The Mississippi Supreme Court will soon hear a case that began in Lowndes County over whether judges can ban guns from courthouses.
The short answer is yes, they can. All that is necessary for the state’s high court to reach that conclusion is concur with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June, a 7-2 vote that upheld a lower court order that limited where guns are allowed.
The Supreme Court correctly held that there are some places where guns simply do not belong. One of those places is courthouses and the reason should be obvious.
Courthouses are often emotionally-charged venues. It is common for victims’ family and families of those charged are in close physical proximity, not only in the courtroom but throughout the courthouse grounds. It is common for witnesses and defendants to be near each other.
Even in non-criminal cases, the emotions can, and sometimes do, lead to violence — child custody cases, for example. To introduce a firearm into these potentially volatile environments is like lighting a fuse to dynamite. It is extremist, irresponsible and dangerous.
This is no assault on the 2nd Amendment, nor is it a matter of liberal vs. conservative attitudes on guns.
We note that the Supreme Court’s opinion in the case — Peruta v. San Diego County — supported the position presented by the late Antonin Scalia, a conservative icon in the landmark Heller case of 2008, which broadened gun rights. In Heller, Scalia was careful to note that those expanded rights are not unlimited rights: “Nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on… longstanding laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings…”
The Supreme Court’s decision in June affirmed that opinion.
Mississippi passed a law in 2011 that allows guns in courthouses for those with enhanced concealed carry permits in courthouses, although it does not prohibit judges from banning guns in their courtrooms.
The chancery judges for the district that includes Lowndes County responded by issuing a ruling that the ban on guns applies to all areas within 200 feet of the courtroom, a ruling that is being challenged by Rick Ward of Collins, a firearms training instructor and gun rights advocate, who is being supported by the NRA.
Ward’s position seeks to circumvent the purpose of the ban by challenging whether judges have the authority to enforce bans beyond the courtrooms themselves. That is a distraction. The bottom line is that whoever ultimately has that authority must recognize the inherent danger of allowing firearms in our courthouses.
We strongly believe that Ward’s position is a dangerous distortion of the 2nd Amendment and trust Mississippi Supreme Court reaches the same conclusion as the one the U.S. Supreme Court reached in June.
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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