Effective July 1, the new open/carry law will be effective in the entire state of MS, not just in Jackson. The law clarifies what was already placed in the state constitution in 1890.
-The new law allows any Mississippian, who is not otherwise disqualified, to openly carry a gun, with or without a permit. A permit is still required if the weapon is concealed. The new law allows any Mississippian, who is not otherwise disqualified, to openly carry a gun, with or without a permit. A permit is still required if the weapon is concealed.
Now this is the point where it get's a little sketchy.
THE PEOPLE
It was the talk of the day. We are heading back to the days of the O.K. Corral; It just makes no sense. Open any social network feed and follow friends and you will see somewhere that the news has spread. It has a lot of people up in arms, and about the same amount feeling as if nothing has changed. The feeling that things are going to get extremely violent has some understanding. But, Jackson crime statistics report an overall downward trend in crime based on data from 11 years with violent crime decreasing and property crime decreasing. Based on this trend, the crime rate in Jackson for 2013 is expected to be lower than in 2010.
Also, if you want to play devil's advocate, numbers don't lie. Here is another fun fact.
The city violent crime rate for Jackson in 2010 was higher than the national violent crime rate average by 144.39% and the city property crime rate in Jackson was higher than the national property crime rate average by 158.62%.
Furthermore, In 2010 the city violent crime rate in Jackson was higher than the violent crime rate in Mississippi by 265.76% and the city property crime rate in Jackson was higher than the property crime rate in Mississippi by 154.88%.So given these statistics, its understandable why some people are scared that this clarity law will make things worse.
THE STAFF'S TAKE
PROTECT YOURSELF! The choice is simply this. WE know that we reside in a city where the law enforcement is under trained and not able to perform the simplest crime fighting tasks at hand. We spend so much time living in fear of so many things. In this case, some of the fear makes sense. There are more stories than we can count of how at time JPD has done too much on a simple issue and not enough on bigger issues to ensure the safety of the people. And people at this point are calling it as they see it. Will gun violence increase inside city limits. In our opinion, maybe. But one thing that is true about this whole situation is that the law has been on the books for well over 100 years. Its just simply being clarified. With other states having the same law, I don't worry about us seeing a huge increase in numbers. But there is a personal responsibly one has to take with his own life as well as his or her families. If you feel like you cannot and do not want to rely on the local authorities to take action on your behalf, then lock and load and take care of your home and your own life yourself. With the sheer size of the force, they cannot be in certain places at all times, but how they manage to miss the things they do is not an upstanding look. We will cover that story later. Uninformed and under trained personnel can and will make this issue a highlight in the coming months. Mark our words.
The Facts:
Things are bad, but not as bad as we see in major metropolitan areas. Should we wait for it to get so before we start telling our children and fellow neighbors what to do and how not to act? This is a question that has to be answered on a person to person basis. But in our opinion, the media should do a better job of covering this and informing the demographic on what is and is not about this new law and point out some of the soft spots. All people do not share information like they should. But for some reason, we LOVE to listen to the news. The leadership needs to do mail outs and press conferences to call and relax people about this issue and assure them that they are in control and there is nothing to worry about. The WRONG thing to do in this situation is say NOTHING and let people form their own opinion on what they think. The facts are out there and they are real. There will not be mass shootings and gun wielding crazy people. There are laws that prevent certain things like discharging a firearm in public and endangering the public for no reason. This is a state law. Now outside the city demographic, one may worry a little more but that is a deeper story. We hope you enjoyed the conversation. Lets carry on.
#GETINFORMED601
The Facts:
Things are bad, but not as bad as we see in major metropolitan areas. Should we wait for it to get so before we start telling our children and fellow neighbors what to do and how not to act? This is a question that has to be answered on a person to person basis. But in our opinion, the media should do a better job of covering this and informing the demographic on what is and is not about this new law and point out some of the soft spots. All people do not share information like they should. But for some reason, we LOVE to listen to the news. The leadership needs to do mail outs and press conferences to call and relax people about this issue and assure them that they are in control and there is nothing to worry about. The WRONG thing to do in this situation is say NOTHING and let people form their own opinion on what they think. The facts are out there and they are real. There will not be mass shootings and gun wielding crazy people. There are laws that prevent certain things like discharging a firearm in public and endangering the public for no reason. This is a state law. Now outside the city demographic, one may worry a little more but that is a deeper story. We hope you enjoyed the conversation. Lets carry on.
#GETINFORMED601
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