In its fourth year, Mississippi's Second Amendment Sales Tax Holiday is expected to pack stores this weekend with shoppers looking for a discount on guns, ammunition and other items exempt from the state's 7 percent sales tax.

"It's actually bigger for us than Black Friday," said Todd Sarotte, manager of Van's Sporting Goods in Brandon. "It's grown every year, and for the last two years it's been bigger than Black Friday for us."

The tax holiday will begin at 12:01 a.m. on Friday and run through midnight Sunday, per a law the Mississippi Legislature passed in 2014. The state has for several years had a similar sales tax holiday weekend for back-to-school clothes. Louisiana has a similar hunting tax holiday.

See list of what's exempt from taxes below

MORE: How to carry a gun in Mississippi: New laws explained

The tax exemption this weekend applies to guns — including rifles, shotguns, pistols and revolvers — scopes and mounts, most archery equipment, ammunition and slings and gun cases. It does not apply to hunting clothing and shoes, binoculars, gun safes or hunting stands or blinds. (See entire list below).

Sarotte said there is sometimes a bit of confusion on what's exempt. For instance, as mentioned above, gun safes are not.

"But we go ahead and do it anyway," Sarotte said of covering the taxes on gun safes, since so many people look to buy them on the tax holiday weekend. He said the store will have factory firearm reps from at least a couple of manufacturers with displays at the store this weekend.

Mississippi's laws for its tax holiday weekends don't include tracking mechanisms to determine the cost in state revenue, and businesses report only gross sales to the Department of Revenue. Opponents of a similar measure in Texas said it would cost that state $11 million a year.

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Sales tax holidays have become popular nationwide, with states exempting school supplies, energy-efficient appliances, computers and disaster preparation supplies. But some groups, such as the conservative national Tax Foundation, say sales tax holidays are not sound policy, that sales taxes should be neutral for different products or timing of purchases and that tax holidays distort the economy and increase government's hand in the market.

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But proponents, such as state Sen. Philip Moran, R-Kiln, who authored the sales tax holiday measure, and Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves who supported it, say hunting and the tax holiday is a tourist draw that brings in people from other states and makes up for any negative impact.

ContactGeoff Pender at 601-961-7266 orgpender@gannett.com. Follow him onTwitter.

What's exempt from taxes this weekend

Here's the state Department of Revenue's list of what is exempt from the 7 percent sales tax this weekend and what is not. An E indicates an item is eligible and non-taxable, an N indicates it is non-eligible and will still be taxed.

Ammunition

Ammo boxes (N)

Ammunition reloading supplies and tools (N)

Bullets (E)

Gunpowder loaded into the muzzle of a firearm (E)

Shotgun Shells(E)

Archery and firearm — equipment and accessories

Armguards (E)

Arrows (E)

Arrow rests (E)

Belts designed for hunting (E)

Bows and bow Accessories (E)

Bow parts (E)

Bow sights (E)

Bow string and string accessories (E)

Bow fishing accessories (E)

Choke tubes (E)

Cleaning and refinishing products (E)

Crossbows (E)

Equipment or parts specifically used for repairing archery or firearm equipment (E)

Firearm parts (E)

Hearing aids (N)

Hearing protection (E)

Holsters (E)

Quivers (E)

Releases (E)

Safety equipment that is mounted or affixed to a firearm or bow (E)

Scopes and mounts that are affixed to a firearm or bow (E)

Shafts (E)

Shooting bags and pouches (E)

Shooting rest (E)

Shooting tripod, bipod or monopod (E)

Sights (E)

Slings designed for hunting (E)

String wax (E)

Targets (E)

Trap or target throwers (E)

BB guns (N)

Paintball guns (N)

Pistols (E)

Revolvers (E)

Rifles (E)

Shotguns (E)

Toy guns (N)

Firearm and archery cases

All-purpose cases or bags (N)

Hard cases designed specifically for firearms and archery equipment (E)

Soft cases designed specifically for firearms and archery equipment (E)

General hunting supplies