MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE

2013 Regular Session

To: Judiciary A

By: Representatives Brown (20th), Aldridge, Arnold, Bain, Baker, Barton, Beckett, Boyd, Busby, Byrd, Carpenter, Chism, Crawford, Currie, DeBar, DeLano, Denny, Evans (43rd), Formby, Guice, Gunn, Haney, Hood, Howell, Huddleston (15th), Lamar, Martinson, Massengill, Mims, Monsour, Moore, Nelson, Steverson, Turner, Horne, Ladner

House Bill 778

AN ACT TO EXEMPT FROM FEDERAL REGULATION UNDER THE COMMERCE CLAUSE OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES A FIREARM, A FIREARM ACCESSORY OR AMMUNITION MANUFACTURED AND RETAINED IN MISSISSIPPI; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. The provisions of Sections 1 through 6 of this act may be cited as the "Mississippi Firearms Freedom Act."

SECTION 2. The Legislature declares that the authority for this act is the following:

(a) The Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to the federal government elsewhere in the Constitution and reserves to the state and people of Mississippi certain powers as they were understood at the time that Mississippi was admitted to statehood in 1817. The guaranty of those powers is a matter of contract between the state and people of Mississippi and the United States, as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Mississippi and the United States in 1817.

(b) The Ninth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guarantees to the people rights not granted in the Constitution and reserves to the people of Mississippi certain rights as they were understood at the time that Mississippi was admitted to statehood in 1817. The guaranty of those rights is a matter of contract between the state and people of Mississippi and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Mississippi and the United States in 1817.

(c) The regulation of intrastate commerce is vested in the states under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

(d) The Second Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reserves to the people the right to keep and bear arms as that right was understood at the time that Mississippi was admitted to statehood in 1817, and the guaranty of the right is a matter of contract between the state and people of Mississippi and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Mississippi and the United States in 1817.

(e) Article III, Section 12, of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 clearly secures to Mississippi citizens, and prohibits government interference with, the right of individual Mississippi citizens to keep and bear arms. This constitutional protection is unchanged from the Mississippi Constitution of 1817, which was approved by United States Congress and the people of Mississippi, and the right exists as it was understood at the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by Mississippi and the United states in 1817.

SECTION 3. As used in this act, the following terms shall have the meanings ascribed as follows:

(a) "Borders of Mississippi" mean the boundaries of Mississippi.

(b) "Firearm accessory" means an item that is used in conjunction with or mounted upon a firearm, but is not essential to the basic function of a firearm, including, but not limited to, a telescopic or laser sight, magazine, flash or sound suppressor, folding or aftermarket stock and grip, speedloader, ammunition carrier, and light for target illumination.

(d) "Manufactured" means that a firearm, a firearm accessory or ammunition has been created or remanufactured from basic materials for functional usefulness, including, but not limited to, forging, casting, machining or executing other processes for working materials.

SECTION 4. Except as otherwise provided in Section 5 of this act, a personal firearm, a firearm accessory or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in Mississippi and that remains within the borders of Mississippi is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration, under the authority of the United States Congress to regulate interstate commerce. It is declared by the Mississippi State Legislature that those items have not traveled in interstate commerce. This section applies to a firearm, a firearm accessory or ammunition that is manufactured in Mississippi from basic materials and that can be manufactured without the inclusion of any significant part imported from another state. Generic and insignificant parts that have other manufacturing or consumer product applications are not firearms, firearms accessories or ammunition, and their importation into Mississippi and incorporation into a firearm, a firearm accessory or ammunition manufactured in Mississippi does not subject the firearm, firearm accessory or ammunition to federal regulation. It is declared by the Legislature that basic materials, such as unmachined steel and unshaped wood, are not firearms, firearms accessories or ammunition and are not subject to congressional authority to regulate firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition under interstate commerce as if they were actually firearms, firearms accessories or ammunition. The authority of the United States Congress to regulate interstate commerce in basic materials does not include authority to regulate firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition made in Mississippi from those materials. Firearms accessories that are imported into Mississippi from another state and that are subject to federal regulation as being in interstate commerce do not subject a firearm to federal regulation under interstate commerce because they are attached to or used in conjunction with a firearm in Mississippi.

SECTION 5. The provisions of Section 4 of this act do not apply to:

(a) A firearm that cannot be carried and used by one (1) person;

(b) A firearm that has a bore diameter greater than one and one-half (1-1/2) inches and that uses smokeless powder, not black powder, as a propellant;

(c) Ammunition with a projectile that explodes using an explosion of chemical energy after the projectile leaves the firearm; or

(d) A firearm other than a shotgun that discharges two (2) or more projectiles with one (1) activation of the trigger or other firing device.

SECTION 6. A firearm manufactured or sold in Mississippi must have the words "Made in Mississippi" clearly stamped on a central metallic part, such as the receiver or frame.

SECTION 7. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2013.