Gulfport, MS Public Conduct: Aggressive Panhandling (2026)

Sec. 7-3, carried over unchanged from Section 17-5 of the 1963 Code, is Gulfport's only citywide solicitation ordinance, and it is a flat prohibition rather than a rule aimed at aggressive conduct: it does not distinguish a polite request for change from blocking a sidewalk, following a pedestrian, or soliciting near an ATM. The text reaches solicitation 'either directly or indirectly,' so it is not limited to spoken requests, and its geographic scope is 'upon any of the streets or sidewalks within the city,' meaning it targets the public right-of-way rather than private property such as a store's parking lot, where a business would instead rely on trespass law to remove an unwanted solicitor.

The Code's annotation ties the section to Mississippi's tramp and vagrancy statutes, Miss. §§ 97-35-29 and 97-35-37, though Gulfport's ordinance stands as a separate municipal offense enforceable by the Gulfport Police Department. Because Sec. 7-3 sets out no fine of its own, the general penalty provision of Sec. 1-9 supplies the punishment for any conviction under it.