Mississippi Gun Laws And Concealed Carry Guide

Yes, you can carry a handgun in Mississippi without a permit. Since 2016, state law has said no license is needed to carry a pistol or revolver in a holster, purse, bag, briefcase, or fully enclosed case, as long as you can legally have a gun. Mississippi still issues a Firearm Permit, plus an optional Enhanced Carry endorsement that opens up more places to carry.

This guide covers Mississippi gun laws in plain words: who can carry, how to get a Mississippi gun permit, what the enhanced endorsement does, reciprocity, open carry, guns in your car, where you can’t carry, and the Mississippi castle doctrine. Each section links to the statute or Department of Public Safety (DPS) page behind it.

Do You Need A Permit To Carry In Mississippi?

No. Miss. Code § 45-9-101(24) says a license is not required to carry a loaded or unloaded pistol or revolver in a sheath, belt holster, shoulder holster, purse, handbag, satchel, briefcase, or fully enclosed case. Three conditions apply:

• You are not engaged in criminal activity, other than a misdemeanor traffic offense.
• You are not otherwise barred from having a handgun under state or federal law.
• You are not in one of the off-limits places listed in § 45-9-101(13) (see below).

What is the minimum age? Section 45-9-101(24) does not state one. Mississippi law generally makes it unlawful for anyone under 18 to have a handgun, with exceptions for hunting, training, and supervised use (§ 97-37-14). Another statute lets anyone over 18 carry concealed in their home, business, or vehicle (§ 97-37-1(2)). Most sources treat 18 as the practical minimum for permitless carry, but we could not find an age written into § 45-9-101(24). If you are 18 to 20, confirm with DPS or a lawyer before you carry in public.

The legal text comes from House Bill 786 (2016), which created the holster and bag rule, and the current § 45-9-101 as reprinted in a 2025 bill on the Legislature’s site.

Why Get A Mississippi Firearm Permit Anyway?

• Carry in other states. Permitless carry only works inside Mississippi. Many states honor a Mississippi permit (see the reciprocity section below).
• Get the Enhanced Carry endorsement. The endorsement is only available to permit holders. It lets you carry in many places the standard rules put off-limits.
• Skip the background check wait. ATF lists both the Mississippi Standard Firearms Permit and the Enhanced Firearms Permit as qualifying alternatives to a NICS check when you buy from a dealer. ATF says permits issued more than five years before the sale don’t count.
• Join a church security team. Members of a church security program must hold a Mississippi permit and complete a firearms course to get the law’s protections (§ 45-9-171).

How To Get A Mississippi Firearm Permit

The Mississippi Department of Public Safety issues the permit. The steps below come from the DPS initial application instructions.

1. Confirm you qualify. You must be 21 or older, or 18 to 20 if you are a current or former member of the U.S. Armed Forces, National Guard, or Reserve (§ 45-9-101(2)(b)). You must be a Mississippi resident, with limited exceptions (see the non-resident section).
2. Fill out the forms. Complete the application (IFP-APP-01) and the affidavit and release (IFP-AFF-01). Sign the affidavit only in front of a notary.
3. Book an appointment. Schedule online through the DPS scheduler at telegov.egov.com/dps. Walk-ins are accepted, but appointments come first.
4. Apply in person. Go to DPS headquarters in Jackson or a Highway Patrol district office in Pearl, Greenwood, Batesville, New Albany, Starkville, Meridian, Hattiesburg, Biloxi, or Brookhaven. Bring a photo ID and a second form of ID. DPS takes your photo and fingerprints.
5. Wait for the mail. DPS mails the permit card if you qualify. The law gives DPS up to 45 days to act.

Cost: $112 at application, which is an $80 license fee plus a $32 FBI background check fee. Disabled veterans, active-duty military and their spouses, and active and honorably retired law enforcement officers are exempt from the $80 fee but still pay the $32.

Term: The permit is valid for five years (§ 45-9-101(1)(a)).

Do You Need A Class For A Mississippi Carry Permit?

Standard permit: no. Mississippi does not require any training for the standard Firearm Permit.

Enhanced Carry endorsement: yes. To add the endorsement, civilians must complete an 8-hour course taught by an instructor certified by DPS and attach a signed certificate of completion, according to the DPS application instructions. The DPS FAQ says training from another state does not qualify. Only training from a DPS-certified instructor, or qualifying military or law enforcement training under § 97-37-7(2)(b), counts. Current and former military and retired law enforcement can use a notarized affidavit in place of the course.

DPS does not say whether the 8-hour course may be taken online. It must come from a DPS-certified instructor, so ask the instructor before you sign up. A general online safety course is not a DPS-certified enhanced carry course and does not earn the endorsement.

Since the standard permit needs no class, a short online safety course is a good primer before you apply or before you sign up for the enhanced class. It covers safe handling, storage, and the basics of the law.

Can Non-Residents Get A Mississippi Carry Permit?

Generally no. You must be a Mississippi resident. Section 45-9-101(2)(a) waives residency for a few groups:

• People who hold a valid permit from another state.
• Active or reserve military members stationed in Mississippi, and their spouses.
• Retired law enforcement officers establishing residency in Mississippi.

Most visitors don’t need a Mississippi permit. Mississippi honors every valid out-of-state carry permit (§ 45-9-101(19)), and visitors who can legally have a gun can carry under the holster and bag rule.

Which States Honor The Mississippi Firearm Permit?

Mississippi does not publish a full list of states that honor its permit on a page we could open. About 35 states honor a Mississippi permit in some form, according to the USCCA reciprocity map. Official lists from neighboring states confirm two of them: the Texas DPS reciprocity chart lists Mississippi as reciprocal, and so does Oklahoma’s OSBI list.

The enhanced endorsement matters here. According to USCCA, Minnesota and Nevada honor only the Mississippi enhanced permit. Several states honor out-of-state permits only for holders who are 21 or older, or only for residents of the issuing state. States such as California, Illinois, New York, New Jersey, and Massachusetts are not on these lists.

Which permits does Mississippi honor? All of them. Under § 45-9-101(19), Mississippi recognizes any valid, unrevoked, unexpired carry license from another state. DPS can also sign written reciprocity agreements with states that require them.

Going next door? Read our Tennessee, Alabama, Louisiana, and Arkansas guides, or see gun laws by state.

Can You Open Carry In Mississippi?

Yes. No permit is needed to carry a handgun in a belt or shoulder holster (§ 45-9-101(24)). Mississippi’s concealed weapon statute also says a gun in a holster that is wholly or partly visible does not count as concealed (§ 97-37-1(4)).

Open carry follows the same off-limits list below. Property owners can also ban guns with a posted sign. If you are asked to leave private property and refuse, you risk a trespass charge.

Can You Keep A Gun In Your Car In Mississippi?

Yes. Anyone over 18 may carry a concealed firearm in a motor vehicle (§ 97-37-1(2)).

Employer parking lots. Under § 45-9-55, public and private employers may not stop people from keeping a firearm in a locked vehicle in a parking lot or garage. There are two exceptions. A private employer can ban guns in employee lots that are closed off by a gate, security station, or similar barrier. The law also doesn’t cover company vehicles used for work. Employers are shielded from civil liability for incidents involving guns stored under this law.

School parking lots. Bringing a firearm onto school property is a felony under § 97-37-17. But a person who is not a student at that school may keep a firearm inside a vehicle on school property, as long as they don’t brandish or display it in a careless, angry, or threatening way (§ 97-37-17(6)).

Where You Can’t Carry A Gun In Mississippi

Under § 45-9-101(13), the standard permit does not let you carry in these places. Permitless carry under § 45-9-101(24) does not apply in them either.

• Any place of nuisance as defined in § 95-3-1.
• Police, sheriff, and Highway Patrol stations.
• Detention facilities, prisons, and jails.
• Courthouses and courtrooms. A judge may allow carry in a courtroom.
• Polling places.
• Meetings of a city, county, or other governing body, and meetings of the Legislature or its committees.
• School, college, and professional athletic events not related to firearms.
• Elementary and secondary school facilities, and college or university facilities unless for a firearms-related activity.
• Bars, or any part of a business mainly devoted to serving alcohol on site.
• The passenger terminal of an airport. Firearms encased to be checked as baggage are allowed.
• Churches and other places of worship, except as allowed by § 45-9-171.
• Any place where federal law bans carry.
• Parades or demonstrations that require a permit, for participants.
• Private property posted with a sign that says “carrying of a pistol or revolver is prohibited,” readable from at least 10 feet away.

Duty to inform: Mississippi does not require you to tell an officer you are armed. If you carry under a permit, you must carry the permit and a valid ID and show both if an officer asks. Failing to do so is a $25 non-criminal violation (§ 45-9-101(1)(b)).

Mississippi Enhanced Carry: What It Adds

The Enhanced Carry endorsement comes from § 97-37-7(2). Once you have it, you may carry in courthouses (but not in a courtroom during a court proceeding) and in the places listed in § 45-9-101(13), with three exceptions:

• Places of nuisance.
• Police, sheriff, and Highway Patrol stations.
• Detention facilities, prisons, and jails.

Limits still apply. A trial judge can still restrict guns in the courtroom. DPS says the endorsement does not override written posted prohibitions. Federal bans, such as in the secured area of an airport, still apply. School grounds carry their own felony statute (§ 97-37-17), so get legal advice before carrying at a school, even with the endorsement.

The endorsement is added to a Mississippi permit. Visitors carrying on an out-of-state permit should generally follow the standard rules.

Renewing A Mississippi Firearm Permit

DPS mails a renewal notice at least 90 days before your permit expires. The renewal fee is $40, or $20 for residents 65 and older, plus any processing costs (§ 45-9-101). Renewing after expiration adds a $15 late fee. If you wait more than six months past expiration, the permit is permanently expired and you must apply as a new applicant. DPS says fingerprints are not required for renewals.

Mississippi Castle Doctrine And Stand Your Ground Law

Mississippi’s self-defense law is § 97-3-15. The current text appears in a 2025 bill on the Legislature’s site, which reprints the section.

• Castle doctrine. You are presumed to have reasonably feared death, great bodily harm, or a felony if you used defensive force against someone unlawfully and forcibly entering your home, occupied vehicle, business, place of work, or its immediate premises. It also applies if they were trying to remove someone from one of those places (§ 97-3-15(3)). It does not apply if the other person had a right to be there, or if you were engaged in unlawful activity.
• Stand your ground. If you are not the initial aggressor, are not doing anything illegal, and are somewhere you have a right to be, you have no duty to retreat before using deadly force. A jury may not treat a failure to retreat as proof your force was unreasonable (§ 97-3-15(4)).
• Civil protection. The same presumption applies in civil suits. If a court finds you acted in lawful self-defense, it must award you reasonable attorney fees, court costs, lost income, and other expenses. If you were found not guilty on self-defense grounds, you are immune from civil damages for the same act (§ 97-3-15(5)).

None of this stops an arrest or a charge. A grand jury or a trial may still decide whether your force was justified, and paying for that defense can be expensive. That is why many people who carry buy self-defense legal protection.

Mississippi Gun Laws FAQ

Do You Need A Gun Permit In Mississippi?

Not to carry inside Mississippi. You can carry a handgun in a holster, purse, bag, or case without a permit if you can legally have a gun. A permit helps you carry in other states and is required for the Enhanced Carry endorsement.

How Much Is A Mississippi Gun Permit?

$112 for a first-time permit: $80 for the license plus $32 for the FBI background check. Renewal is $40, or $20 if you are 65 or older.

Does Mississippi Require Training For A Concealed Carry Permit?

No for the standard permit. Yes for the Enhanced Carry endorsement, which requires an 8-hour course from a DPS-certified instructor, or qualifying military or law enforcement training.

Can You Carry A Gun In Your Car In Mississippi?

Yes. Anyone over 18 may carry a concealed gun in a vehicle. Most employers can’t ban guns locked in your car in their parking lot, except in gated or secured employee lots.

Can You Carry A Gun In Church In Mississippi?

Only in certain cases. Churches are on the § 45-9-101(13) off-limits list for standard permit holders and permitless carriers. There are two main exceptions. Enhanced Carry holders may carry in places on that list, unless the church posts a written ban. And a church can set up a security program under the Mississippi Church Protection Act (§ 45-9-171), letting designated members with a permit and training carry, with civil immunity for reasonable actions on duty. If you serve on one, look into legal protection for church security teams.

Sources

• Mississippi DPS: Individual Firearm Permit Application Instructions
• Mississippi DPS: Frequently Asked Questions
• Mississippi Legislature: HB 1596 (2025), reprinting § 45-9-101
• Mississippi Legislature: HB 786 (2016)
• Mississippi Legislature: HB 117 (2025), reprinting § 97-3-15
• ATF: Permanent Brady Permit Chart
• Miss. Code § 97-37-7 (Justia)
• Miss. Code § 97-37-1 (Syfert mirror)
• Miss. Code § 45-9-101 (Syfert mirror)
• Miss. Code § 45-9-55 (FindLaw)
• Miss. Code § 45-9-171 (FindLaw)
• Miss. Code § 97-37-17 (FindLaw)
• Miss. Code § 97-37-14 (FindLaw)
• Texas DPS: Reciprocity Agreements With Other States
• OSBI: Oklahoma Handgun Reciprocity States
• USCCA: Mississippi Reciprocity Map (secondary source)