Mississippi does not require a license to carry a handgun if you meet the conditions below. The permitless rule has no dedicated statute of its own. It...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Mississippi does not require a license to carry a handgun if you meet the conditions below. The permitless rule has no dedicated statute of its own. It is assembled out of two carve-outs, one inside the criminal statute and one inside the license statute, and they work differently. Knowing which one you are standing on decides whether your holster has to show.
The baseline offense is Miss. Code Ann. Section 97-37-1(1), which punishes carrying "concealed on or about one's person" a listed weapon: a pistol, a revolver, a bowie knife, a dirk knife, a butcher knife, a switchblade knife, metallic knuckles, a blackjack, a slingshot, a rifle with a barrel under sixteen inches, a shotgun with a barrel under eighteen inches, a machine gun or any fully automatic firearm or deadly weapon, and any muffler or silencer for any firearm, whether or not it is accompanied by a firearm. That subsection opens with the words "Except as otherwise provided in Section 45-9-101." Both carve-outs below are ways out of that offense.
Section 97-37-1(4) supplies the definition:
"For the purposes of this section, 'concealed' means hidden or obscured from common observation and shall not include any weapon listed in subsection (1) of this section, including, but not limited to, a loaded or unloaded pistol carried upon the person in a sheath, belt holster or shoulder holster that is wholly or partially visible, or carried upon the person in a scabbard or case for carrying the weapon that is wholly or partially visible."
On the better reading of the definition, the visibility test attaches to the container, not to the gun. A pistol in a belt holster, shoulder holster, sheath, scabbard, or carrying case is outside the statutory meaning of "concealed" as long as that holster, scabbard, or case is wholly or partially visible. Nothing in the definition requires the firearm itself to be in view.
Section 45-9-101(14)(b) closes the loop from the license side: "The licensing requirements of this section do not apply to the carrying by any person of a stun gun, pistol or revolver, knife, or other deadly weapon that is not concealed as defined in Section 97-37-1."
"A license under this section is not required for a loaded or unloaded pistol or revolver to be 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 is not engaged in criminal activity other than a misdemeanor traffic offense, is not otherwise prohibited from possessing a pistol or revolver under state or federal law, and is not in a location prohibited under subsection (13) of this section."
This is the provision that makes Mississippi a permitless carry state, and it is the one that reaches a handgun nobody can see. Three conditions have to hold at once:
The containers are enumerated, with an "other similar bag" catch-all but no general one, and the subsection says nothing about visibility. That is the whole difference between the two mechanisms: under (24) the handgun and its container may both be completely out of sight.
Subsection (24) also carries a medical cannabis provision: lawful medical use by a registered qualifying patient under the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act "shall not disqualify a person under this subsection (24) solely because the person is prohibited from possessing a firearm" under 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3) for that medical use. That sentence is written as a Mississippi rule about who qualifies under (24). It does not purport to amend 18 U.S.C. 922(g)(3), and the federal penalty in 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(8) is unchanged by it.
The Department of Public Safety reprints Section 97-37-1 on its Firearms pages under a source note ending in 1991. Its subsections 1 through 3 read "concealed in whole or in part" where the codified Section 97-37-1(1) reads "concealed on or about one's person," and its fourth penalty subparagraph caps the prior-felony grade at five years where the codified Section 97-37-1(1)(d) reads ten. It does reprint the current subsection 4 definition alongside the older operative wording. Work from the codified section.
Justia publishes the codified section at two nodes, and the wider one, recited above, governs. The narrower node drops the slingshot and the muffler or silencer item. It is the text Laws 2023 ch. 461 Sec. 5 would produce, and Section 7 of that act holds the whole act until a contingency turning on a United States Supreme Court ruling that has not occurred.
Neither Section 45-9-101(24) nor Section 97-37-1(4) states an age. The floor comes from the possession rules underneath, which (24) incorporates through its condition that the carrier not be "otherwise prohibited from possessing a pistol or revolver under state or federal law" and which bind visible carry in their own right. It lands at 18.
Do not carry that 18 across to the license. Section 45-9-101(2)(b) sets the license age at 21, or at 18 for an applicant who is a member or veteran of the armed forces, including National Guard or Reserve, and who holds a valid Mississippi driver's license, a Department of Public Safety identification card, or a current photo tribal identification card from a federally recognized tribe.
Section 97-37-1(2) is not a third permitless carry route: it is not a violation of that section for a person "over the age of eighteen (18) years" to carry concealed within their own home or place of business, the real property associated with either, or any motor vehicle. It is tied to those places and does not travel with you on foot.
Section 97-37-5(1) makes it unlawful for anyone convicted of a felony in this state, another state, or the United States to possess any firearm, and the same subsection also covers a bowie knife, dirk knife, butcher knife, switchblade knife, metallic knuckles, blackjack, or any muffler or silencer. The bar lifts only if the person has been pardoned, has received relief from disability under 18 U.S.C. 925(c), or holds a certificate of rehabilitation issued under Section 97-37-5(3).
Subsection (24) incorporates federal disabilities by reference, so 18 U.S.C. 922(g) does the rest of the work. Its nine classes are a person convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year, a fugitive from justice, an unlawful user of or person addicted to a controlled substance, a person adjudicated as a mental defective or committed to a mental institution, an alien unlawfully in the United States or admitted on a nonimmigrant visa (subject to the 922(y)(2) exceptions), a person dishonorably discharged, a person who renounced United States citizenship, a person subject to a domestic protective order meeting the findings in 922(g)(8), and a person convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.
Subsection (24)'s third condition borrows the location list that Section 45-9-101(13) writes for licensees. Structurally that matters: (13) is a limit on what a license authorizes, and (24) makes the same list a condition on the exemption, so the list binds permitless carriers and ordinary licensees alike.
The categories in (13) run to places of nuisance under Section 95-3-1, law enforcement stations and detention facilities, courthouses and courtrooms, polling places, meeting places of governmental governing bodies and meetings of the Legislature or a committee, school, college and professional athletic events not related to firearms, the drinking portion of an establishment licensed for on-premises alcohol and the drinking portion of one where beer, light spirit product or light wine is consumed, school and university facilities, the latter unless for the purpose of participating in any authorized firearms-related activity, airport passenger terminals, churches and other places of worship except as provided in Section 45-9-171, and any place where carrying is prohibited by federal law. Subsection (13) also lets whoever controls a location disallow carry by posting a written notice, readable at not less than ten feet, that the "carrying of a pistol or revolver is prohibited." A separate sentence in (13) says a license does not authorize participants in a parade or demonstration for which a permit is required to carry; that one limits the license rather than naming a prohibited location. Each category is drawn in the text of Section 45-9-101(13).
Miss. Const. art. 3, Section 12 reads: "The right of every citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person, or property, or in aid of the civil power when thereto legally summoned, shall not be called in question, but the Legislature may regulate or forbid carrying concealed weapons." The charter protects bearing arms and expressly reserves legislative power over concealment, which is the shape Section 97-37-1 takes. See the open carry section of this guide.
Local government cannot narrow this. Section 45-9-51(1) bars any county or municipality from adopting an ordinance restricting the possession, carrying, transportation, sale, transfer or ownership of firearms or ammunition or their components, subject to the exceptions in Section 45-9-53.
A Section 45-9-101 license buys four things permitless carry does not: a document other states decide for themselves whether to recognize, the state-issued credential the federal school-zone exception is written around, coverage for concealment methods outside the containers (24) names, and eligibility for the enhanced endorsement. Under Section 97-37-7(2), a licensee who completes a qualifying instructional course, or who qualifies through military or honorably retired law enforcement training and files the required affidavit, may carry in courthouses except in courtrooms during a judicial proceeding, and in the Section 45-9-101(13) locations except any place of nuisance, any police, sheriff or highway patrol station, and any detention facility, prison or jail. See the permit basics section of this guide.
| Offense | Statute | Grading |
|---|---|---|
| Carrying a listed weapon concealed, first conviction | Section 97-37-1(1)(a) | Fine of $100 to $500, or up to 6 months in county jail, or both |
| Same, second conviction | Section 97-37-1(1)(b) | Fine of $100 to $500 and 30 days to 6 months in county jail |
| Same, third or subsequent conviction | Section 97-37-1(1)(c) | 1 to 5 years in the custody of the Department of Corrections |
| Same, by a person previously convicted of any felony | Section 97-37-1(1)(d) | 1 to 10 years in the custody of the Department of Corrections |
| Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon | Section 97-37-5(1) and (2) | Felony; fine up to $5,000, or 1 to 10 years in Department of Corrections custody, or both |
| Knowing handgun possession by a person under 18 | Section 97-37-14(1) | Act of delinquency, subject to the exceptions in 97-37-14(2) and (3) |
| A parent, guardian or custodian knowingly permitting a child under 18 to have, own or carry a weapon whose concealed carry Section 97-37-1 prohibits | Section 97-37-15 | Misdemeanor; fine up to $1,000 and up to 6 months in county jail |
| Selling, giving or lending a deadly weapon or pistol cartridge to a known minor under 18 or a known intoxicated person | Section 97-37-13 | Fine up to $1,000, or up to 1 year in county jail, or both |
| Brandishing or wielding in a threatening manner, not in necessary self-defense | Section 97-37-19 | Fine up to $500, or up to 3 months in county jail, or both |
| Possessing a firearm while in a federal prohibited class | 18 U.S.C. 922(g); 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(8) | Fine, imprisonment up to 15 years, or both |
| Knowing handgun possession by a juvenile under federal law | 18 U.S.C. 922(x)(2); 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(6)(A) | Fine, up to 1 year, or both; probation only, without incarceration absent a violation, for a qualifying first offense |
| Transferring a handgun or handgun ammunition to a known juvenile | 18 U.S.C. 922(x)(1); 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(6)(B) | Fine, up to 1 year, or both; up to 10 years where the transferor knew or had reasonable cause to know of intended use in a crime of violence |
| Possessing a firearm in a federal school zone without a qualifying state license | 18 U.S.C. 922(q)(2)(A); 18 U.S.C. 924(a)(4) | Fine, up to 5 years, or both; treated as a misdemeanor for purposes of any other law |
Section 97-37-9 lists defenses to a Section 97-37-1 charge, among them threat and apprehension of a serious attack, traveling or setting out on a journey while not a tramp, law enforcement or military duty, legitimate sports, church security program duty meeting Section 45-9-171, and School Safety Guardian duty meeting Section 45-9-181. The burden of proving the defenses falls on the accused, under a clause that sits at the end of paragraph (i).
This page covers one part of our Mississippi concealed carry guide.
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