Bill Text: MS HB1254 | 2025 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Mississippi Firearms Parental Amnesty Act; create.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-20 - Referred To Judiciary B [HB1254 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2025-HB1254-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2025 Regular Session
To: Judiciary B
By: Representatives Hulum, Clark, Johnson, Taylor
House Bill 1254
AN ACT TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI FIREARMS PARENTAL AMNESTY ACT; TO PROVIDE CIVIL AND CRIMINAL IMMUNITY TO PARENTS OR LEGAL GUARDIANS WHO VOLUNTARILY DELIVER FIREARMS OWNED, CONTROLLED OR IN THE POSSESSION OF A MINOR TO LAW ENFORCEMENT; TO AMEND SECTION 45-9-53, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM TO THESE PROVISIONS; TO BRING FORWARD SECTIONS 97-37-1 AND 97-37-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH REGULATE POSSESSION OF DANGEROUS WEAPONS FOR PURPOSES OF AMENDMENT; AND RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. (1) This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Mississippi Firearms Parental Amnesty Act".
(2) Any parent or legal guardian of a minor who is less than eighteen (18) years of age, and who voluntarily and peacefully delivers and abandons any firearm that was owned by or in the possession or control of the minor, regardless of whether the firearm was used in the commission of a crime or not, shall be immune from civil and criminal liability for any action taken with use of the firearm, if any.
(3) Delivery and abandonment under this section may be made at any police district, station, or central headquarters, agency or by summoning a police officer to the person's residence or place of business.
(4) Every firearm to be delivered and abandoned to a law enforcement agency with the protections of this act shall be transported and/or disposed of in accordance with Section 45-9-53.
(5) No person who delivers and abandons a firearm, destructive device, or ammunition under this section shall be required to furnish identification, photographs, or fingerprints.
(6) No amount of money shall be paid for any firearm, destructive device, or ammunition delivered and abandoned under this section.
(7) Whenever any firearm, destructive device, or any other ammunition is surrendered under this section, the law enforcement agency that receives such shall inquire of the District Attorney or Mississippi Office of Attorney General whether such firearm is needed as evidence; provided, that if the same is not needed as evidence, it shall be destroyed.
(8) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to authorize prohibited contraband of inmates described in Sections 47-5-191 to 47-5-198.
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 or municipality 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 or municipality. 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 or other governmental body; (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 or a municipality 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 or posted
written notice adopted by a county or
municipality in violation of this section may file suit for declarative and
injunctive relief against a county or municipality in the circuit court which
shall have jurisdiction over the county or municipality where the violation of
this section occurs.
(b) Before instituting suit under this subsection, the party adversely impacted by the ordinance 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 or municipality adopted an ordinance or posted written notice in violation of this section and provide the chief administrative officer of the county or municipality notice of his findings, including, if applicable, a description of the violation and specific language of the ordinance or posted written notice found to be in violation. The county or municipality shall have thirty (30) days from receipt of that notice to cure the violation. If the county or municipality 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 or municipality adopted an ordinance 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 or municipality prohibiting it from enforcing the ordinance or posted written notice. Any elected county or municipal 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 or municipality or their officers or employees may participate in any program in which individuals are given a thing of value as provided in Section 1 of this act, provided by another individual or other entity in exchange for surrendering a firearm to the county, municipality or other governmental body unless:
(a) The county or municipality has adopted an ordinance authorizing the participation of the county or municipality, or participation by an officer or employee of the county or municipality in such a program; and
(b)
Any ordinance enacted pursuant to this section must require that any firearm
received shall be destroyed by the agency or 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 or other governmental body. Any
firearm remaining in possession of the county, municipality or other governmental
body after attempts to sell at auction * * * shall be * * * destroyed in a manner that
the body deems appropriate.
SECTION 3. Section 97-37-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
[Until the date that the conditions described in Section 7 of Chapter 461, Laws of 2023, have been met, this section shall read as follows:]
(a) By a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or both, in the discretion of the court, for the first conviction under this section.
(b) By a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), and imprisonment in the county jail for not less than thirty (30) days nor more than six (6) months, for the second conviction under this section.
(c) By confinement in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years, for the third or subsequent conviction under this section.
(d) By confinement in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than one (1) year nor more than ten (10) years for any person previously convicted of any felony who is convicted under this section.
(2) It shall not be a violation of this section for any person over the age of eighteen (18) years to carry a firearm or deadly weapon concealed within the confines of his own home or his place of business, or any real property associated with his home or business or within any motor vehicle.
(3) It shall not be a violation of this section for any person to carry a firearm or deadly weapon concealed if the possessor of the weapon is then engaged in a legitimate weapon-related sports activity or is going to or returning from such activity. For purposes of this subsection, "legitimate weapon-related sports activity" means hunting, fishing, target shooting or any other legal activity which normally involves the use of a firearm or other weapon.
(4) For the purposes of this section, "concealed" means hidden or obscured from common observation and shall not include any weapon listed in subsection (1) of this section, including, but not limited to, 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.
[From and after the date that the conditions described in Section 7 of Chapter 461, Laws of 2023, have been met, this section shall read as follows:]
97-37-1. (1) Except as otherwise provided in Section 45-9-101, any person who carries, concealed on or about one's person, any bowie knife, dirk knife, butcher knife, switchblade knife, metallic knuckles, blackjack, pistol, revolver, or any rifle with a barrel of less than sixteen (16) inches in length, or any shotgun with a barrel of less than eighteen (18) inches in length, machine gun or any fully automatic firearm or deadly weapon, or uses or attempts to use against another person any imitation firearm, shall, upon conviction, be punished as follows:
(a) By a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six (6) months, or both, in the discretion of the court, for the first conviction under this section.
(b) By a fine of not less than One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) nor more than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00), and imprisonment in the county jail for not less than thirty (30) days nor more than six (6) months, for the second conviction under this section.
(c) By confinement in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than one (1) year nor more than five (5) years, for the third or subsequent conviction under this section.
(d) By confinement in the custody of the Department of Corrections for not less than one (1) year nor more than ten (10) years for any person previously convicted of any felony who is convicted under this section.
(2) It shall not be a violation of this section for any person over the age of eighteen (18) years to carry a firearm or deadly weapon concealed within the confines of his own home or his place of business, or any real property associated with his home or business or within any motor vehicle.
(3) It shall not be a violation of this section for any person to carry a firearm or deadly weapon concealed if the possessor of the weapon is then engaged in a legitimate weapon-related sports activity or is going to or returning from such activity. For purposes of this subsection, "legitimate weapon-related sports activity" means hunting, fishing, target shooting or any other legal activity which normally involves the use of a firearm or other weapon.
(4) For the purposes of this section, "concealed" means hidden or obscured from common observation and shall not include any weapon listed in subsection (1) of this section, including, but not limited to, 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.
SECTION 4. Section 97-37-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is brought forward as follows:
97-37-3. (1) Any weapon used in violation of Section 97-37-1, or used in the commission of any other crime, shall be seized by the arresting officer, may be introduced in evidence, and in the event of a conviction, shall be ordered to be forfeited, and shall be disposed of as ordered by the court having jurisdiction of such offense. In the event of dismissal or acquittal of charges, such weapon shall be returned to the accused from whom it was seized.
(2) (a) If the weapon to be forfeited is merchantable, the court may order the weapon forfeited to the seizing law enforcement agency.
(b) A weapon so forfeited to a law enforcement agency may be sold at auction as provided by Sections 19-3-85 and 21-39-21 to a federally-licensed firearms dealer, with the proceeds from such sale at auction to be used to buy bulletproof vests for the seizing law enforcement agency.
SECTION 5. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2025.
