While everyone was watching news in Colorado during the final weeks of the recalls, Mississippi was instituting a new law to allow the open carry of firearms without a concealed carry permit.
House Bill 2 was passed in Mississippi’s last legislative session and signed into law by Governor Phil Bryant (R), but put on hold in July when Circuit Judge Winston Kidd issued an injunction to have the legislature “clarify it.”
On August 29 the Mississippi Supreme Court “unanimously upheld the… open carry law,” setting the stage for it to take effect.
Fox News carried the Mississippi Supreme Court’s ruling:
This court now finds that the circuit judge erred as a matter of law when he found House Bill 2 vague, and therefore, unconstitutional. He also erred when he stated that ‘a reasonable person reading the bill could not discern what the allows and what it prohibits.’
State representative Andy Gipson (R-Braxton) sponsored House Bill 2. He says the ability of law-abiding citizens to openly carry firearms for self-defense “confirms, in a very real sense, the right to keep and bear arms.”
Adding to this, Governor Bryant said House Bill 2 reaffirms the right to keep and bear arms not only as set forth in the Bill of Rights, but also in Mississippi’s constitution.
Follow AWR Hawkins on Twitter @AWRHawkins
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.