Law enforcement speak out in opposition of "permit-less" carry bill - Alabama's News Leader

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WBMA) — Law enforcement from every corner of Alabama went to Montgomery Tuesday afternoon to speak in opposition to the constitutional carry bill.

They say permit less carry could make their jobs more dangerous, but more importantly, the fear is it would mean indivuals who would be rejected from having a permit would carry a weapon.

Gun permit laws are used everyday by law enforcement.

They allow officers to remove weapons from the street and to put people banned from carrying weapons behind bars.

Simply put, law officers say permit less carry bills are bad.

"No one wants to send their kids to a ball game and you're able to carry a weapon inside that stadium we need to stand our ground on this. No one wants to go into a business and you can't tell a person not to bring a firearm in. This is a bad bill, we need to stand our ground on this. Not because of permits, it's truly about keeping our communities safer," said Kevin Turner, Madison County Sheriff.

The bill is something they believe citizens should reach out to their lawmakers about.

"We don't need it in our communities and we don't need it in the state of Alabama," said

Montgomery County Sheriff Derrick Cunningham.

Right now, Alabama requires a pistol permit for citizens to carry a pistol on their person or in their vehicle.

This is the first time a permit less carry bill has widespread support from lawmakers.

Sgt. Curtis Summerlin was injured in the line of duty, and a second deputy was killed after the shooter purchased his weapon on the street.

"On 5 different occasions he was released back into the public. Had he applied for a pistol permit at that time we would have been able to flag him and know exactly what we were dealing with and how violent he could be," said Summerlin.

St. Clair County Sheriff Billy Murray said the system works the way it is.

"In my county I issued 6,500 pistol permits last year. I only turned down less than 300," said Murray.

Permits allow law enforcement to do more than just check if a weapon is legal.

"The system is in place as a background check system and permit less carry without a background check is a scary perspective for any law enforcement officer," said Murray.

Because of the current law, they have been able to seize drugs and weapons, and arrest people who illegally have guns including felons and people who have been involuntarily mentally committed.

Gun rights groups believe lawmakers opposing permit less carry are in line with anti-gun groups, but these men and women say that's far from the truth.

"There's 2 words that are paramount to why we're up here today..... Public safety," said Hoss Mack, Baldwin County Sheriff.

source: https://abc3340.com/news/local/law-enforcement-speaks-in-opposition-of-permit-less-carry-bill

Your content is great. However, if any of the content contained herein violates any rights of yours, including those of copyright, please contact us immediately by e-mail at media[@]kissrpr.com.