Gov. Bryant Signs Permitless Carry Bill: Everytown, Mississippi Moms Denounce New Law That Will Allow Almost Anyone to Carry Loaded, Hidden Guns in Public with No Permit

Reckless new law ignores the 83 Percent of Mississippians and 89 Percent of Mississippi Gun Owners Who Believe that a Permit Should Be Required to Carry a Concealed Handgun in Public

Mississippi Law Enforcement Has Spoken Out Repeatedly Against Permitless Carry

JACKSON, Miss. – The Mississippi chapter of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, a part of Everytown for Gun Safety, released the following statement today denouncing Governor Bryant for signing H.B. 786 into law. The new law will dismantle Mississippi’s concealed carry permitting system and allow people, including some violent criminals and people with dangerous mental illness, to carry handguns in public without a permit.

STATEMENT FROM SHIRLEY HOPKINS DAVIS, VOLUNTEER LEADER OF THE MISSISSIPPI CHAPTER OF MOMS DEMAND ACTION FOR GUN SENSE IN AMERICA:

“Our Governor failed us today. Mississippi law enforcement, families and faith leaders all spoke out against this reckless bill that will allow dangerous people to carry hidden, loaded handguns in pubic without a permit. Yet the Governor still signed this legislation into law. Only eight other states have a law this extreme. We require a license to drive a car in Mississippi in order to keep our communities safe. Dismantling the system that requires a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public flies in the face of public safety and common sense.”

STATEMENT FROM ARNITA SPENCER, GUN VIOLENCE SURVIVOR WHOSE SON WAS SHOT AND KILLED IN JACKSON:

“There are some people – like people with violent criminal records and chronic alcoholics – who are in no position to carry a concealed handgun in places like shopping malls or in public parks. But the legislation Governor Bryant signed today makes little room for those exceptions. My 20-year-old son was shot and killed in Jackson. Families like mine know all too well what can happen when a dangerous person has his hands on a loaded gun. There’s simply no good reason to pass a law that makes Mississippi less safe from the threat of gun violence.”

In addition to 89 percent of Mississippi gun owners who believe that a person should have a permit to carry a concealed handgun in public, Mississippi law enforcement has repeatedly spoken out against the bill. This month, Ken Winter, Executive Director of the Mississippi Association of Chiefs of Police said, “This bill would put law enforcement officers and all Mississippians directly in harm’s way.”

And last month, Mississippi Moms Demand Action and gun violence survivors gathered at the Capitol with Lucy McBath – whose son Jordan Davis was shot and killed at a Jacksonville, Florida gas station in 2012 over loud music – to send a message to lawmakers that HB 786 would be dangerous for public safety.