The law enforcement people are up in arms. They say more crazy people will be carrying around consealed weapons that already they can open carry..... and those criminals and crazy people will shoot more innocent people. Of course ten states already allow unlicensed concealed carry, including Mississippi next door to Alabama. There are no statistics on how the crime rate is affected in those states because of their "negligence" that I know of.....but that's beside the point.
The latest argument published today in the only large all state newspaper in Alabama is made in an editorial by Neil Rafferty a state House member. His best argument goes like this:
I can feel the horror. Only thing I wonder is why someone with a criminal history would try to get a permit knowing the obvious outcome? Of course the crazy people it is understandable. They are just crazy. At the same time I suspect the criminals and the crazy people will carry a pistol if they feel like it anyway. I guess we will have to live in fear which ever way the law goes. The only thing that is clear is that the county sheriffs will have to find another source for mad money if the law passes and is signed into law.More than 6,000. That’s how many people were stopped from getting gun permits in Alabama last year because background checks found the applicant had a criminal history or suffered from unstable mental health. The proposed legislation (HB 272) is making its way through the Alabama Legislature to allow those 6,000 plus people to walk through our communities unknown. If enacted, permitless carry would enable anyone to conceal a gun in public without obtaining a government-issued permit. This would allow people with dangerous histories to evade background check requirements and safeguards to responsible gun ownership.