The Roy Howard Community Journalism Center’s “What Is True?” team investigated an online ad claiming that Mississippians could obtain concealed-carry licenses online.

RESULTS: False

This claim came from a false advertisement intended to generate internet traffic. Learn more about the scam and the current laws governing firearm carry permits in Mississippi below:

Several online advertisements on social media sites such as Facebook claim that Mississippians can obtain a Mississippi Enhanced Carry License (concealed-carry weapon permit, or CCW) online without leaving their homes.

“While some of the statements made in the advertisement are not inaccurate, the claim that a Mississippi firearm permit can be obtained online is incorrect,” said Bailey Martin, media contact for the Mississippi Department of Public Safety. “A Mississippi firearm permit can only be issued through the Mississippi Department of Public Safety’s Driver Service Bureau and cannot be obtained online.”

To understand more about the process of obtaining an enhanced carry license, RHCJC researchers spoke with Laurie Rodgers, a firearms instructor at The Hunter’s Edge in Ellisville, Mississippi.

“We have two different firearms permits, but the regular permit is not as useful as it is used to be because there are so many states now that require reciprocity, where we can carry in their state with our permit and they can carry in our state with theirs,” Rodgers said. “Most of those states require an enhanced carry class — a hands-on firearms training class.”

The website advertised was based in Las Vegas, Nevada, meaning that even if it were official, it could not issue Mississippi licenses. These ads likely exist only to generate internet traffic and scam people into paying for a fictional service.