House Bill 1215

(COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE)

AN ACT TO AMEND SECTION 45-9-51, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO PROHIBIT STATE AGENCIES FROM RESTRICTING THE POSSESSION OF FIREARMS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 45-9-51, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

45-9-51. (1) (a) Subject to the provisions of Section 45-9-53, no county or municipality may adopt any ordinance or enter into any contract or rental agreement that restricts the possession, carrying, transportation, sale, transfer or ownership of firearms or ammunition or their components.

(b) No state agency may adopt a rule or regulation or enter into any contract or rental agreement that restricts the possession, carrying, transportation, sale, transfer or ownership of firearms or ammunition or their components.

(c) No state agency or their officers or employees may participate in any program in which individuals are given a thing of value provided by another individual or other entity in exchange for surrendering a firearm to the state agency or other governmental body.

(2) No public housing authority operating in this state may adopt any rule or regulation restricting a lessee or tenant of a dwelling owned and operated by such public housing authority from lawfully possessing firearms or ammunition or their components within individual dwelling units or the transportation of such firearms or ammunition or their components to and from such dwelling.

(3) (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 a rule or regulation adopted by a state agency in violation of this section may file suit for declarative and injunctive relief against a state agency in the circuit court which shall have jurisdiction over the state agency where the violation of this section occurs.

(b) Before instituting suit under this subsection, the party adversely impacted by the rule or regulation 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 state agency adopted a rule or regulation in violation of this section and provide the chief administrative officer of the state agency notice of his findings, including, if applicable, a description of the violation and specific language of the rule or regulation found to be in violation. The state agency shall have thirty (30) days from receipt of that notice to cure the violation. If the state agency 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 state agency adopted a rule or regulation 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 state agency prohibiting it from enforcing the rule or regulation. Any public 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 a public official under this subsection (5) that the public official: (i) Did not support the adopted rule or regulation 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 rule or regulation deemed by the court to be in violation of this section.

(4) This section does not affect:

(a) The authority of a state law enforcement agency from adopting and enforcing regulations pertaining to the possession, carrying, transportation, sale, transfer or ownership of firearms or ammunition or their components issued or used by law enforcement officers in the course of their official duties.

(b) The authority of the Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks or the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks from regulating the use of firearms or ammunition as a method of taking wildlife and regulating the shooting ranges managed by the commission and department.

SECTION 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2020.