun safe. Sparks believes the savings is significant enough to encourage a consumer to buy a gun safe, as opposed to not buying a gun safe.

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