POLITICS JUNE 7, 2018 / 6:37 PM / UPDATED 17 HOURS AGO

Mississippi Supreme Court says judges cannot ban concealed guns

Jonathan Stempel
3 MIN READ

(Reuters) - A divided Mississippi Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that some local judges acted unconstitutionally by banning people with enhanced concealed-carry licenses from taking guns into their courthouses.

The court said judges of the 14th Chancery District, which includes six counties in eastern central Mississippi, exceeded their authority under the state constitution because only the legislature could regulate or forbid the carrying of concealed weapons.

“The orders at issue usurp that power,” Justice Michael Randolph wrote for a five-justice Supreme Court majority. “No matter how well-intentioned, judges are without power to limit enhanced concealed-carry licensees’ rights to carry a firearm beyond courtrooms in the State of Mississippi.”

A 2011 law allowed people with enhanced concealed-carry licenses to take firearms into Mississippi state courthouses, though judges could ban the weapons from courtrooms.

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