Vicksburg bans firearms on city property with city ordinance

Here is the AP story:


Vicksburg board votes to ban guns on city property
Posted: Jun 27, 2013 3:02 AM CST Updated: Jun 27, 2013 3:02 AM CST

VICKSBURG, Miss. (AP) - Vicksburg is banning firearms city property except for law enforcement officers.

The Vicksburg Board of Mayor and Aldermen adopted the ban this week. The Vicksburg Post reports (http://bit.ly/10VMelv) that the board also ordered signs to be put up on city buildings and at parks.

The ban is to take effect Monday.

No penalty is attached to the resolution.

City Attorney Lee Thames says he is drafting a gun ban ordinance for the new city board to look at next week.

Under state law, an ordinance does not become law until 30 days after it is passed so the public may comment.

A new state law effective Monday allows people without permits to carry firearms as long as they are within sight.

Information from: The Vicksburg Post, http://www.vicksburgpost.com


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Seems to me this is in direct violation of Mississippi's preemption statute, Mississippi Code 45-9-51. Certain ordinances prohibited. Which states:

Subject to the provisions of Section 45-9-53, no county or municipality may adopt any ordinance that restricts or requires the possession, transportation, sale, transfer or ownership of firearms or ammunition or their components.

45-9-53 allows restrictions in some venues such as public parks, but not ALL city property. I don't see how they think they can get away with this in the face of the law.

regardless of what anyone thinks ... these bans are unconstitutional ...

Seems MS will need its preemption statute to be similar to Florida's.

Daylen said:

Seems MS will need its preemption statute to be similar to Florida's.

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What do you mean? I'm not familiar with Florida's. Isn't Mississippi's clear enough?

MSRebel54 said:

What do you mean? I'm not familiar with Florida's. Isn't Mississippi's clear enough?

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Our's contain provisions for civil penalties and termination of any employee, or removal from office for an elected official, that attempts to create/enforce any ordinance/regulation in violation of State Legislative preemption. Also prohibits the use of public funds to defend said defendant.

Nightmare said:

(2) Except as provided in subs. (3) and (4), no political subdivision may enact an ordinance or adopt a resolution that regulates the sale, purchase, purchase delay, transfer, ownership, use, keeping, possession, bearing, transportation, licensing, permitting, registration or taxation of any firearm or part of a firearm, including ammunition and reloader components, unless the ordinance or resolution is the same as or similar to, and no more stringent than, a state statute.

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Where did the above quote come from? I mean which states statute is that? Is that Florida's? Michigan was mentioned and Florida, I just don't want to get confused here.

MSRebel54 said:

Where did the above quote come from? I mean which states statute is that? Is that Florida's? Michigan was mentioned and Florida, I just don't want to get confused here.

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Not Florida. Here the first part of ours:

790.33 Field of regulation of firearms and ammunition preempted.—
PREEMPTION.—Except as expressly provided by the State Constitution or general law, the Legislature hereby declares that it is occupying the whole field of regulation of firearms and ammunition, including the purchase, sale, transfer, taxation, manufacture, ownership, possession, storage, and transportation thereof, to the exclusion of all existing and future county, city, town, or municipal ordinances or any administrative regulations or rules adopted by local or state government relating thereto. Any such existing ordinances, rules, or regulations are hereby declared null and void.
. . .
[A little further down comes the good part]
. . .

A knowing and willful violation of any provision of this section by a person acting in an official capacity for any entity enacting or causing to be enforced a local ordinance or administrative rule or regulation prohibited under paragraph (a) or otherwise under color of law shall be cause for termination of employment or contract or removal from office by the Governor.

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I sent the Vicksburg mayor an email asking how he intended to enact this ordinance and not be in violation of Mississippi code 45-9-51. I suppose he will ignore it, like nearly all politicians do when they sense you're not 100% on board with them. But on the off chance he replies, I'll let ya'll know.

MSRebel54 said:

What do you mean? I'm not familiar with Florida's. Isn't Mississippi's clear enough?

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Florida has penalties attached to violations of preemption, personal penalties.

I sent the Vicksburg mayor an email asking how he intended to enact this ordinance and not be in violation of Mississippi code 45-9-51. I suppose he will ignore it, like nearly all politicians do when they sense you're not 100% on board with them. But on the off chance he replies, I'll let ya'll know. - 4-29-2013

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As I suspected, 10 days without a reply from the honorable mayor or any of his office minions. I'm beginning to think he's not going to reply to me.

Daylen said:

Seems MS will need its preemption statute to be similar to Florida's.

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RCW 9.41.290
State preemption.

The state of Washington hereby fully occupies and preempts the entire field of firearms regulation within the boundaries of the state, including the registration, licensing, possession, purchase, sale, acquisition, transfer, discharge, and transportation of firearms, or any other element relating to firearms or parts thereof, including ammunition and reloader components. Cities, towns, and counties or other municipalities may enact only those laws and ordinances relating to firearms that are specifically authorized by state law, as in RCW 9.41.300, and are consistent with this chapter. Such local ordinances shall have the same penalty as provided for by state law. Local laws and ordinances that are inconsistent with, more restrictive than, or exceed the requirements of state law shall not be enacted and are preempted and repealed, regardless of the nature of the code, charter, or home rule status of such city, town, county, or municipality.

This worked for us in Wa State. A mayor in seattle attempted to bypass it and got slapped down in court. Try it, it works great.

Good luck to all who try to get this fixed.

MSG Laigaie said:

RCW 9.41.290
State preemption.

The state of Washington hereby fully occupies and preempts the entire field of firearms regulation within the boundaries of the state, including the registration, licensing, possession, purchase, sale, acquisition, transfer, discharge, and transportation of firearms, or any other element relating to firearms or parts thereof, including ammunition and reloader components. Cities, towns, and counties or other municipalities may enact only those laws and ordinances relating to firearms that are specifically authorized by state law, as in RCW 9.41.300, and are consistent with this chapter. Such local ordinances shall have the same penalty as provided for by state law. Local laws and ordinances that are inconsistent with, more restrictive than, or exceed the requirements of state law shall not be enacted and are preempted and repealed, regardless of the nature of the code, charter, or home rule status of such city, town, county, or municipality.

This worked for us in Wa State. A mayor in seattle attempted to bypass it and got slapped down in court. Try it, it works great.

Good luck to all who try to get this fixed.

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Insufficient. AL and MS have had something like that for a while, it didn't work. We need something with teeth such as a criminal penalty or civil liability.

MSRebel54 said:

As I suspected, 10 days without a reply from the honorable mayor or any of his office minions. I'm beginning to think he's not going to reply to me.

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Go knock on his door ...

davidmcbeth said:

Go knock on his door ...

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I would, but he's several hundred miles away from me, and I suppose he would pay me about as much attention in person as he did the email.

Mississippi code

Rebel,

I went thru this here in Columbus. If Vicksburg wants a complete ban on all city property, they're overreaching just like Columbus is/was.

MS §45-9-53 grants specific exceptions to the pre-emption in §45-9-51. Municipalities are allowed "(f) To regulate the carrying of a firearm at: (i) a public park or at a public meeting of a county, municipality or other governmental body; (ii) a political rally, parade or official political meeting; or (iii) a nonfirearm-related school, college or professional athletic event;" Those four places are the only places they can legally ban carry.

Eeyore said:

Rebel,

I went thru this here in Columbus. If Vicksburg wants a complete ban on all city property, they're overreaching just like Columbus is/was.

MS §45-9-53 grants specific exceptions to the pre-emption in §45-9-51. Municipalities are allowed "(f) To regulate the carrying of a firearm at: (i) a public park or at a public meeting of a county, municipality or other governmental body; (ii) a political rally, parade or official political meeting; or (iii) a nonfirearm-related school, college or professional athletic event;" Those four places are the only places they can legally ban carry.

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Yes exactly. This was the basis for my original question to the non-responsive mayor of Vicksburg. That is, how do you intend to implement this ordinance without being in direct violation of state law?

You say,"I went through this in Columbus". What do you mean? Did you call the city government out on it? If so, what happened?

MSRebel54 said:

You say,"I went through this in Columbus". What do you mean? Did you call the city government out on it? If so, what happened?

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http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/showthread.php?115551-Another-Pre-emption-holdout

Eeyore said:

http://forum.opencarry.org/forums/showthread.php?115551-Another-Pre-emption-holdout

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Thanks Eeyore, but what I was really wanting to know was did YOU point the preemption statute out to them, or did they stumble across it on their own. You said you checked into it, but were you the one that brought it to their attention to start with? And did (or have) they changed their ordinance to comply. I'm interested to know if a "non-lawyer" type citizen can ever get a governmental entity to realize they're wrong, and change it without having to force them by taking it up with the courts.

I first became aware of it by reading http://packet-media.com/2013/06/29/...itchensarledge-respond-to-community-concerns/ The full ordinance is quoted at the bottom. I had no idea there was an ordinance until then. The city attorney was quoted “The city has had a gun ordinance in place for years,” Turnage said. “But it probably needs to be revised after a recent AG’s opinion on HB-2.” So apparently he was already looking at it.

I sent him an e-mail pointing out that 45-9-51 and 45-9-53(f) already made much of the ordinance moot anyway, and that HB2 had nothing to do with it. He agreed, but I don't know if any action has been taken. As crooked as our mayor and city council are, I doubt they'd amend the ordinance unless it somehow benefited them or their associates. Ultimately, it shouldn't matter--the parts of the ordinance that violate the state law are unenforceable, though it may mean an otherwise-unnecessary trip to court for some poor LAC (hopefully not me).

Eeyore, that clears everything up. I recently read where Meridian was enacting a city ordinance "banning guns on city property", so I think this is going to be an on going problem. I guess the city attorneys are just not aware of preemption, or they are, and hope they can get away with it anyway, or that no one will challenge them. Anyway, I think once HB2 goes into effect, (if it does) and a year later Mississippi is not blown off the map like they would have you believe, no one will think twice about it.