House Bill 27

AN ACT TO PROVIDE FOR A POINT-OF-SALE FEE ON RETAIL SALES OF FIREARMS; TO PROVIDE THAT THE PROCEEDS OF THE FEE SHALL BE DEPOSITED INTO A SPECIAL FUND CREATED IN THE STATE TREASURY; TO PROVIDE THAT THE SPECIAL FUND SHALL BE ADMINISTERED BY THE ATTORNEY GENERAL AND USED TO PROVIDE ASSISTANCE TO PERSONS WHO ARE VICTIMS OF MASS SHOOTINGS; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) There is imposed a point-of-sale fee of Twenty-five Dollars ($25.00) on every retail sale of a firearm. The seller of a firearm shall collect the fee from the purchaser at the time of sale and remit the fee to the Department of Revenue, which shall deposit the proceeds of the fee into the special fund created in Section 2 of this act.

(2) All administrative provisions of the Mississippi Sales Tax Law, including those which fix damages, penalties and interest for nonpayment of taxes and for noncompliance with the provisions of such law, and all other requirements and duties imposed upon taxpayers, shall apply to all persons liable for the fee imposed by this section, and the Commissioner of Revenue shall exercise all the power and authority and perform all the duties with respect to this section as are provided in the Sales Tax Law except where there is a conflict, then the provisions of this section shall prevail.

SECTION 2. (1) There is created a special fund in the State Treasury. The special fund shall consist of funds required to be deposited into the special fund under Section 1 of this act, funds appropriated or otherwise made available by the Legislature in any manner, and funds from any other source designated for deposit into the special fund. Unexpended amounts remaining in the special fund at the end of a fiscal year shall not lapse into the State General Fund, and any investment earnings or interest earned on amounts in the special fund shall be deposited to the credit of the special fund.

(2) Monies in the special fund shall be administered by the Attorney General, and shall be used, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to provide assistance to persons who are victims of a mass shooting. For the purposes of this subsection (2), the term "mass shooting" means an incident in which three (3) or more persons are wounded by gunfire and which is not a domestic relations related incident.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2019.