At the tail end of April, the Mississippi Justice Institute (MJI) filed a lawsuit on behalf of Representative Dana Criswell against the city of Jackson and Mayor Chokwe Lumumba for temporarily banning the open carry of firearms within the capital city.
Even though the ban did not last long as the Jackson City Council unanimously rejected the executive order, MJI Director Aaron Rice told Paul Gallo of The Gallo Show on Wednesday morning that the institute still plans to go through with the lawsuit.
“Of course, the open carry ban has expired, but we are actually continuing to litigate that for now,” Rice said. “I can’t say a whole lot about it, because we are in some discussions with the other side about that, but we are looking for a way to maybe nail that down a little better and make sure that this doesn’t happen again.
Regarding the Jackson Police Department’s announcement earlier this week that they have made 35 felony arrests and seized 60 guns during the city’s stay-at-home order, Rice does not believe any of the confiscated guns had anything to do with the open carry ban.
“The open carry ban had expired at that point, so I think these were stops made pursuant to the curfew,” Rice said. “I don’t think it had anything to do with that expired open carry ban.”
A full copy of the original lawsuit can be found below.
