Miss. Code Ann. Section 97-37-1 makes carrying a concealed pistol a crime, and the lawful ways to carry concealed are exits from that statute: the...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Miss. Code Ann. Section 97-37-1 makes carrying a concealed pistol a crime, and the lawful ways to carry concealed are exits from that statute: the carve-outs inside Section 97-37-1 itself, the no-license rule at Section 45-9-101(24), the Department of Public Safety license under Section 45-9-101, and the enhanced endorsement under Section 97-37-7(2). Section 97-37-9 adds eleven defenses a charged person may raise at trial. Those are not authorizations to carry.
You do not need a license to carry a loaded pistol on your person in a holster, a purse, or a fully enclosed case, so long as you are not engaged in criminal activity beyond a misdemeanor traffic offense, are not otherwise prohibited, and are not in a place blocked by Section 45-9-101(13). The license adds concealment by any method, a document other states decide whether to recognize, and the credential the federal school zone exception is written around. The enhanced endorsement adds most of the Section 45-9-101(13) location list.
Section 97-37-1(1) opens with "Except as otherwise provided in Section 45-9-101," then makes it an offense to carry, concealed on or about one's person, a bowie knife, dirk knife, butcher knife, switchblade knife, metallic knuckles, blackjack, slingshot, pistol, revolver, any rifle with a barrel of less than sixteen inches, any shotgun with a barrel of less than eighteen inches, a machine gun or any fully automatic firearm or deadly weapon, or any muffler or silencer for any firearm, whether or not it is accompanied by a firearm, or to use or attempt to use an imitation firearm against another person.
Grading escalates by conviction count:
| Conviction | Punishment under Section 97-37-1(1) |
|---|---|
| First | Fine of $100 to $500, or up to six months in the county jail, or both, in the discretion of the court |
| Second | Fine of $100 to $500, and 30 days to six months in the county jail |
| Third or subsequent | One to five years in the custody of the Department of Corrections |
| Any conviction by a person previously convicted of any felony | One to ten years in the custody of the Department of Corrections |
Paragraph (d) reaches "any person previously convicted of any felony," not only a prior conviction under this section. Under Section 97-37-3(1) a weapon used in violation of Section 97-37-1 is seized by the arresting officer and, on conviction, ordered forfeited; on dismissal or acquittal it is returned to the accused.
The 2025 code as published on Justia appears at two nodes for this section, and the wider one, the list recited above, governs. The narrower node is the text Laws 2023 ch. 461 Sec. 5 would produce, and Section 7 of that act makes the whole act effective only on a contingency turning on a United States Supreme Court ruling that has not occurred. Miss. Code Ann. 45-9-81 through 45-9-85 ride that same clause, so the prosecution bar Section 45-9-85 would create is not in force. Section 97-37-31 stays live: making, manufacturing, selling or possessing a device that will arrest or muffle the report of a firearm, by anyone not duly authorized under federal law, is a misdemeanor, a fine of up to $500, up to thirty days in the county jail, or both. Whether a federal district court ruling in August 2026 on National Firearms Act suppressor registration changes who is duly authorized under federal law is not settled here. Check the official code and ask a Mississippi attorney.
Section 97-37-1(4) defines "concealed" as hidden or obscured from common observation. It then says the term "shall not include" a listed weapon carried in a sheath, belt holster or shoulder holster that is wholly or partially visible, or carried in a scabbard or case for carrying the weapon that is wholly or partially visible.
A pistol in a visible holster is therefore not concealed under Section 97-37-1, so the offense does not reach it. Section 45-9-101(14)(b) says the same from the licensing side, and the open carry section of this guide takes it from there.
Section 45-9-101(24) says a license is not required for a loaded or unloaded pistol or revolver carried upon the person in a sheath, belt holster or shoulder holster, or in a purse, handbag, satchel, other similar bag or briefcase or fully enclosed case, if the person:
The container list covers pistols and revolvers, not the rest of the Section 97-37-1 weapon list, and describes carry methods rather than methods of concealment.
Subsection (24) states no minimum age. The floor arrives through its second condition, which incorporates the possession rules: Section 97-37-14(1) makes it an act of delinquency, except as that section otherwise provides, for a person who has not attained the age of eighteen knowingly to have any handgun in his possession. Permitless carry lands at eighteen; the permitless carry section of this guide walks the exceptions. Two nearby thresholds govern something else: the Section 97-37-1(2) carve-out above is written at over eighteen, and Section 45-9-101(2)(b) sets a licensing criterion of twenty-one, or eighteen for a qualifying Armed Forces member or veteran. The permit basics section carries the credential detail.
Subsection (24) carries a proviso: lawful medical cannabis use by a registered qualifying patient under the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act does not disqualify a person under subsection (24) solely because that use makes the person a prohibited possessor under 18 USCS Section 922(g)(3). That is state law addressing a state subsection. It does not change federal law.
Section 97-37-5 makes possession of any firearm by a person convicted of a felony a felony: a fine of up to $5,000, one to ten years in the custody of the State Department of Corrections, or both, absent a pardon, relief under 18 U.S.C. Section 925(c), or a certificate of rehabilitation.
A license under Section 45-9-101 is valid statewide for five years from issuance, unless the holder takes the subsection (25) option to have it appear as a notation on a driver's license or identification card, which expires with that card. The holder "may carry a stun gun, concealed pistol or concealed revolver" under subsection (1)(a). The practical difference from subsection (24): the method of concealment stops mattering.
Section 45-9-101(1)(b) requires the licensee to carry the license together with valid identification at all times while carrying, and to display both on demand by a law enforcement officer. A violation is noncriminal, a $25 penalty enforceable by summons. Section 45-9-101(9) sets the same $25 noncriminal penalty for failing to notify the Department in writing within thirty days of an address change, or within thirty days after having a license lost or destroyed. The duty to inform section of this guide covers whether you must volunteer that you are armed.
Section 45-9-101(19) recognizes any valid, unrevoked and unexpired license from another state, and authorizes the Department to enter reciprocal agreements where another state requires one in writing. See the reciprocity section of this guide. On the federal side, 18 U.S.C. Section 922(q)(2)(B)(ii) excepts possession by an individual licensed by the state where the school zone sits, where state law requires law enforcement to verify the applicant's qualification before issuing. Mississippi issues only after fingerprints go out for state and federal processing under Section 45-9-101(5)(d) and (6)(a), or on the name checks (6)(d) substitutes where legible prints cannot be obtained after at least two attempts. Permitless carry involves no license, so that exception is not written to reach it.
The endorsement is not a separate permit but an authorization layered on an existing Section 45-9-101 license. A licensee qualifies by one of three routes:
Routes 2 and 3 both require an affidavit attesting to have read, understand and agree to comply with all provisions of the enhanced carry law.
The statute's civilian route accepts an instructor certified by a nationally recognized firearms organization. The Department's published FAQ, on whether out-of-state training qualifies, says only training from an instructor it has certified, or the military and law enforcement routes, is eligible, and its application asks civilians to attach a certificate for a qualifying eight hour course. Confirm with the Firearm Permit Division first.
Section 45-9-101(13) is the location list, written as a limit on what a license authorizes rather than as an offense of its own. It names a place of nuisance as defined in Section 95-3-1, law enforcement stations, detention facilities, courthouses and courtrooms, polling places, meetings of governing bodies and of the Legislature, school, college and professional athletic events not related to firearms, school facilities, college and university facilities, airport passenger terminals, places of worship except as provided in Section 45-9-171, and any place where the carrying of firearms is prohibited by federal law. It carves in a law enforcement officer as defined in Section 45-6-3 holding a distinct license authorized by the Department, and withholds authorization from parade or demonstration participants where a permit is required. The list as enacted is in the text of Section 45-9-101(13).
The alcohol rules sit inside that same list. Subsection (13) blocks any portion of an establishment licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises that is primarily devoted to dispensing them, and any portion of an establishment where beer, light spirit product or light wine is consumed on the premises that is primarily devoted to that purpose. The line is drawn at a portion of the establishment, not at the whole building. Mississippi's carry statutes set no blood alcohol threshold for the person carrying. Section 97-37-13 makes it unlawful to sell, give or lend a deadly weapon or pistol cartridge to a person known to be intoxicated, punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000, up to one year in the county jail, or both. Section 45-9-101(2)(f) makes it a condition of issuing a license that the applicant does not chronically and habitually use alcoholic beverages to the extent that his normal faculties are impaired.
Subsection (13) blocks elementary and secondary school facilities, and the endorsement text reaches locations listed in that subsection. But Section 97-37-17(2) is a separate felony: possessing or carrying any firearm on educational property, openly or concealed, punishable by a fine of not more than $5,000, up to three years in the custody of the State Department of Corrections, or both. Subsection (6) takes it off a non-student whose firearm stays within a motor vehicle and who does not brandish, exhibit or display it in a careless, angry or threatening manner. The Section 97-37-17(7)(e) exemption covers "any person as authorized in Section 97-37-7 while in the performance of his official duties," which tracks the officials that statute names, not a private endorsement holder. The two statutes do not resolve each other on their face, so treat school property as off limits outside that vehicle exception.
Section 97-37-9 gives a person indicted or charged under Section 97-37-1 eleven defenses to show. Three are open to ordinary carriers: that he was threatened and had good and sufficient reason to apprehend a serious attack from an enemy, and did so apprehend; that he was traveling or setting out on a journey and was not a tramp; and that he was lawfully engaged in legitimate sports. The other eight are role-based, from peace officers and mail carriers on duty to church security program members under Section 45-9-171 and School Safety Guardian Program members under Section 45-9-181.
These are defenses, not permissions. The statute puts "the burden of proving either of said defenses" on the accused, and a defense is raised after you have been charged. Do not teach the traveling or apprehended-attack defense as a carry authorization.
Section 45-9-101(14) exempts law enforcement officers as defined in Section 45-6-3, chiefs of police, sheriffs, and licensed professional bondsmen from the licensing requirements. Qualified active and retired officers also carry under 18 U.S.C. Sections 926B and 926C on those sections' own terms, which include not being under the influence of alcohol or another intoxicating drug.
This page covers one part of our Mississippi concealed carry guide.
Read the complete Mississippi guideBrowse local instructors offering state-approved training in your area. Book online, complete your training, and get one step closer to your concealed carry permit.