Citation(s) from the GunPolicy.org literature library
Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 2024 ‘Minimum Age to Purchase & Possess in Mississippi.’ Who Can Have a Gun. San Francisco, CA: Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 22 December
Relevant contents
Minimum Age to Purchase and Possess in Mississippi
No person under age 18 may knowingly possess a handgun unless he or she is:
- Participating in a hunter's or a firearms safety course;
- At a lawful shooting range or organized competition;
- Hunting or trapping, when licensed to do so;
- Traveling with an unloaded handgun to or from the aforementioned activities;
- On private property under the control of an adult who has granted permission to the underage individual to possess a handgun; or
- Using a handgun to defend himself or herself from imminent danger.
An applicant for a license to carry a concealed handgun must be 21 years of age or older.
Mississippi prohibits the transfer of:
1) any deadly weapon;
2) any weapon that may not by law be carried concealed; and
3) a pistol cartridge,
to any person who is under 18 years of age.
There is no minimum age to possess a rifle or shotgun in Mississippi. Federal law, however, prohibits firearms dealers from selling or delivering a shotgun or rifle, or ammunition for a shotgun or rifle, to any person the dealer knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under the age of 18. Dealers are prohibited from selling or delivering other firearms (e.g., handguns) or ammunition for those firearms to any person the dealer knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under the age of 21.
Federal law provides less stringent age restrictions with respect to sales by unlicensed persons. Unlicensed persons generally may not sell, deliver or otherwise transfer a handgun or handgun ammunition to any person the transferor knows or has reasonable cause to believe is under the age of 18. Federal law provides no age limitations with respect to the sale of a long gun by an unlicensed person…
[Editor's note: The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence regularly updates its webpages with new data as US gun regulation evolves state by state. For the most up-to-date information on US gun laws, please refer to the Giffords URL below]
Last accessed at:
https://giffords.org/lawcenter/state-laws/minimum-age-to-purchase-possess-in-mississippi/