According to Firearm Chronicles
When Jackson, Mississippi mayor Chockwe A. Lumumba instituted a temporary ban on the open carrying of firearms in the city back in April, he claimed it the move was both constitutional and necessary to stem rising violence on city streets. Lumumba believed that the state of emergency in Mississippi empowered him to enforce the week-long ban, even though the state’s Attorney General and the U.S. Attorney in Mississippi both publicly declared that Lumumba’s gun ban had no basis in state law.
Now a federal judge has weighed in, and he too says Lumumba overstepped his authority in banning open carry within the city limits. From the Clarion-Ledger newspaper in Jackson:
The Mississippi Justice Institute, a nonprofit legal center, filed the lawsuit on behalf of state Rep. Dana Criswell, R-Olive Branch. Criswell is a federal licensed firearms dealer and proponent of open carry laws in the state.
Attorneys for the mayor and the Jackson City Council on Friday agreed to the terms of a consent decree to never attempt to restrict open carry again. A consent decree is an agreement between two parties issued by a judge instead of continuing the case in court.
Under the decree, the city cannot take any action “that would directly or indirectly prohibit, restrict, or inhibit the open carry of firearms in the city” unless Mississippi’s statutes and constitutional law are first changed to allow for that, according to court records. “I am very glad to know that this will never happen again in the future. Mississippians should be able to protect themselves no matter what city they are in,” said Criswell in a news release.Fe