MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA — In Alabama, you can walk down the street with a rifle slung over your shoulder but if you sit behind a driver’s seat with a handgun holstered, you need a permit. One Alabama lawmaker says this is an unjust burden against its citizens and has proposed a measure to remove the need for a permit to carry concealed.
According to the Washington Times, Republican Sen. Gerald Allen filed the bill for Alabama’s next legislative cycle. If passed, a similar bill would need to move through the Senate and then be signed into law before taking effect.
Alabama and New Hampshire are just two of the states with permitless concealed carry on the agenda.
Local law enforcement are the issuing authority in both states, shall issue so long as there’s no prohibiting factors, and neither require mandatory training. This makes the step to permitless a bit more palatable for state legislators that really aren’t too involved in the process to begin with.
As brought up in previous articles, the major arguments against usually revolve around lack of mandatory training and a lack of checks and balances against criminals who shouldn’t possess firearms. Neither Alabama nor New Hampshire require training to begin with, so that’s not really a factor. As for criminals illegally possessing firearms — that was already an issue and it’s already a punishable offense.
If an ex-felon has a handgun on him when he’s arrested, he’ll be charged with possession of that handgun in addition to whatever other crimes he may have committed. The presence or lack of a permit doesn’t apply.
Gun owners have an incentive to pursue training and practice: both enable them to use their firearms safely and accurately when need be. That’s a prerogative that must be pursued by the individual, though.
Someone who owns a gun and neither practices nor familiarizes themselves with the laws of their state is setting himself up for failure. Yet, in many of the successful home invasion and armed robbery incidents we’ve covered, we really have no idea how much training a person had before he or she used that gun to save his life. It’s completely possible that the person purchased his everyday carry pistol, pursued a permit (if necessary) and just started carrying. If that’s the case and that person was successfully able to defend his life from harm, I would feel that’s a pretty weak case for forcing him to take a class. He should take a class on firearm safety and practice at the range. These are things I think most gun owners can agree on. However, the role of the state to mandate what that training should consist of appears to be highly dubious as to its efficacy in real life.
So, Alabama residents, you may no longer need to pursue a concealed carry license in this coming year to carry concealed inside your state. A permit process will likely still exist to allow everyday gun carriers to travel across into neighboring states.