The Alabama Senate two weeks ago passed a bill that would allow Alabamians to carry loaded pistols in their cars without a concealed carry permit. On Wednesday, the next-to-last day of the 2014 legislative session, that bill died in a House committee and will not go to the governor for his signature this year.
Under current law, an unlicensed handgun must be kept unloaded and out of reach while being transported in a vehicle.
Advocates of the bill said that it would ease restrictions on open-carriers and further ensure Alabamians’ ability to exercise their Second Amendment rights. The Alabama Sheriffs Association opposed the bill, saying it could make law enforcement officers’ jobs more difficult and could lead to more incidents of road rage. They also noted that sheriffs would lose some of the revenue they receive through pistol permits, which helps to fund their departments.
Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale, tried to address some of the public safety concerns with the bill by amending it to require individuals to acquire a free, lifetime permit in order to carry a loaded gun in their car. That would allow law enforcement officials to conduct background checks.
Beason’s offer of an amendment did not persuade the law enforcement groups to change their position on the bill. That led Beason to conclude that the real issue was that sheriffs would simply lose pistol permit revenue.
“I gave them the ability to do the background checks,” Beason said. “What was the only thing that was missing? Money.”
The so-called “Guns in Cars” bill will go down as the last bill that Sen. Beason carried during his state legislative career. He is leaving the Alabama Senate this year and is currently running for the U.S. House of Representatives in Alabama’s 6th Congressional district.
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