MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2016 Regular Session
To: Judiciary B
By: Representatives Hood, Morgan, Patterson, Mettetal, Beckett, Rogers (61st), Tullos, Oliver, Baker, Kinkade, Hale, Rushing, Formby, Chism, Byrd, Mims, Criswell, Willis, Currie, Boyd, Henley
AN ACT TO AMEND SECTIONS 45-9-51 AND 45-9-53, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CLARIFY THAT NO CITY, COUNTY, STATE AGENCY, BOARD OR COMMISSION MAY REQUIRE A SPECIAL TAXATION ON THE CARRYING OF FIREARMS; TO ALSO PROHIBIT SUCH FROM CREATING RESTRICTIONS REGARDING FIREARMS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. Section 45-9-51, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
45-9-51. (1) Subject to
the provisions of Section 45-9-53, no county * * *, municipality, state agency,
commission or board may adopt any ordinance or regulation that
restricts or requires special taxation on the possession, carrying,
transportation, sale, transfer or ownership of firearms or ammunition or their
components.
(2) No public housing authority operating in this state may adopt any rule or regulation restricting a lessee or tenant of a dwelling owned and operated by such public housing authority from lawfully possessing firearms or ammunition or their components within individual dwelling units or the transportation of such firearms or ammunition or their components to and from such dwelling.
SECTION 2. Section 45-9-53, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
45-9-53. (1) This section
and Section 45-9-51 do not affect the authority that a county * * *, municipality, state agency,
commission or board may have under another law:
(a) To require citizens or public employees to be armed for personal or national defense, law enforcement, or another lawful purpose;
(b) To regulate the
discharge of firearms within the limits of the county * * *, municipality, or on property
owned, controlled or regulated by a state agency, commission or board. A
county or municipality may not apply a regulation relating to the discharge of
firearms or other weapons in the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the county or
municipality or in an area annexed by the county or municipality after
September 1, 1981, if the firearm or other weapon is:
(i) A shotgun, air rifle or air pistol, BB gun or bow and arrow discharged:
1. On a tract of land of ten (10) acres or more and more than one hundred fifty (150) feet from a residence or occupied building located on another property; and
2. In a manner not reasonably expected to cause a projectile to cross the boundary of the tract; or
(ii) A center fire or rimfire rifle or pistol or a muzzle-loading rifle or pistol of any caliber discharged:
1. On a tract of land of fifty (50) acres or more and more than three hundred (300) feet from a residence or occupied building located on another property; and
2. In a manner not reasonably expected to cause a projectile to cross the boundary of the tract;
(c) To regulate the use of property or location of businesses for uses therein pursuant to fire code, zoning ordinances, or land-use regulations, so long as such codes, ordinances and regulations are not used to circumvent the intent of Section 45-9-51 or paragraph (e) of this subsection;
(d) To regulate the use of firearms in cases of insurrection, riots and natural disasters in which the city finds such regulation necessary to protect the health and safety of the public. However, the provisions of this section shall not apply to the lawful possession of firearms, ammunition or components of firearms or ammunition;
(e) To regulate the storage or transportation of explosives in order to protect the health and safety of the public, with the exception of black powder which is exempt up to twenty-five (25) pounds per private residence and fifty (50) pounds per retail dealer;
(f) To regulate the
carrying of a firearm at: (i) a public park or at a public meeting of a
county, municipality * * *, other governmental body state agency, commission or
board; (ii) a political rally, parade or official political meeting; or
(iii) a nonfirearm-related school, college or professional athletic event; or
(g) To regulate the receipt of firearms by pawnshops.
(2) The exception provided by subsection (1)(f) of this section does not apply if the firearm was in or carried to and from an area designated for use in a lawful hunting, fishing or other sporting event and the firearm is of the type commonly used in the activity.
(3) This section and Section 45-9-51 do not authorize a county or municipality or their officers or employees to act in contravention of Section 33-7-303.
(4) No county * * *, municipality, state agency,
commission or board may use the written notice provisions of Section 45-9-101(13)
to prohibit concealed firearms on property under their control except:
(a) At a location listed in Section 45-9-101(13) indicating that a license issued under Section 45-9-101 does not authorize the holder to carry a firearm into that location, as long as the sign also indicates that carrying a firearm is unauthorized only for license holders without a training endorsement or that it is a location included in Section 97-37-7(2) where carrying a firearm is unauthorized for all license holders; and
(b) At any location under the control of the county or municipality aside from a location listed in subsection (1)(f) of this section or Section 45-9-101(13) indicating that the possession of a firearm is prohibited on the premises, as long as the sign also indicates that it does not apply to a person properly licensed under Section 45-9-101 or Section 97-37-7(2) to carry a concealed firearm or to a person lawfully carrying a firearm that is not concealed.
(5)
(a) A citizen of this state, or a person licensed to carry a concealed pistol or revolver under Section 45-9-101,
or a person licensed to carry a concealed pistol or revolver with the
endorsement under Section 97-37-7, who is adversely affected by an ordinance,
regulation, or posted written notice adopted
by a county or municipality, or state agency in violation of this
section may file suit for declarative and injunctive relief against a county * * *, municipality, state agency,
commission or board in the circuit court which shall have jurisdiction over
the county * * *,
municipality or state agency where the violation of this section occurs.
(b) Before instituting
suit under this subsection, the party adversely impacted by the ordinance,
regulation or posted written notice shall notify the Attorney General in
writing of the violation and include evidence of the violation. The Attorney
General shall, within thirty (30) days, investigate whether the county * * *, municipality or state agency
adopted an ordinance, regulation, or posted written notice in violation
of this section and provide the chief administrative officer of the county * * *, municipality or state agency
notice of his findings, including, if applicable, a description of the
violation and specific language of the ordinance, * * * regulation, or posted written notice
found to be in violation. The county * * *, municipality, state agency,
commission or board shall have thirty (30) days from receipt of that notice
to cure the violation. If the county * * *, municipality or state agency
fails to cure the violation within that thirty-day time period, a suit under
paragraph (a) of this subsection may proceed. The findings of the Attorney
General shall constitute a "Public Record" as defined by the
Mississippi Public Records Act of 1983, Section 25-61-1 et seq.
(c) If the circuit
court finds that a county * * *, municipality, state agency,
commission or board adopted an ordinance, regulation, or posted
written notice in violation of this section and failed to cure that violation in
accordance with paragraph (b) of this subsection, the circuit court shall issue a permanent injunction against a county * * *, municipality or state agency prohibiting
it from enforcing the ordinance, regulation or posted written notice.
Any * * * official under whose jurisdiction the violation occurred
may be civilly liable in a sum not to exceed One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00),
plus all reasonable attorney's fees and costs incurred by the party bringing
the suit. Public funds may not be used to defend or reimburse officials who
are found by the court to have violated this section.
(d) It shall be an affirmative defense to any claim brought against an elected county or municipal official under this subsection (5) that the elected official:
(i) Did not vote in the affirmative for the adopted ordinance or posted written notice deemed by the court to be in violation of this section;
(ii) Did attempt to take recorded action to cure the violation as noticed by the Attorney General in paragraph (b) of this subsection; or
(iii) Did attempt to take recorded action to rescind the ordinance or remove the posted written notice deemed by the court to be in violation of this section.
(6) No county * * *, municipality, state agency,
commission or board or their officers or employees may participate in any
program in which individuals are given a thing of value provided by another
individual or other entity in exchange for surrendering a firearm to the
county, municipality or other governmental body unless:
(a) The * * * ordinance
or regulation authorizing the participation * * * in such a program is
duly adopted by the appropriate body; and
(b) Any ordinance or
regulation enacted pursuant to this section must require that any firearm
received shall be offered for sale at auction as provided by Sections 19-3-85
and 21-39-21 to federally licensed firearms dealers, with the proceeds from
such sale at auction reverting to the general operating fund of the county,
municipality * * *,
other governmental body, state agency, commission or board. Any firearm
remaining in possession of the county, municipality or other governmental body
after attempts to sell at auction may be disposed of in a manner that the body
deems appropriate.
(7) This section and Section 45-9-51 do not affect the authority of a state agency to prohibit firearms in a location listed in Section 97-37-7(2).
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2016.