Alabama Advances Constitutional Carry, Sanctuary State Bills
Darian Douraghy
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Two bills to loosen permit requirements and banning enforcement of federal gun laws from the was approved by the Alabama House last Tuesday.
One of the measures, HB405, otherwise referred to as “constitutional carry,” was also criticized for potentially undoing parts of bill – HB308 –which allows people to purchase lifetime permits to carry concealed handguns.
The other bill, SB358, also called the Alabama Second Amendment Preservation Act, creates civil penalties against local law enforcement officials should they enforce federal gun laws in the state.
Rhonda Pendleton, a volunteer with the Alabama chapter of Moms Demand Action, said “between ignoring law enforcement concerns about people carrying guns in public without a background check and trying to punish police for doing their jobs, these hypocritical lawmakers have gone back on their clearly-empty promises to support law enforcement.”
Law enforcement in Alabama stated strong opposition to both bills, arguing they put citizens in danger.
“Permits make people safer … there is documented evidence these pistol permits save lives,” said Randy Hillman, a representative with Sheriff’s Association.
There were also concerns expressed about the potential loss of revenue generated from permit fees for the police in the state.
State Rep. Andrew Sorrell, R-Muscle Shoals, who sponsored the bill, expressed sympathy for the potential lost revenue of the Sheriff’s department, and promised to support an alternative.
“We 100 percent support funding the sheriffs,” Sorrell said. “We just don’t support in doing it by selling people’s constitutional rights back.”
The Alabama legislation is but one of many in a recent pro Second Amendment trend that has been sweeping the nation, with Montana and Arizona having taken recent similar action. With the threat of anti-constitutional gun control looming from the White House every day, bills like these are essential in protecting the God-given rights of the American people.
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