RustyRooster
Established Member
A sheriff clerk processing permit applications told me recently, "Unless you want it for reciprocity with other states, there is no reason to get an AL permit anymore. The restricted areas are the same whether you have a permit or not." I have heard this same misunderstanding of the state law from many people, so I thought I'd put some information here to make more people aware of what the law says. No one wants to get jammed up over something stupid simply because misinformation is floating around.
What the county employee told me above is not true and comes from not carefully reading the passed version of the constitutional carry act. Even with this partial permitless carry act being passed, you still need a permit to carry at athletic events. An early version of the bill made it legal to carry in sporting events without a permit, just like most everywhere else, but the version they ended up passing put this one little caveat back into the text. Even if we agree it's ridiculous, I still think it's good to know what the law says, especially when it's ridiculous. Let's look at the actual verbiage in the law. This is from 13A-11-61.2 (emphasis mine):
So what this means is that, even with all the press about "Alabama is now proudly a constitutional carry state! No more permits needed!" there is still a difference between where people with a permit can carry and where people without a permit can carry. Those who opt to not pay the permit fee are banned from carrying a firearm into a school, college, or professional sporting event (so basically any football games, since that's all this state cares about lol). Here is an article from last year when the debate was still raging on these two little lines of text. Apparently, the debate was won by those who wanted guns in the stands to be illegal.
It's a small thing, but it's important to know that non-permit-holders still don't have their rights protected by the state as those who paid the fee.
If you think I'm wrong about something or missed something, feel free to let me know! Also, have you seen social media posts, articles, or heard people say that you simply "don't need a permit" in AL anymore and that there's "no difference" between getting a permit and not?
What the county employee told me above is not true and comes from not carefully reading the passed version of the constitutional carry act. Even with this partial permitless carry act being passed, you still need a permit to carry at athletic events. An early version of the bill made it legal to carry in sporting events without a permit, just like most everywhere else, but the version they ended up passing put this one little caveat back into the text. Even if we agree it's ridiculous, I still think it's good to know what the law says, especially when it's ridiculous. Let's look at the actual verbiage in the law. This is from 13A-11-61.2 (emphasis mine):
So what this means is that, even with all the press about "Alabama is now proudly a constitutional carry state! No more permits needed!" there is still a difference between where people with a permit can carry and where people without a permit can carry. Those who opt to not pay the permit fee are banned from carrying a firearm into a school, college, or professional sporting event (so basically any football games, since that's all this state cares about lol). Here is an article from last year when the debate was still raging on these two little lines of text. Apparently, the debate was won by those who wanted guns in the stands to be illegal.
It's a small thing, but it's important to know that non-permit-holders still don't have their rights protected by the state as those who paid the fee.
If you think I'm wrong about something or missed something, feel free to let me know! Also, have you seen social media posts, articles, or heard people say that you simply "don't need a permit" in AL anymore and that there's "no difference" between getting a permit and not?
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