Mississippi Yawning: One Year Later, Dire Open Carry Predictions Prove False

Mississippi Flag
Mississippi Yawning: One Year Later, Dire Open Carry Predictions Prove False
NRA-ILA
NRA – ILA

Charlotte, NC –-(Ammoland.com)-  It’s long been a predictable pattern. A state or locality relaxes its restrictions on carrying firearms and doesn’t devolve into the anarchy gun opponents predicted.

The latest example comes from Mississippi, where last year a change in the law, and a Mississippi Supreme Court ruling, ensured that law-abiding residents could exercise their right to carry openly without a permit.

According to a report in Mississippi’s Clarion-Ledger, after a year of lawful open carry, not much has changed.

In 2013, Mississippi enacted House Bill 2, which amended the state’s definition of a concealed firearm. Previously, a person could have been in violation of the law for carrying a gun in a manner in which any portion of the firearm was obstructed from view, such as when it was in a holster. Prior to HB 2’s enactment, the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office had also opined that the state’s concealed carry permit only offered protection for the carrying of firearms if the firearm remained completely out of sight.

The 2013 law makes clear that with regard to the state’s prohibition on concealed carry:

“concealed” means hidden or obscured from common observation and shall not include… a loaded or unloaded pistol carried upon the person in a sheath, belt holster or shoulder holster that is wholly or partially visible, or carried upon the person in a scabbard or case for carrying the weapon that is wholly or partially visible.

Subsequently, gun control activists filed a motion to stop the law from going into effect, and succeeded in getting a Circuit Court judge to temporarily halt enactment of the law. The case made its way to the Mississippi Supreme Court, which dismissed the petition and unanimously backed the new law.

Anti-gun advocates argued “Allowing the open carrying of deadly weapons could cause the escalation of disagreements between citizens and could lead to increased incidents of violence with deadly weapons in the State of Mississippi.” The document also speculated, “When firearms are openly carried by untrained individuals, it is less likely that these individuals will properly retain control of their weapons. Therefore, others are able to easily disarm carriers in order to use the weapon against innocent bystanders.” 

Clarion-Ledger writer Geoff Pender notes just how wrong these predictions were. Pender’s piece cites the legislation’s author, Rep. Andy, Braxton as stating, “A year later, we don’t have the wild, wild West.” Director of the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police Ken Winter, who Pender explains had reservations about the bill, is also quoted on the topic. Winters stated, “It’s kind of been a non-issue.”

Mississippi joins a continually growing list of jurisdictions that have chosen to better respect the right to carry, and failed to suffer the negative consequences predicted by gun controllers. Each time anti-gun advocates are proven wrong, the efficacy of NRA’s position becomes clearer.

Legislators and other public officials should place their trust in their constituents’ ability to exercise their rights responsibly, rather gun control advocates’ unfounded fear-mongering.

About:
Established in 1975, the Institute for Legislative Action (ILA) is the “lobbying” arm of the National Rifle Association of America. ILA is responsible for preserving the right of all law-abiding individuals in the legislative, political, and legal arenas, to purchase, possess and use firearms for legitimate purposes as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Visit: www.nra.org

8 Comments
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
slim

Sheriff Cooke of Colorado said. “We had a lot of floods and fires this year, and the sheriffs said we need an armed populous to help guard their communities and their neighbors.”They could be a benefit to us to stop looting and to stop any riots or that sort of thing.

GenEarly

Yet Floriduh under Repub Majority State Government won’t even let residents take their guns with them during a Mandatory Evacuation.
State concealed carry permits are voided during Any Gov declared emergency, just when you need them.The FL Sheriff’s Assoc supports this Gun Control for “officer safety” during an emergency.
The public be damned.

joe

AHOLES ABOUND,THER EVERYWHERE, THERE EVERYWHERE

TEX

It’s great knowing that eventually all this liberal trash will die ! Sooner than later with any luck ! III

John D

same old arguments trotted out every time more rights and liberties are suggested. Antigunners have been proven wrong every time, but they never give up. Who was it that said, “trying the same thing repeatedly when it does not work, is just insanity.” Okay, I may have misquoted, but the gist of it is there.

MontieR

I have done the research. In EVERY case, the anti gun nuts have predicted “BLOOD RUNNING IN THE STREETS” was a LIE. The abject, pathological fear these people have is a huge red flag advertising their mental incapacity. These people need psych
help and need to be barred from public office until they have been treated for their irrational incapacitating fears.

Janek

Pi$$ on their predictions!

ray hampton

the anti-gun people are a cancer that need to be cut out of the body