Bill > HB1398

This bill, known as the Mississippi Mass Casualty Threats Prevention Act, creates new crimes related to acts intended to cause mass harm. A "mass casualty act" is defined as using firearms, explosives, deadly chemicals, or a vehicle to injure people in a "crowd," which means two or more people gathered closely. The bill establishes "capital mass casualty threat" as committing such an act and causing death or physical injury to someone in a crowd, which carries a mandatory death penalty by firing squad upon conviction. It also defines "mass casualty threat" as attempting to kill or injure someone in a crowd, even if no one is actually harmed, and this also results in a felony conviction. Importantly, the bill states that it is not a defense if the perpetrator lacked the intent or capability to complete the act, or if the threat wasn't made to a specific intended victim. Additionally, the bill amends existing law to include "capital mass casualty threat" alongside capital murder for sentencing purposes, and it also outlines sentencing guidelines for juvenile offenders convicted of a "mass casualty threat," which would involve a mandatory life sentence if fixed by a jury, or a sentence between 20 and 40 years if the jury does not fix the penalty.

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https://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2026/pdf/history/HB/HB1398.xml