Gun law presents a clear hazard
Even gun-rights supporters should be concerned about a new Mississippi law that makes it legal for any adult to strap a pistol on his or her hip without being required to have a carry permit or any kind of training.
The open-carry gun law that took effect Monday says a state permit is not needed to carry a gun that is not concealed. The law also removes most of the restrictions on where a person can carry an unconcealed weapon. This is ill-conceived legislation that will put the public and law enforcement officers in greater danger.
Hinds County Circuit Court Judge Winston Kidd has granted an injunction that prevents the law from being enforced. The judge ruled the law was vague and he issued the injunction to prevent irreparable harm. Kidd has scheduled a July 8 hearing on whether to continue the injunction. Tuesday, the state Supreme Court refused to undo Kidd’s order.
There is confusion across the state about whether the injunction applies statewide or just in Hinds County. Dist. Atty. John Champion of Circuit Court District 17 (which includes DeSoto County) thinks the injunction applies statewide.
Frankly, this is a bill that may have sounded good on the front end, but has turned out to be the exact opposite. Mississippi already has a conceal and carry gun law that, among other things, requires a person to obtain a permit and some firearm training and places strict restrictions on where the weapon can be carried.
The new law was born out of an effort by lawmakers to better define what “concealed weapon” means. In doing so, the Legislature made a tremendous blunder by allowing anyone to openly carry a gun just about anywhere he or she wants, except on the premises of a business that prohibits firearms. It is ironic that the state’s original law still places restrictions about where a person with a conceal and carry permit can take a weapon.
This law goes far beyond the right to bear arms. It should set off alarm bells among gun carry-permit holders who have to meet reasonable requirements that allow them to safely carry a weapon.
When anybody can strap on a gun and carry it any place he or she wants, with no training, that is a cause for concern. It puts citizens in harm’s way and creates a dangerous situation for law enforcement officers who, if the injunction doesn’t hold, will be coming in contact daily with armed citizens. That fact, Champion said, scares him.
Attempts to justify the new law with the argument that “armed law-abiding citizens don’t pose a danger” won’t wash in this case because there is no way to determine on sight whether a person has something in his or her background, such as a felony conviction, that should prevent him or her from carrying a firearm. And do we really want police officers routinely stopping open gun carriers for background checks?