How to Renew Your Mississippi Firearms Permit: Fees and Timing

To renew a Mississippi firearms permit, submit the renewal form, a notarized affidavit that you still meet the eligibility rules, a full set of fingerprints, and the $40 fee to the Department of Public Safety before your five-year permit expires. DPS mails a renewal notice at least 90 days ahead of the expiration date.¹ One catch trips people up: every other renewal has to be done in person for a fresh photo, so check your notice before you assume you can mail it.

When to Renew

Mississippi concealed carry permits run for five years. The Department of Public Safety sends a renewal notice to your address on file at least 90 days before the expiration date printed on your card.¹ Don’t wait for the notice to arrive if you know the date is close. Notices go astray, addresses change, and the statutory processing window can stretch past 45 days.

Before you file anything, confirm the residential address on your Mississippi driver’s license or state ID matches the address you plan to put on the renewal. DPS requires the two to line up.² If you moved since your last renewal, update the license first.

Mail-In or In-Person: Which Applies to You

The statute requires you to appear in person every ten years so DPS can take a new photograph. Your first renewal can go through the mail; your second must be in person; the third by mail again; and so on.¹ The renewal notice tells you which one this cycle is.

By Mail

Send your completed application and payment to the Firearm Permit Division, P.O. Box 1459, Canton, MS 39046. Mail-in payment must be a personal check, cashier’s check, or money order payable to the Department of Public Safety. No cash.³ Personal checks can slow processing, and a returned check adds a fee. When you’re mailing applications for more than one family member, each application needs its own separate payment.

In Person

In-person renewals happen at Mississippi Highway Patrol Driver Service Centers. Staff verify your ID, review the form, and take fingerprints or a new photo as needed. Service centers accept cash, credit and debit cards, checks, and money orders.²

What You Need to Submit

The renewal packet has three pieces required by statute: the renewal form (either the copy DPS mails you or one downloaded from the department website), a notarized affidavit confirming you still meet every eligibility requirement, and a full set of fingerprints taken by DPS or your county sheriff.¹ DPS may sometimes ask you to come in for fingerprinting to speed up the background check; there is no extra charge for that.²

You’ll also need a valid photo ID at the time you apply: a Mississippi driver’s license, a Mississippi state identification card, or a tribal ID card from a federally recognized Indian tribe.² You don’t have to send a separate headshot. The photo on your renewed permit will be pulled from the most recent image the Driver Service Bureau has on file, or taken at the counter if you renew in person.

If you carry the enhanced endorsement, you do not have to repeat the eight-hour firearms safety course to keep it. The enhanced endorsement stays valid as long as the underlying permit stays active. When renewing, include a copy of the front and back of your existing enhanced permit as your documentation.²

Renewal Fees

The fee is the same whether you mail it or hand it over at a service center:

Standard renewal is $40, plus the cost of fingerprint processing.¹
Applicants 65 and older pay $20, plus fingerprint processing.¹
Honorably retired law enforcement officers, disabled veterans, active-duty military, and current state, county, or municipal law enforcement officers pay no renewal fee.¹
A $15 late fee applies on top of the renewal fee if your permit has already expired when you file.¹

Processing Time and Delivery

Once DPS has your complete application, it has 45 days to issue the renewed permit, deny it, or tell you it needs more time and give you a revised estimate.¹ Read that third option carefully: the 45 days is not a hard guarantee. DPS can take longer as long as they notify you.

Your renewed permit comes back by standard mail to the address on the application. Keep a copy of what you sent, along with any receipt, so you can reference the filing date if you need to follow up with the Firearm Permit Division. If DPS denies the renewal, the department must state the specific reason in writing, and you have the right to appeal.

If Your Permit Expires Before You Renew

You have a six-month window after expiration to submit a late renewal. You pay the standard fee plus a $15 late surcharge.¹

Once six months have passed, the permit is permanently expired. No extension, no reinstatement. To carry under a permit again you would apply as a first-time applicant, paying the full initial fee and going through a fresh background investigation. Enhanced endorsement holders would need to submit training documentation again. Renewing one day before the six-month cutoff costs a $15 surcharge; renewing one day after it means starting from scratch.

Eligibility Still Has to Be Met

Renewal is not automatic. You must still meet every criterion that applied when the permit was first issued, which is exactly what the notarized affidavit asks you to confirm. The main state disqualifiers are any felony conviction (unless pardoned or expunged), certain controlled-substance or alcohol-related commitments or convictions within the previous three years, and a court finding of mental incompetence that has not been restored for at least five years.¹

Federal firearm prohibitions under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) apply on top of state rules. Categories include fugitives from justice, people subject to a qualifying domestic violence restraining order, those convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, and unlawful users of controlled substances, among others.⁴ A federal prohibition overrides a state approval, so if any of it applies to you now, resolve it before filing the affidavit.

1
Justia Law. Mississippi Code 45-9-101 – License to Carry Stun Gun, Concealed Pistol or Revolver
2
DPS Driver Service Bureau. Preparation For First Time and Renewal Application Process
3
Mississippi Department of Public Safety. Firearm Permit Applications and Forms
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 922 – Unlawful Acts