House votes to allow concealed handguns without permit
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — The Alabama House of Representatives on Tuesday approved legislation ending the requirement for a person to get a permit in order to carry a concealed handgun in public.
Lawmakers voted 65-37 for the bill after Republicans in the chamber limited debate to two hours. The bill now moves to the Alabama Senate.
Gun rights advocates have championed the proposal they call “constitutional carry,” arguing that people should not have to get a permit, which requires a background check and paying a fee, to carry a handgun they legally own. Many state sheriffs and other law enforcement officials have opposed the legislation, arguing the permits provide a crucial tool to combat crime and enhance public safety.
“This bill does not change who can and cannot carry a gun. The people that are prohibited now, will still be prohibited,” Republican Rep. Shane Stringer of Citronelle said of his bill.
Stringer, a former police chief and former captain in the Mobile County sheriff’s office, disputed arguments that the permits enhance public safety. “The fact of the matter is, criminals don’t obey laws. This $20 piece of plastic, a permit, is not going to stop an evil person from committing a crime or doing wrong, and it will not protect our law enforcement from getting hurt or killed.”
Alabama currently requires people to get a concealed carry permit, which requires a yearly background check, to carry a handgun under their clothes or in a purse or bag when they go in public. The bill would do away with the requirement, but people could still choose to get a permit if they wanted. It would also do away with the current requirement for people without concealed carry permits to keep handguns unloaded and secured when driving.
Rep. Pebblin Warren, a Democrat who represents Tuskegee, said the change will encourage young people to “just go wild in the street with guns.”
“We’re opening the door to really encourage violence,” Warren said.
Warren, the wife of a former state sheriff, read a letter from Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham, who now heads the Alabama Sheriffs Association, opposing passage of the bill.
Republican Rep. Allen Farley, a retired assistant sheriff, said the permits are a tool “for us to catch those people who should not have a firearm.”
Farley said the permit fees help fund small sheriffs’ offices and that the arrests for permit violations have led to seizures of drugs and the solving of crimes.
“Why are we making the thin blue line in Alabama thinner?” Farley said.
There are 21 states that allow concealed weapons in public without a permit, according to Stateline, an initiative of the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Proponent of the bill said the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency is developing a database, authorized by a state law creating a lifetime concealed carry permit option, that officers will be able to use to flag people not legally entitled to carry a handgun. Stringer maintained that will be a better tool for law enforcement officers to remove guns from people who can not legally posses them.
Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said the intent of the database is good but said he did not think it could take the place of permits because there will be inevitable gaps in collecting data.
Trump says U.S. will resume sending weapons to Ukraine after pausing last week
With Russian attacks escalating, Ukraine is dependent on air defense systems and munitions supplied by western allies to protect Ukrainian cities.
100 years after evolution went on trial, the Scopes case still reverberates
One hundred years ago, the small town of Dayton, Tenn., became the unlikely stage for one of the most sensational trials in American history, over the teaching of Darwin's theory of evolution.
RFK Jr.’s vaccine policy sparks a lawsuit from the American Academy of Pediatrics
AAP and other leading health organizations allege that the health secretary violated federal law when he took the COVID vaccine off the list of recommended shots for pregnant women and healthy children.
The health of U.S. kids has declined significantly since 2007, new study finds
A new study in the journal JAMA finds the health of America's children has worsened across several key indicators over the last two decades. That includes the number of children with chronic diseases.
The U.S. has millions of old gas and oil wells. Here’s what it takes to plug them up
There was a circle in Maria Burns' yard where grass wouldn't grow and trees died. She knew what it was: An old natural gas well, plugged when she was a little girl, starting to leak again.
Sea lions are released after toxic algae bloom in California
Marine mammal researchers are investigating how sea lions were affected by the longest toxic algal bloom on record off the coast of Southern California. Some sea lions are now being released back into the wild.