While most local law enforcement agencies across Alabama oppose a change in law that would let gun owners carry without a permit, one North Alabama sheriff says he's in favor of the change.
The House voted 65-37 to advance the permitless concealed carry bill after a two-hour debate Tuesday. It now goes to a state Senate committee for initial debate.
Current state law requires gun owners to buy a permit to conceal and carry a pistol, and fees from those permits help sheriff offices across the state. In rural sheriff offices in the state, that funding stream helps support agencies purchase things like vehicles, body-worn cameras and pay general utility bills.Â
“I favor constitutional carry. I haven’t been outspoken either way, but if I was going to have to take a position, I would support it," Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton told Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é on Wednesday.
Lauderdale County Sheriff Rick Singleton
Currently, Singleton and other sheriffs manage the state's pistol permits. Handgun owners must go through a background check and pay a fee in order to obtain a concealed carry permit.
If the bill is made law, that requirement would go away.Â
“It’s going to have an impact, but in our case, I think it’s going be a minimal impact," Singleton said. "It is not going to eliminate pistol permits because people are still going to buy them to get across state lines."
This debate has raged on for years in Alabama. The Alabama Sheriffs Association, the Association of County Commissions of Alabama and the Alabama Association of School Resource Officers have all expressed concerns over the dangers the bill could bring.
But, House Bill 272 has been called a top priority by House Republicans this legislative session.
"They view it as a safety issue, and I think there is a degree of safety questions, but my personal opinion is criminals never bought permits anyways," Singleton said. "They were carrying without a permit already."
If the bill passes out of the Senate subcommittee it will head to the full Senate. If the Senate approves it, the next stop is Gov. Kay Ivey‘s desk.
