Senate Bill 2607

AN ACT TO PROTECT THE SECOND AMENDMENT RIGHTS OF MISSISSIPPI CITIZENS; TO EXEMPT FIREARMS, FIREARM ACCESSORIES, OR AMMUNITION MANUFACTURED AND RETAINED IN MISSISSIPPI FROM FEDERAL REGULATION UNDER THE COMMERCE CLAUSE OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES; TO PROVIDE FOR RECIPROCITY WITH OTHER STATES UNDER CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. Short title. This act may be cited as the "Mississippi Firearms Freedom Act."

SECTION 2. Legislative findings. The legislature finds that:

(a) The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees to the states and their people all powers not granted to the federal government elsewhere in the Constitution and reserves to the people 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 United States Constitution guarantees to the people rights not granted in the Constitution and reserves to the people 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 United States Constitution.

(d) The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution 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 clearly secures to Mississippi citizens, and prohibits government interference with, the right of individual Mississippi citizens to keep and bear arms. This constitutional protection of the right to bear arms existed in the Mississippi Constitution of 1817, which was approved by 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. Definitions. As used in this act, the following definitions apply:

(a) "Firearms accessories" means items that are used in conjunction with or mounted upon a firearm but are not essential to the basic function of a firearm, including, but not limited to, telescopic or laser sights, magazines, flash or sound suppressors, folding or aftermarket stocks and grips, speed loaders, ammunition carriers, and lights for target illumination.

(b) "Generic and insignificant parts" includes, but is not limited to, springs, screws, nuts, and pins.

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

SECTION 4. Prohibitions. (1) 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. 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. 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. The authority of Congress to regulate interstate commerce does not include authority to regulate firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition made in Mississippi from those materials.

(2) A personal firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured commercially or privately in Mississippi and that remains within the borders of Mississippi or a reciprocating state is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration, under the authority of Congress to regulate interstate commerce. It is declared by the Legislature that those items have not traveled in interstate commerce.

(3) This section applies to a firearm, a firearm accessory, or ammunition that is manufactured in Mississippi or a reciprocating state from basic materials and that can be manufactured without the inclusion of any significant parts imported from a nonreciprocating state.

(4) The Department of Public Safety is authorized to enter into a reciprocal agreement with any other state having substantially the same law in order for Mississippi citizens to be privileged to possess a firearm, firearm accessory or ammunition when traveling to a reciprocal state and for citizens of that state to be privileged to possess a firearm, firearms accessory, or ammunition when traveling to this state.

SECTION 5. Exceptions. Section 4 of this act does 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) Other than shotguns, a firearm that discharges two (2) or more projectiles with one (1) activation of the trigger or other firing device.

SECTION 6. Marketing of firearms. In order to qualify under this act, 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, and applies to firearms, firearms accessories, and ammunition that are manufactured and retained in Mississippi on or after July 1, 2013.