On Thursday HB 1083, the Gun bill, died on the concur or not concur deadline. The bill was skipped over by Judiciary B chairman Rep. Andy Gipson.
This was the bill originally authored to give Enhanced Concealed Carry permit holders the ability to challenge public organizations or businesses that would not let them carry. This caused quite a stir among Universities in Mississippi and the SEC. An amendment was later added to allow teachers and administrators to be trained to carry inside schools in the event of an emergency.
With the growing concern over individuals bringing guns into sporting events another amendment was out on the bill at the end of its discussion that would only allow those permit holders to carry in the event a police officer was not present at the location.
Bill author Rep. Andy Gipson had a few things to say on his decision to let the bill die:
“This year I introduced a bill, HB 1083, to strengthen the enforcement of gun rights for licensed, trained “enhanced concealed carry” Mississippians. The Senate amended it to weaken those rights. We could not agree, so the bill died. The law will stay the same and enhanced CC holders will continue to have the same carry rights as before.
The Senate also added a school safety amendment that I do support; but in the end we could not agree on the particular language.
However, if local school districts approve, under current law school districts can already authorize employees who are enhanced CC licensees to carry concealed for the protection of the students and others. Bottom line: there was nothing to lose by letting HB 1083 die in this regard.”
The Attorney General for Mississippi, Jim Hood, shared his office’s opinion on the bill as well.
He was asked questions like, “Does Mississippi law allow an individual with an “enhanced conceal/carry permit” to carry a concealed weapon on a Mississippi public school campus?”
While the answer to that is yes, the AG said that at this time the school could prohibit those weapons from being carried on certain parts on campus that are more open to the public.
You can read the full report from his office HERE.
Sarah Ulmer
