Mississippi does not require a permit to carry a concealed handgun. Section 45-9-101(24) says a license "is not required" for a loaded or unloaded...
Reviewed by Will Luker, Founder of CCW Hub. USCCA Training Counselor, USCCA Certified Instructor, NRA Certified Instructor, Law Enforcement.
Mississippi does not require a permit to carry a concealed handgun. Section 45-9-101(24) says a license "is not required" for a loaded or unloaded pistol or revolver carried on the person in a sheath, belt holster or shoulder holster, or in a purse, handbag, satchel, other similar bag, briefcase or fully enclosed case, so long as the carrier 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 Section 45-9-101(13).
So the question is not whether you need the license. It is what the license does for you. The Department of Public Safety issues it under Section 45-9-101, with no separate sheriff approval step. Section 45-9-101(6)(b) has DPS forward your application to the sheriff of your county of residence and, if applicable, the police chief of your municipality, either of whom may submit a voluntary report at his discretion. The decision belongs to DPS.
Carry methods beyond the listed containers. Section 45-9-101(1)(a) says a person with a valid license "may carry a stun gun, concealed pistol or concealed revolver," with no limit on how. Subsection (24) is narrower, because it names the specific carry methods that need no license. Concealing a pistol outside those methods without a license is charged under Section 97-37-1(1), subject to that section's own exceptions in subsections (2) and (3) for a person over 18 inside his home, place of business, associated real property or any motor vehicle, and for a legitimate weapon-related sports activity or travel to and from one. The grading: a fine of $100 to $500, up to six months in county jail, or both, on a first conviction; that fine plus 30 days to six months on a second; one to five years in the custody of the Department of Corrections on a third or later conviction; and one to ten years for a person previously convicted of any felony.
Recognition outside Mississippi. The license is the credential other states act on, and what each does with it is that state's law. Section 45-9-101(19) is the mirror image, requiring Mississippi to recognize a valid, unrevoked and unexpired license issued in another state. See the reciprocity section of this guide.
The federal school zone. Under 18 USC 922(q)(2)(A) it is a federal crime to knowingly possess a firearm that has moved in or otherwise affects interstate or foreign commerce where you know or have reasonable cause to believe there is a school zone, defined in 18 USC 921(a)(26) as in or on school grounds or within 1,000 feet of them, punishable under 18 USC 924(a)(4) by a fine, imprisonment for not more than five years, or both. The exception at 18 USC 922(q)(2)(B)(ii) covers a person "licensed to do so by the State in which the school zone is located" where state law requires officials to verify first "that the individual is qualified under law to receive the license." Mississippi's process appears to meet both conditions: Section 45-9-101(5)(d) requires fingerprints and (6)(a) sends them for state and federal processing. Whether that satisfies the federal condition is a question Section 45-9-101 does not address, so confirm before carrying near a school. Permitless carry involves no such verification, and the exception turns on a license from the state where the school zone sits.
The gateway to the enhanced endorsement. Section 97-37-7(2) extends its added authority to "a person licensed under Section 45-9-101 to carry a concealed pistol." Without the license there is nothing to endorse.
Prohibited places are not on the list. Section 45-9-101(13) is a limit on the license itself. No license issued under that section authorizes carry into the locations it enumerates, apart from a law enforcement officer as defined in Section 45-6-3 holding the distinct DPS license described below, and subsection (24) withholds permitless carry in those same places. A standard license opens none of them. The enumerated locations are in the text of Section 45-9-101(13).
Buying a gun is a separate question. A permit meeting 18 USC 922(t)(3) and 27 CFR 478.102(d)(1) can stand in for a dealer's background check, but whether the Mississippi permit qualifies is an ATF determination Section 45-9-101 does not address. Ask the dealer.
Section 45-9-101(2)(b) sets two doors. The first is being 21 or older. The second is being at least 18 but not yet 21 and meeting both of two conditions: being a member or veteran of the United States Armed Forces, including National Guard or Reserve, and holding a valid Mississippi driver's license or DPS identification card, or a valid and current tribal identification card issued by a federally recognized Indian tribe containing a photograph of the holder. Both conditions, not either one.
Subsection (24) states no age of its own. Its floor arrives through its condition that the carrier not be "otherwise prohibited from possessing a pistol or revolver under state or federal law." Section 97-37-14(1) makes it an act of delinquency for a person who has not attained 18 to knowingly possess a handgun, subject to the exceptions in Section 97-37-14(2) and (3), among them safety courses, practice or target shooting at an established range authorized by the governing body of the jurisdiction where the range sits or any other area where the discharge of a firearm is not prohibited, organized competition, hunting or trapping under a valid Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks license or as otherwise allowed by law, unloaded travel to and from those activities, presence on real property under an adult's control with that adult's permission, and lawful defense against imminent danger at the person's home or place of domicile. Treat 18 as the working floor and read Section 97-37-14 before relying on any exception.
Section 45-9-101(2)(a) requires the applicant to be "a resident of the state," then waives that if the applicant:
DPS "shall issue a license if the applicant" satisfies every paragraph of Section 45-9-101(2). Several are time-limited rather than permanent, so read the qualifier on each.
One split worth knowing. Subsection (24) protects a cardholder who is a registered qualifying patient whose medical use of medical cannabis is lawful under the Mississippi Medical Cannabis Act and in compliance with the rules adopted under it from being disqualified from permitless carry "solely because the person is prohibited from possessing a firearm under 18 USCS Section 922(g)(3) due to such medical use of medical cannabis." That proviso sits in subsection (24) alone, paragraph (2)(l) still asks the license applicant whether federal law disqualifies him, and none of it changes federal law.
Section 45-9-101(3) lets DPS deny where the applicant has been found guilty of one or more crimes of violence constituting a misdemeanor, unless three years have elapsed since probation or any other conditions set by the court were fulfilled, or expunction occurred before the application was submitted. It allows revocation where a licensee has been found guilty of one or more crimes of violence within the preceding three years, and requires suspension of a license or of an application in process, on notification by a law enforcement agency or court and subsequent written verification, when the person is arrested or formally charged with a disqualifying crime, until final disposition. Subsection (11) requires revocation if a licensee becomes ineligible under subsection (2). Subsection (7) sets the appeal ladder and bars carrying while an appeal is pending. The steps and deadlines are in the application process section of this guide.
The enhanced endorsement is not a second permit. Section 97-37-7(2) provides that a person licensed under Section 45-9-101 who meets one of three conditions "shall also be authorized to carry weapons in courthouses except in courtrooms during a judicial proceeding, and any location listed in subsection (13) of Section 45-9-101, except any place of nuisance as defined in Section 95-3-1, any police, sheriff or highway patrol station or any detention facility, prison or jail." The same subsection defines courthouse and courtroom, and preserves a trial judge's right to restrict firearms in the courtroom.
The three qualifying conditions:
Three limits apply. Posted notice still governs, and the DPS application instructions say the enhanced option "does not, however, allow a person to violate a prohibition against carrying firearms posted by written notice." Subsection (13) itself includes "any place where the carrying of firearms is prohibited by federal law," and the endorsement is Mississippi authority, so check the federal rule for any such place before relying on it. And the training's origin matters: DPS answers in its firearm permit FAQ that out-of-state training cannot be used, and that only training from an instructor certified by DPS, or the military and law enforcement routes in Section 97-37-7(2), qualify. The statutory text reads more broadly than that answer, so confirm your instructor with the Firearm Permit Division before paying for a course.
DPS treats the endorsement as an add-on rather than a separate credential. Its enhanced endorsement page asks civilians for the certificate from the qualifying 8 hour instruction course, and its rule, 31 Miss. Code R. 1-15.1, describes a sticker affixed to the permit and says the recognition is valid indefinitely unless cause exists to revoke the permit it sits on. The underlying license still expires on its own schedule. See the application process section of this guide.
A license runs five years from the date of issuance and is "valid throughout the state" under Section 45-9-101(1)(a). The one variation is subsection (25): you may take the license as a notation on your driver's license or identification card instead of a separate card, and if you do, it carries that credential's expiration date and renews at the same time and place.
Renewal sits in Section 45-9-101(12). Except for a license taken as a driver's license notation under subsection (25), DPS must send notice and a renewal form no less than 90 days before expiration, and you file that form, a notarized affidavit that you remain qualified under subsections (2) and (3) where necessary, and a full set of fingerprints administered by DPS or the sheriff of your county of residence. Renewals alternate between mail and in person so that you appear in person every ten years for a new photograph. A licensee who files after the expiration date pays a late fee, and no license may be renewed six months or more after expiration; at that point it is permanently expired and you reapply as a new applicant. See the application process section of this guide.
Section 45-9-101(1)(b) requires you 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 a noncriminal violation with a penalty of $25, enforceable by summons. Subsection (9) sets the same $25 noncriminal penalty for failing to notify DPS in writing within 30 days of a permanent address change, or of the license being lost or destroyed.
Section 45-9-101(15) makes a knowingly false answer to any question on the application, or the knowing submission of any false document with it, a misdemeanor punished as provided in Section 99-19-31: a fine of not more than $1,000 and imprisonment in the county jail for not more than six months, or either.
Section 45-9-101(14) exempts law enforcement officers as defined in Section 45-6-3, chiefs of police, sheriffs, and persons licensed as professional bondsmen under Chapter 39, Title 83. Officers may still take a license, and paragraph (14)(a) has the Commissioner of Public Safety issue them one carrying an "active duty" distinction and an endorsement authorizing carry in the subsection (13) locations. Paragraph (14)(b) adds that the licensing requirements do not apply to a weapon that is not concealed as defined in Section 97-37-1, whose subsection (4) puts a pistol in a wholly or partially visible sheath, belt holster, shoulder holster, scabbard or case outside that definition.
Under Section 45-9-171, the Mississippi Church Protection Act, the governing body of a church or place of worship may establish a security program authorizing designated members to carry for the protection of the congregation. For the civil immunity that section provides, the program must at a minimum require that each member possesses a firearms license issued under Section 45-9-101 and has completed an instructional course in the safe handling and use of firearms as described in Section 97-37-7, or is a law enforcement officer as defined in Section 45-6-3, or is a qualified retired law enforcement officer as defined in 18 USC 926C(c).
Section 97-37-7(1) is a different permit again, for bank guards, company guards, watchmen, railroad special agents and non-sworn agents or employees of a patrol service, guard service or valuables transport company while actually engaged in those duties. No permit issues to anyone ever convicted of a felony under the laws of Mississippi, any other state or the United States, and renewal is required every four years under paragraph (1)(d)(ii).
Section 45-9-181, the Mississippi School Safety Guardian Act, requires this license rather than substituting for it. To be eligible for the immunity that section provides, the program must at a minimum require under paragraph (7)(a) that each designated member who is not a law enforcement officer as defined in Section 45-6-3 possess "a firearms license issued under Section 45-9-101 and the endorsement authorized in Section 97-37-7." Paragraph (8)(b) lists the same pair among its conditions for training eligibility.
Application mechanics are in the application process section of this guide, fees and waivers in the fees section, and carry without a license in the permitless carry section. Statute text here follows the 2025 edition of the Mississippi Code. Confirm current requirements with the DPS Firearm Permit Division before relying on any of it.
This page covers one part of our Mississippi concealed carry guide.
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