Enhanced Conceal and Carry Endorsement

Enhanced Conceal and Carry Endorsement 1. Pursuant to House Bill 506, which amended Mississippi Code Section 97-37-7, the Gun Permits Division of Driver Services shall recognize individuals that have received advanced training in weapons handling and Mississippi laws relative to concealed carry with an enhanced endorsement. This enhanced endorsement shall only be given to an individual if they have taken and satisfactorily completed a course of the safe handling of firearms as given by a licensed and certified firearms instructor which has met the requirements of the Department of Public Safety (“Department”). The Department shall maintain a list of instructors which the Department has determined are certified within the meaning of current Mississippi laws relative to enhanced endorsements. 2. Instructors which desire to be recognized by the Department for the purpose of qualifying individuals for an enhanced endorsement must contact the Gun Permit Division of Driver Services and provide copies of their credentials as being certified to provide instruction by a nationally recognized entity that customarily offers firearm instruction or training. The instructors shall also provide contact information. They may be required to provide additional information in order to conduct a background check if they are not already a conceal and carry license holder registered in the State of Mississippi. There may be a background check fee associated with this requirement. 3. The instructor, after having provided the requisite information to the Department, will then be required to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU will contain, among other things, a requirement of at least one (1) hour of legal training relative to concealed carry and justifiable homicide as well as any other pertinent laws for the individuals that will be instructed for the purpose of the enhanced endorsement. When all information is submitted and the MOU is signed, the Gun Permit Division shall issue a sample certificate to the instructor that is to be given to the individuals that complete their respective classes. This certificate will be turned over to the Gun Permit Division by the applicant for enhanced endorsement, and shall serve as an indicator that the individual completed the required training to receive said endorsement on their conceal and carry permit. The Department reserves the right to contact the instructor named on the certificate to verify its authenticity. 4. The Gun Permits Division shall maintain records on the information submitted by certified instructors. 5. The Gun Permits Division shall maintain records on the information submitted by those individuals seeking and obtaining enhanced endorsements. 6. The Gun Permits Division shall affix a sticker to the individual’s conceal and carry permit that indicates that they have taken the requisite class and maintain an enhanced endorsement. 7. The recognition of the enhanced endorsement shall be valid indefinitely, unless reason is present to revoke the gun permit associated with the endorsement. In that scenario, the permit holder may be required to take the enhanced endorsement class again. 8. The Department maintains the right to revoke the enhanced endorsement of an individual for cause. If the Department determines that it should revoke the endorsement for cause, it shall notify the individual in writing and provide for a hearing on the merits with the aggrieved individual. 9. Instructors shall be allowed to conduct on-line training courses upon seeking and receiving written approval from the Gun Permits Division. Instructors will be required to pre-submit their on-line curriculum and plan of action relative to conducting the on-line course. The requirements within the existing MOU between the Instructors and the Gun Permit Division shall still be in place. Moreover, applicants will be required to pass an in person shooting course before being eligible for their certificate of completion. MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND _____________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ WHEREAS, Mississippi Code Section 97-37-7(2), Mississippi Code of 1972, states (inpart) that, “a person licensed under Section 45-9-101 to carry a concealed pistol, who has voluntarily completed an instructional course in the safe handling and use of firearms offered by an instructor certified by a nationally recognized organization that customarily offers firearms training, or by any organization approved by the Department of Public Safety, shall be authorized to carry weapons in courthouses, except in courtrooms during a judicial proceeding, and any location listed in subsection (13) of Section 45-9-101, except any place of nuisance as defined in Section 95-3-1, any police, sheriff or highway patrol station or any detention facility, prison or jail.” WHEREAS, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety shall promulgate rules and regulations allowing concealed pistol permit holders to obtain an endorsement on their permit indicating that they have completed the course and have authority to carry a concealed pistol in these locations. WHEREAS, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety will approve certified firearms instructors certified by nationally recognized organizations that customarily offer firearms training, as well as certified instructors from other organizations deemed appropriate by the Department, that are willing and able to provide the required training for individual trainees to receive the endorsement noted in MS Code Section 97-37-7. NOW THEREFORE, THE PARTIES AGREE AS FOLLOWS: I. PURPOSE This is an agreement between the Mississippi Department of Public Safety and __________________________ as a part of the Department’s recognition of this individual/entity as an approved firearm instructor, possessing the necessary knowledge, skill and training to instruct Mississippi Conceal and Carry permit holders to the extent that they are eligible for endorsement in view of Section 97-37-7(2) of the Mississippi Code of 1972 as well as all reasonable and necessary rules as promulgated pursuant to the rule making authority of the Commissioner of Public Safety pursuant to Section 45-1-3 of the Mississippi Code of 1972. II. IMPLEMENTATION AND REQUIREMENTS The qualified instructor herein swears and agrees that they are indeed qualified through Mississippi Minimum Standards and Training as Certified Firearms Instructors or have been certified by a nationally recognized organization that customarily offers firearms training, and as such, are capable of effectively and intelligently training individuals about proper firearm technique, usage and safe handling. A certificate shall be deposited with the Department of Public Safety illustrating recognition or certification of the instructor. Moreover, said instructor herein swears and agrees that they possess the requisite legal knowledge of State and Federal Firearms laws to effectively and intelligently convey said knowledge of said laws to individuals receiving training for their conceal and carry endorsement. Specifically, the instructors are required to make available and review pertinent Mississippi guns laws with their trainees as a part of this agreement. This legal instruction shall, at a minimum, represent an one hour component of the overall course and include instruction relative to MS Code Section 45-9-101 (License to carry stun gun, concealed pistol or revolver) and MS Code Section 97-3-15 (Homicide; justifiable homicide; use of defensive force; duty to retreat). The instructor herein swears and agrees that they will implement and instruct based on generally accepted course requirements of nationally recognized organizations that customarily offer firearms training. Moreover, the Department shall issue to instructors a protocol of minimum competency for granting of the endorsement. The instructors are encouraged to teach beyond the minimum requirements provided by the Department. The Department will require, at a minimum, an eight (8) hour course completion by the trainees in order to issue an endorsement to an individual. The Instructor herein swears and agrees that they have the requisite and appropriate classroom space to effectively administer the classroom aspect of the instruction. Moreover, the Instructor also possesses access to a gun range that will provide a safe and effective environment for proper education as to actual firearm usage. The Instructor herein swears and agrees that if they conduct on on-line enhanced carry course, it will meet or exceed the baseline requirements as set forth to establish a minimum competency for granting an endorsement. Moreover, the Instructor agrees that prior to implementing and utilizing an on-line course structure, said course will be pre-approved through the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, Gun Permits Division. Furthermore, the on-line course will still require that trainees take an in-person, written test and satisfactorily complete a live-fire, in- person gun range component. The Instructor will maintain individual files on every trainee that receives a certificate of passage of the instructive course for a period of not less than five (5) years. On demand of the Mississippi Department of Public Safety, instructors shall make available the individual files of trainees who have received certificates. Moreover, the Mississippi Department of Public Safety reserves the right to sit in on any instructional class of the instructor relative to the endorsement that is the subject of this agreement without notice. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety reserves the right to remove the instructor from its list of instructors at its sole discretion if it possesses a reasonable suspicion that the instructor is not properly instructing trainees or fails to maintain and require a high degree of competence by the trainees taking the instruction course and receiving a passing mark. If the Department removes an instructor from the approved list of instructors, it will notify said instructor by certified mail and said instructor shall have the right to appeal the decision of the Department to the then acting Director of Gun Permits within thirty (30) calender days of the notification of removal. The instructor herein swears and agrees to hold harmless the Mississippi Department of Public Safety from any liability that should arise as a result of the firearm instruction classes that are the subject of this agreement. Furthermore, the instructor herein agrees to indemnify the Mississippi Department of Public Safety for any actual liability that should arise therein as a result of the actions of the Instructor. III. ILLEGAL ACTIVITY If the Mississippi Department of Public Safety has a reasonable suspicion that trainees being instructed are being certified without either actually taking and participating fully in the course, or are being certified without possessing the required minimum level of competence to the extent that said trainee is paying and being certified with little to no instruction or proof of knowledge, the instructor shall be subject to criminal investigation and potential prosecution. WE, THE UNDERSIGNED, HEREIN AGREE TO THE MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY AND __________________________________________________. _______________________________________ ______________________________ MS DEPT. OF PUBLIC SAFETY DATE _______________________________________ ______________________________ INSTRUCTOR DATE _______________________________________ COUNTY IN THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI