Contrary to the views of some of our legislators, the Second Amendment is not under attack in Mississippi.
Common sense, on the other hand, takes a regular beating when our Legislature is in session.
On Tuesday, House Bill 571 – which clarifies a 1-year old law to make sure firearms are allowed to be carried in the courthouses across the state – passed through the Judiciary Committee and will soon face a vote on the House floor.
It is a reckless, potentially dangerous, piece of legislation we strongly urge representatives to reject.
The dispute which led to this new bill emerged shortly after the first law allowing guns at courthouses went into effect in July.
In October, an order from Chancery Judge Dorothy Colom advised the Lowndes County Board of Supervisors that compliance with the law required armed officers be stationed at each courtroom entrance.
Harry Sanders, the president of the board of supervisors, noted that would mean the county would have to provide as many as 16 officers to cover the county’s courtrooms. Currently, the courthouse has two officers stationed at the entrance of the courthouse.
In November, the board voted to consider the entire courthouse as an extension of the courtrooms when courts were in session.
It was a common-sense solution to a problem, supported by all of the supervisors and judges.
Other counties have enacted similar policies over the objections of gun activists, who have powerfully allies in the Legislature. The most prominent of these are Rep. Andy Gipson (R, Braxton), a pastor by trade and tireless gun advocate, who is also chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Gary Chism (R, Columbus), who is also a member of the Judiciary Committee.
Both common sense and experience tell us this is a dangerous measure. There are few public places where emotions run higher than in our courthouses and there are many instances where those emotions have erupted into violence. In the vast majority of those cases, the violence does not occur in the courtroom itself, but on other courthouse grounds. Adding guns to this volatile mix is bad, bad policy.
Lest it be perceived as a Conservative vs. Liberal dispute, those who have spoken out against this new bill are conservatives as well and have never expressed “anti-gun” sentiment.
People such Gipson and Chism believe gun rights extend to all public places. Yet it should be noted that there has never been any legislation allowing guns in the state Capitol. That suggests that even the most ardent Second Amendment purist acknowledges there is one place where guns should not be permitted.
We argue there is at least one other place were those limits should be enacted — our courthouses.
If representatives apply common sense, rather than bow to blind dogma, they will reject this bill on the grounds that it creates a problem where none exists.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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