Statement of Senator Giles Ward (R – District 18) on Hinds County Circuit Judge Winston Kidd’s temporary injunction delaying implementation of House Bill 2
Recent developments surrounding the delay of implementation of HB 2 have come as a surprise to me. Firstly, four of the plaintiffs (and significantly even more who appeared at a press conference in Jackson last week announcing their plans) are members of the Mississippi Senate. Every single member of the Senate voted not once, but twice, for the clarification of Mississippi’s concealed carry statute set forth in HB 2. They joined every other member of the Senate in unanimously adopting this legislation. Significantly, 31 of 51 members of the Senate co-authored SB 2212 which was the identical legislation as HB 2 and which I sponsored in the Senate and that is now being challenged in court.
Law abiding citizens in Mississippi have a right to possess and openly carry a weapon under the Second Amendment contained in our United States Bill of Rights and under Section 12 of the 1890 Mississippi Constitution. I am greatly concerned that the temporary injunction infringes upon those rights and am satisfied this ruling will be vacated more sooner than later.
Sen Giles Ward Press Release
7/2/13
Magnolia Tribune
