Federal law generally prohibits possession of firearms and ammunition by people who have been found by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority to be a danger to themselves or others, or to lack “the mental capacity to contract or manage [their] own affairs,” as a result of their mental condition or illness.¹ Federal law also generally prohibits people from possessing firearms if they have been involuntarily hospitalized or committed to a mental health or substance abuse treatment facility by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority.²

No federal law, however, requires states to report the identities of these individuals when they become ineligible to possess firearms to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (“NICS”) database, which the FBI uses to perform background checks prior to firearm transfers. As a result, state record reporting laws are critical to ensuring the accuracy and effectiveness of the background check system.

Mississippi requires the Clerk of the Court to transmit to the Department of Public Safety identifying information about federally prohibited-persons no later than the 30th day after the court makes a determination. Federally prohibited-persons are defined as:

• A person who has been judicially determined by a court as mentally ill, whether ordered for inpatient treatment, outpatient treatment, day treatment, night treatment or home health services treatment;
• A person acquitted in a criminal case by reason of insanity or on a ground of intellectual disability, without regard to whether the person is ordered by a court to receive inpatient treatment or residential care;
• An adult individual for whom a court has appointed a guardian or conservator based on the determination that the person is incapable of managing his own estate due to mental weakness; or
• A person determined to be incompetent to stand trial by a court.³

The Department of Public Safety must develop rules and procedures to forward the information received from the court about federally prohibited-persons to NICS.⁴ A person may petition the court for relief from a firearms disability.⁵

For general information on the background check process and categories of prohibited purchasers or possessors, see the Mississippi Background Checks and Mississippi Firearm Prohibitions sections.

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1. Federal law, enacted in 1968, still uses archaic and offensive terminology to prohibit firearm access by people who have been “adjudicated as a mental defective.” 18 USC 922(g)(4). Federal regulations define that term to mean:
   (a) A determination by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority that a person, as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, or mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease
   (1) Is a danger to himself or to others; or
   (2) Lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his own affairs.Federal regulation also expressly clarifies that this firearm prohibition applies to:
   (1) A finding of insanity by a court in a criminal case; and
   (2) Those persons found incompetent to stand trial or found not guilty by reason of lack of mental responsibility pursuant to [specified articles] of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. 27 CFR § 478.11.[↩]
2. Federal law generally prohibits firearm access by people who have previously been “committed to a mental institution.” 18 USC 922(g)(4). Federal regulations define this term to mean: “A formal commitment of a person to a mental institution by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority. The term includes a commitment to a mental institution involuntarily. The term includes commitment for mental defectiveness or mental illness. It also includes commitments for other reasons, such as for drug use. The term does not include a person in a mental institution for observation or a voluntary admission to a mental institution.” 27 C.F.R. § 478.11.[↩]
3. Miss. Code Ann. §§ 9-1-49, 45-9-103.[↩]
4. Miss. Code Ann. § 45-9-103.[↩]
5. Miss. Code Ann. § 97-37-5.[↩]