State Rep. Shane Stringer’s (R-Citronelle) dispute with Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran over the so-called constitutional carry issue has been well documented, and it ultimately cost him his position with the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office.
However, it also may very well have catapulted him into front-runner status for that position, which is up for election in 2022. The incumbent Cochran will not be seeking another term.
During an appearance on Alabama Public Television’s “Capitol Journal” this week, Stringer discussed the fallout from his termination but argued the principled stand was to support constitutional carry. He told APTV’s Don Dailey the oppositions from Alabama’s sheriffs stemmed from the desire to collect permit revenue and insisted a better way to fund sheriffs’ departments beyond permit fees was needed.
“One of the things I’ve done before I even considered filing this bill is I looked to other states that had constitutional carry and reached out to sheriffs in those areas,” he said. “And they basically said crime didn’t go up. Pistol permit sales only fell a little bit, and nothing else changed. And so, the Constitution is the Constitution. The fact of the matter is law-abiding citizens are the only ones buying the permits in the first place. A $20 piece of plastic is not going to stop an evil-hearted person or criminal from doing harm to me or you or anybody else.”
“This is strictly about the money with the sheriffs, and I understand that,” Stringer continued. “But we have got to come up with other ways to fund those areas of the sheriff’s department besides off the backs of gun owners, lawful gun owners.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.
