DESOTO COUNTY, MS (abc24.com) - It's official. DeSoto County's new gun law is on the books. It makes it illegal to fire a weapon in the county's parks.
The board of supervisors held a final hearing on the matter Monday morning. Members spent the past two months working out the kinks and listening to the public. They believe everyone is satisfied with the new law.
There was widespread concern when the county announced it would considering it, even a few supervisors doubted whether they would support it. Monday it passed unanimously with, surprisingly, the public's support.
"It's been a great process," says supervisor Lee Caldwell. "I call it the American process. People were able to come and give their views and ideas and express their concerns."
DeSoto supervisors heard an earful the last few weeks.
"I think the public from the last meeting was able to give their input and state their concerns. We went together with the NRA and were able to put together an ordinance that was acceptable for everyone," she tells abc24.com.
"We want people to feel like when they do go out in our greenways to hike or ride bike or ride horses, they're going to be safe."
It is now illegal to fire a gun or weapon in county parks and greenways.
"The greenways, we're hoping, will be used by many. We don't want anybody out there firing and putting anybody in harm's way. It is absolutely about public safety."
The board held a public hearing in October, where many concerned gun owners spoke. After that "we went back to the drawing table and we considered all that and we came up with a good consensus," says Caldwell. "We really enjoyed the public's input. We count on that."
At this week's meeting, supervisors received more suggestions that they'll soon be implementing. "Somebody suggested that we should have more signage so that's something we're addressing too. We'll be putting up more signs, large signs on our greenways and identifying them."
The law goes into effect in 30 days.
