MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange responded Thursday to several filed complaints of “no guns allowed” signs on public property.
The Alabama’s Constitution and code of law reiterate the U.S. Constitution’s 2nd Amendment protections, but provide certain limitations on the ability of law-abiding citizens to carry firearms on public property.
Several complaints had been lodged with AG Strange in recent months over “no guns allowed” signs at public schools and in a city park.
Though in two of the three complaints detailed in a press release Thursday afternoon Strange ultimately found justification for the signs, two public parks in Dadeville have been ordered to remove their signs and allow law-abiding citizens to carry their firearms.
The two public schools mentioned in the review, Brantley School in Crenshaw County, and Councill Middle School in Dadeville, are covered by Ala. Code § 16-1-24.1 allowing boards of education to establish drug, alcohol, and weapons-free zones on school property.
The use of such zones has come under scrutiny after the majority of recent mass shootings have occurred in schools, military facilities, and other areas where “no guns allowed” signs tend to be posted.
Alabama state senator Bill Holtzclaw spoke out against the signs earlier this year after three Marines and a Navy Sailor were killed by an Islamic terrorist in Chattanooga.
“I believe that, nationwide, we’ve created these gun-free zones and cowards that want to be a martyr for their cause are attracted to them because they know that they’re going to be more successful in whatever form of terrorism or activism that they are trying to accomplish,” Sen. Holtzclaw told Yellowhammer. “So when we label a gun-free zone, we actually create a killing field for those people who obviously aren’t going to follow a law like that.”
In July “no guns allowed” signs were removed from state rest areas after several complaints to the AG and an analysis by Yellowhammer prompted an investigation.
This week Alabama native and highly-regarded cartoonist Scott Stantis published a illustration summing up the shortcomings of weapons-free zones.
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— Elizabeth BeShears (@LizEBeesh) January 21, 2015
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