Help

Pope S. Mallette, Esq.

Office of the Attorney GeneralMarch 21, 2018

2018 WL 3191563 (Miss.A.G.)
Office of the Attorney General
State of Mississippi
*1 Opinion No. 2018-00049
*1 March 21, 2018

Re: Municipal Employment Policies Relating to Firearms

 
*1 Pope S. Mallette, Esq.
*1 Attorney
*1 City of Oxford
*1 5 University Office Park
*1 Oxford, Mississippi 38655
Dear Mr. Mallette:
*1 Attorney General Jim Hood has received your request for an opinion and assigned it to me for research and reply.
 
Issues Presented
 
*1 In your letter, you state:
*1 The Mayor and Board of Aldermen of the City of Oxford have asked me to seek your opinion regarding the City's ability to impose restrictions on its employees' ability to carry firearms during the workday. Specifically, the City of Oxford wishes to inquire whether it may prohibit the carrying of weapons, either concealed or open, by on-duty municipal employees other than law enforcement personnel while those employees are conducting city business (1) while on City property; or (2) while not on City property.
 
Legal Analysis and Response
 
*1 It is the opinion of this office that the City of Oxford may prohibit the carrying of firearms, either concealed or open, by employees1 while such employees are on duty both on and off of municipal property. In MS AG Op., Cantrell (Oct. 1, 2013), one of the questions was “may the local School Board establish a policy that prohibits the carrying of concealed weapons on campus by school district employees ... with enhanced conceal/carry certification.” Even though enhanced carry on school property is statutorily authorized by Section 97-37-7(2), we opined, nonetheless, that a school board could by either employment policies or contracts prohibit the carrying of concealed weapons by employees with an enhanced license. See also, MS AG Op., Pennington (March 1, 2013)(“School board or, if applicable, the conservator under the direction of the State Board of Education could under the terms of its contract with the school employee disallow the school employee from carrying a weapon on the school facility or in certain areas or buildings.”)(citing MS AG Op., Bounds (January 5, 2012)).
*1 These prior opinions relate primarily to school boards as local governing authorities. More recently, we addressed employment policies involving state agencies. In MS AG Op., Gipson (April 21, 2017), we opined that “it is the opinion of this office that employers may restrict the rights of employees to carry weapons through appropriate and reasonable employment policies with regard to the actual employment.” Id. Although the Gipson opinion request did not specifically question open carry, we addressed the application of, and obvious need for, employment policies relating to open carry as follows:
*1 We further note that the Legislature has restricted the open carry of firearms only on educational property. See Miss. Code Ann. Section 97-37-17. There are no statutes such as Section 45-9-101(13) or Section 97-37-7(2) that place any corresponding open carry restrictions on locations such as “police, sheriff or highway patrol stations or ... detention facilit[ies], prison[s] or jail[[s].” Thus, the only authority a public employer has to prevent or regulate the carrying of weapons on such facilities is through employment policies and/or rules.
*2 We are of the opinion that the reasoning in our prior opinions regarding the authority of public employers to adopt employment policies restricting concealed and open carry of weapons applies to municipal governing authorities as well. Public employers obviously have a substantial interest in protecting both employees in the workplace as well as citizens, vendors, contractors or others that may be there. Any regulations, rules or ordinances regarding carrying of weapons by employees should be accompanied by such findings when adopted or promulgated.
*2 If this office can be of further assistance, do not hesitate to contact us.
Sincerely,
*2 Jim Hood
*2 Attorney General
*2 By: Ricky G. Luke
*2 Assistant Attorney General

Footnotes

The opinion request limited the issue to non law enforcement personnel.
2018 WL 3191563 (Miss.A.G.)
End of Document