A south Mississippi lawmaker who proposed legislation aimed at getting firearms out of the hands of domestic violence abusers chose to send his bill back to committee in the face of opposition from the National Rifle Association.
The bill is dead this session, but Sen. Brice Wiggins, a Republican from Pascagoula, has vowed to try again next year.
On the Senate floor, he moved on Feb. 12 without a single senator asking why to have his bill recommitted to the Judiciary B Committee, noting he was aware members of the chamber had received an alert from the NRA about the legislation. The NRA-ILA, the organization’s lobbying arm, also posted about his bill earlier that week, encouraging people to contact their Mississippi senator to oppose it.
Wiggins said he has been an NRA member and that he votes for every Second Amendment bill that comes through the state Legislature. But he said the gun lobby’s action and opposition of the legislation shows how there’s been a loss of common sense.
Senate Bill 2339 would have criminalized firearm and ammunition possession for people who are the subject of a domestic violence protection order, bringing state law in line with federal law. The bill also would have removed guns and ammunition from people convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors.
“This bill is for and supported by domestic violence survivors, advocates and people who understand that domestic violence is an epidemic in the state of Mississippi,” Wiggins said on the Senate floor in February.
To punctuate that point, he said the state has the highest overall gun death in the country.
The same morning the bill died, Pearl police responded to a call at a home where a man assaulted a woman, leading to an hours-long standoff. After using a breaching tool to get inside and arrest the man, SWAT team members found 10 firearms.
Wiggins also cited statistics gathered by Mississippi Today showing that at least 300 Mississippians, including victims, abusers, law enforcement and children – died from domestic violence incidents between 2020 and 2024. Most of them involved firearms.
He said the bill was based on a 2024 decision in USA v. Rahimi. In an 8-to-1 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court found there is a longstanding tradition of temporarily disarming those who pose a credible threat to others, as long as there is due process. The high court also ruled doing so did not violate the Second Amendment.
The court includes three justices appointed by President Donald Trump, Wiggins noted, and the court reversed a decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is known as one of the most conservative in the nation.
Over 30 states have laws prohibiting gun possession for those convicted of domestic violence misdemeanors, according to the Giffords Law Center, an organization led by former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona, who survived a shooting assassination attempt.
State lawmakers failed to take action on most domestic violence legislation this session, including several that sought to establish a public online system displaying information about people convicted of two or more domestic violence offenses. Meanwhile, Mississippi residents continue to die or be injured in domestic violence incidents, especially those involving firearms.
Since the beginning of the year, nearly a dozen people have died in domestic violence incidents, which includes violence between people in relationships with each other and family members, according to records tracked by Mississippi Today.
People also continue to file domestic abuse protection orders. In the first two months of the year, at least eight people have asked for protection from domestic abuse in Hinds County, according to a count of petitions and orders from justice court reviewed by Mississippi Today.
A Hinds County Justice Court judge granted an emergency, 10-day protective order for a woman who sought protection from her husband’s grandson. The young man said he had a gun and threatened to shoot her in the head, according to the petition.
“We need to have this discussion in Mississippi,” Wiggins said. “We’re going to work — at least I am – to get us something that could actually be good for the citizens of Mississippi and not violate (the Second Amendment).”
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