Open Carry ‘Suspended’ in Jackson, Mississippi

By: Ashleigh Meyer

Jackson, Mississippi Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, in an unabashed, unsanctioned power grab, announced on Friday that his citizens’ rights to open carry have been “suspended” for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis.

Lumumba claims his right to take such action comes from Mississippi Statute 45-17-7, which allows chief administrative officers to implement measures that would protect the public during a crisis. One of the measures granted by the statute prohibits the transfer of firearms.

Another measure states that a mayor may “issue such other orders as are necessary for the protection of life and property.” It appears that Mayor Lumumba is using this dangerously vague wording to his advantage. Preemption laws in the state, however, prohibit any mayor from simply overruling state law as it pertains to gun ownership and most other things.

Lumumba, an endorser of Bernie Sanders and a favorite of the political left, won the city’s general election with 93 percent of the vote. He has been called a radical by some, and not without good cause, as he promised to radicalize the city of Jackson shortly after his election. Lumumba participated in a video-based Jackson City town hall meeting on Sunday, during which he provided a somewhat incoherent justification for the suspension of Second Amendment rights.

“The aim of the city is not to take away the lawfully possessed weapons that the majority of our residents have,” claimed Lumumba. “The issue that we have in the city of Jackson is that of illegal weapons. How this relates to the open carry law is that when a gun is in plain view, and officers see that gun, they often have information that leads them to believe that that gun may be illegal. Most of the murders that have happened in the city of Jackson have been achieved by weapons that are not legally registered, or they are in possession of someone who is not the registered owner of that firearm.”

Okay… but the executive order prohibits legal firearms owners from exercising their rights. How this order solves his problem (and what exactly his problem is) remains unclear, along with this information that Jackson police seem to mysteriously have upon spotting a visible firearm. At any rate, Lumumba attempted to reassure the public that he is a supporter of the Second Amendment, and the suspension is temporary.

In the interim, though, Lumumba is urging Mississippi legislators to overturn the state’s open carry laws. He also made the troubling statement during a Friday video address that, “All rights must be balanced by reasonable regulations.”
It is yet to be seen what Mayor Lumumba deems “reasonable.”

This guy like his daddy is a joke.

People like him and the honorable Ken Stokes have told other law enforcement to not pursue criminals in Jackson if they're in a high speed chase end it at the city limits. And this is why Jackson is crumbling.

Another perfect example of why to never vote blue

Jackson has been on a Detroit south path for some time now.

But illegal concealed carry is still OK. Just arrest the law abiding citizens.

The number of people responding to this thread is about equal to the amount of people who normally open carry. Yep, that's a huge inconvenience.

On a side note, this is probably the best time in history to be a bank robber. Some places have made it mandatory to wear your....mask. :)

(04-29-2020 08:41 AM)cb4029 Wrote:  The number of people responding to this thread is about equal to the amount of people who normally open carry. Yep, that's a huge inconvenience.

On a side note, this is probably the best time in history to be a bank robber. Some places have made it mandatory to wear your....mask. :)

It's not about inconvenience. It's about using an emergency to trample on rights and take away something from law abiding citizens that will make absolutely no difference to anything.

(04-29-2020 08:14 AM)SoMs Eagle Wrote:  Jackson has been on a Detroit south path for some time now.

^^^

there's a reason the $$$ district has moved to Madison (that's roughly 5 miles due north for those that don't know the geography)....

JXN 'proper' is a shitehole...pretty much like b-ham...

Prog filth dictators. I been sayin it.

(04-29-2020 08:41 AM)cb4029 Wrote:  The number of people responding to this thread is about equal to the amount of people who normally open carry. Yep, that's a huge inconvenience.

On a side note, this is probably the best time in history to be a bank robber. Some places have made it mandatory to wear your....mask. :)

You put your mask on and stfu. Bham the Tragic City.

(04-29-2020 08:41 AM)cb4029 Wrote:  The number of people responding to this thread is about equal to the amount of people who normally open carry. Yep, that's a huge inconvenience.

Forest:Trees CB

Part of the reason that you note that it's not a huge inconvenience is also a big part of the clear reason why it's not reasonable.

If you're not impacting anyone, you're also not protecting anyone.

(04-29-2020 08:41 AM)cb4029 Wrote:  The number of people responding to this thread is about equal to the amount of people who normally open carry. Yep, that's a huge inconvenience.

On a side note, this is probably the best time in history to be a bank robber. Some places have made it mandatory to wear your....mask. :)

Completely irrelevant. An inconvenience is unacceptable when it comes to a constitutional right. Especially this one, and especially when government is using a "crisis" like this one and misapplying a statute. Granted, I have not read the MS statute, but as it's stated in the article, I doubt "transfer" is defined as "carrying" a firearm. It's most likely defined as a change in ownership.

(04-29-2020 09:25 AM)shere khan Wrote:  Prog filth dictators. I been sayin it.

ya already know how it plays out when ya gotta shoot a predator....

the dippos crave chaos...when one has zer0 agenda, it's a tap-in how politica?! #reacts

fk 'em all...

(04-29-2020 11:34 AM)200yrs2late Wrote:  

(04-29-2020 08:41 AM)cb4029 Wrote:  The number of people responding to this thread is about equal to the amount of people who normally open carry. Yep, that's a huge inconvenience.

On a side note, this is probably the best time in history to be a bank robber. Some places have made it mandatory to wear your....mask. :)

Completely irrelevant. An inconvenience is unacceptable when it comes to a constitutional right. Especially this one, and especially when government is using a "crisis" like this one and misapplying a statute. Granted, I have not read the MS statute, but as it's stated in the article, I doubt "transfer" is defined as "carrying" a firearm. It's most likely defined as a change in ownership.

State of MS says you can open carry no problem. It's legal. He's restricting it, which is fine, as long as you have a CCW no problem. Open carry restricts the enterprise of several of his voters.

https://bearingarms.com/came/2020/04/27/...carry-ban/

Quote:Mississippi Attorney General Lynn Fitch is among those weighing in on the mayor of Jackson’s unilateral usurping of the Second Amendment rights of Jackson residents by banning the open carrying of firearms during the state’s emergency declaration. In a letter to Mayor Chokwe Lumumba, the AG says there’s nothing in state law that would allow a mayor to suspend the constitutional rights their constituents, even in an emergency.

“The Governor’s Proclamation does not authorize you to suspend the right to open carry, or any other statute or constitutional provision governing firearm possession. While the Order seeks to suspend the “open carry of firearms,” it does not identify any specific statute or statutes that it seeks to suspend. The right to keep and bear arms is a natural right, enshrined in the Constitutions of the United States and the State of Mississippi. In an effort to provide safeguards to the diminution of this right, the Mississippi Legislature has imposed strict limitations on a municipality’s authority to regulate “ the possession, carrying, transportation, sale, transfer or ownership of firearms or ammunition or their components. ” Further, in addition to the Attorney General’s broad authority to see that Mississippi’s laws are properly enforced, the Legislature has charged my office with ensuring local governing authorities do not exceed their statutory power to restrict certain firearm possession.”

Second Amendment advocates are also crying foul and raising the possibility of a lawsuit over Lumumba’s actions. The mayor says he’s empowered to take that step under Mississippi’s emergency powers statute, but several attorneys and firearms instructors in the state concur with the Attorney General that Lumumba is exercising powers that he doesn’t possess.

“The mayor may have the best of intentions, but the Mississippi Supreme Court has made it clear you can’t deprive a person of a constitutional right,” said attorney Thomas Payne, who has successfully argued gun rights cases before the state high court.

Candice Cole, the city’s communication director, said the mayor’s order has been vetted by the city attorney, Tim Howard. It’s legally sufficient — given state law, she said — but is expected to be reviewed, she added. She said the civil emergency declaration allows the mayor to institute the open carry ban.

But Payne disagrees, saying the mayor’s order is illegal. Payne said Lumumba’s order doesn’t comply with the letter of the law and it violates the 2nd Amendment as well as the Mississippi Constitution.

“It’s a no-brainer, it’s unconstitutional and illegal,” Payne said.

(04-29-2020 08:41 AM)cb4029 Wrote:  The number of people responding to this thread is about equal to the amount of people who normally open carry. Yep, that's a huge inconvenience.

On a side note, this is probably the best time in history to be a bank robber. Some places have made it mandatory to wear your....mask. :)

It's not about the inconvenience of not being allowed to practice what's legally allowed in Mississippi you buffoon. FTR, I carry every single day but I'm not a proponent of open carry for tactical reasons an idiot like you likely wouldn't understand. This is about infringing on a constitutional right that "shall not be infringed" and flies in the face of a states legislation. It's an obscene overreach by an overly ambitious would be tin pot dictatorial local politician.

And wtf kind of name is Chokwe Lumumba anyway?

(04-29-2020 11:51 AM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(04-29-2020 09:25 AM)shere khan Wrote:  Prog filth dictators. I been sayin it.

ya already know how it plays out when ya gotta shoot a predator....

the dippos crave chaos...when one has zer0 agenda, it's a tap-in how politica?! #reacts

fk 'em all...

Hell they should issue you a firearm when you enter Jackson or Birmingham.

(04-29-2020 02:56 PM)shere khan Wrote:  

(04-29-2020 11:51 AM)stinkfist Wrote:  

(04-29-2020 09:25 AM)shere khan Wrote:  Prog filth dictators. I been sayin it.

ya already know how it plays out when ya gotta shoot a predator....

the dippos crave chaos...when one has zer0 agenda, it's a tap-in how politica?! #reacts

fk 'em all...

Hell they should issue you a firearm when you enter Jackson or Birmingham.

ya dadgum spiffy...

Jackson is my home town where I grew up. Left there to go to college in the early 70's and haven't lived there since. That said, my parents stayed there until the 90's when I bought the house from them I grew up in and moved them to Florida where I had bought them a new house.

Jackson is a disaster. It is a sh#t hole. Nothing from that city surprises me, including this far left wing mayor they have taking this action. I actually feel sorry for those that because of economics can't get out of that hell hole and have to live there in fear from overwhelming crime. Also the water system is a disaster and the streets are torn up all over the city. Loved growing up there in the 60's, but I wouldn't live inside that city for any amount of money.