LAWMAKER PROPOSES DOING AWAY WITH CONCEALED CARRY PERMITS

For the past two years, the Alabama state senate has passed a new gun permit bill that would do away with concealed carry permits. But the bills never made it past the initial stages.

Currently, Alabama allows people to open carry a holstered pistol without a permit. State Rep. Gerald Allen said there’s no logical reason to continue the permit requirement.

“The gun bill is going to start in the house this year,” Allen said. “It’s our hope that the house leadership and the committees will address the bill early, so the senate can have the bill and pass this piece of legislation to further protect the second amendment.”

At the moment, if you get into your car while you’re openly carrying a gun (which is legal) and don’t have a concealed carry permit, then you’re breaking the law.

Allen said he wants to repeal the concealed carry permit requirement.

The proposed legislation would allow any law-abiding adult who can legally possess a firearm to carry a handgun for self-defense without needing a permit.

The second amendment has been compromised with the implementation of concealed carry permits, Allen said.

“I don’t think the founding fathers got it right in that you as a citizen have the right to protect yourself and your property and your families without paying a fee or a tax, and that’s very important for us,” Allen said. “If you keep on attacking the second amendment year after year after year and decade after decade, the second amendment is going to disappear on us, and we cannot make that happen.

The National Rifle Association lobbied for the bill last year, but it came under heavy opposition from law enforcement.

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