Alabama House gives final passage to bill establishing lifetime concealed carry permits

MONTGOMERY — The Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday sent a bill to Governor Kay Ivey’s desk that would establish the Alabama Uniform Concealed Carry Permit Act.

The legislation would standardize the process statewide for the issuance of concealed carry permits. Right now, this process — including fees and forms involved — varies county-by-county.

SB 308 would notably create a lifetime concealed carry permit, which would cost a uniform $300 upon issuance.

The bill passed the House in a bipartisan 69-18 vote after a couple of hours of debate. House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels (D-Huntsville), for example, was a “yay” vote. Those voting in opposition were from both parties as well; some Republicans prefer a “constitutional carry” policy instead of requiring the issuance of concealed carry permits.

Key highlights of the bill include:

Pistol permits would be standardized at one year, five years, or lifetime;

The cost of one or five year permits would be determined by local law. If there is no law on the subject, $25 per year or $300 for lifetime, or $150 for lifetime if the applicant over 60 years of age;

A database to be generated by ALEA listing all persons ineligible to possess a firearm by state and federal law;

And the courts would be required to forward any conviction or court order that would render one ineligible for firearm possession to ALEA for entry into the database.

The legislation was sponsored in the respective chambers by Sen. Randy Price (R-Opelika) and Rep. Proncey Robertson (R-Mount Hope). SB 308 passed the Senate last week after multiple years of negotiations involving stakeholders — mainly the law enforcement community and the NRA.

Under the bill, no fee would be charged when issuing a lifetime carry permit to a service member, a retired or honorably discharged military veteran, a law enforcement officer, or an honorably retired law enforcement officer.

Thursday was the 21st day of the legislature’s 2021 regular session.

Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn