On Thursday, March 10 Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed a bill making Alabama the 22nd constitutional carry state. The bill will go into effect on January 1, 2023. You can view or download the entire signed bill below.
Bill Overview
- Carrying or possession of firearms at certain locations.
- Eliminate the requirement for a person to obtain a concealed carry permit to lawfully carry a concealed firearm.
- Employees storing a firearm in the employee’s vehicle.
- Requires a persons to disclose a concealed firearm to law enforcement under certain conditions.
- Authorizes a law enforcement officer to temporarily take a person’s firearm into custody.
- Prevent the knowing touching of a firearm during a law enforcement investigative stop.
- Create program to issue grants to offices of sheriff to replace pistol permit revenue.
Locations That Require Permission To Carry
The bill states you can not knowingly carry a firearm into certain locations. It is unclear what constitutes “knowingly”. If you decide to put this to the test and use “I didn’t know I was carrying a firearm” as a defense, please reach out to us for an interview. The locations are listed below.
- Police Station
- Prison, jail, halfway house, community corrections facility.
- Facilities that provide inpatient care of those with psychiatric, mental, or emotional disorders.
- Courthouse or courthouse annex.
- Building where a district attorneys office is located.
- Building in which a county commission or city council is currently having a regularly scheduled or specially called meeting.
- Primary office of any elected official.
- Inside any facility hosting an athletic event.
- Anywhere a firearm is already prohibited by state or federal law.
No Permit Needed
Alabama has become the 22nd state to allow citizens to carry an open or concealed firearm without a permit.
Employee Firearms In Vehicles
The bill does not restrict the possession, transportation, or storage of a lawfully possessed firearm or ammunition in an employee’s privately owned motor vehicle while parked or operated in a public or private parking area. Firearms must be kept from ordinary observation and locked within a compartment or in the interior of the person’s motor vehicle or in a compartment or container securely affixed to the motor vehicle.
A public or private employer may not restrict or prohibit the transportation or storage of a lawfully possessed pistol or ammunition for that pistol in an employee’s privately owned motor vehicle while parked or operated in a public or private parking area.
Disclosing Firearms To Law Enforcement
The bill states that if you are asked by a law enforcement officer whether or not you have a firearm in your vehicle you must immediately answer them.
Temoporary Custody of Firearms
If a law enforcement officer has a reasonable suspicion that an individual is engaged or is about to be engaged in criminal conduct, or if the officer determines it is necessary for the protection of the officer, individual, or any other individual, the officer may temporarily take the firearm into custody.
While the firearm is in the law enforcement officer’s possession, and if the officer has a reasonable suspicion that an individual is engaged or is about to be engaged in criminal conduct, the officer may conduct a search for criminal history and weapons databases to determine whether the individual is prohibited from possessing the firearm.
The officer must return the firearm to the individual before discharging the individual from the scene if the officer determines the individual is not a threat and has not committed a violation.
Touching Firearm During Investigation
Touching a firearm during a traffic stop is prohibited during an investigation or traffic stop unless directed to do so by the officer.
Grants For Sheriffs Office
The bill also created the “Local Government Pistol Permit Revenue Loss Fund”. The statewide fund will have five million dollars ($5,000,000) appropriated annually and will keep a minimum balance of two million dollars ($2,000,000). The Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs may make quarterly grants to any county in which the sheriff has provided the required reports as set out in the Minimum Accounting Requirements for the Office of Sheriff established by the Department of Examiners of Public Accounts, specifically regarding the number of pistol permits purchased in that county and the revenue received from pistol permit fees for fiscal year 2022 and 2023. Grants may not exceed the amount of revenue received from pistol permit fees by that county in fiscal year 2022. Grant funds can only be used by a county for the same purposes pistol permit fees were authorized to be expended.