Email to Representative Marc Keahey and Response

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I sent the following email to Representative Keahey when his HB225 was passed by the house. and added some things that I'd like to see changed as well. I asked when HB225 would go before the Senate. I got a response back today:

Jason, we hope to get the bill up for a vote in the senate within the next two weeks. Thank you for your email.





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From: Jason Jones [mailto:jasonj@charter.net]
Sent: Friday, February 20, 2009 11:10 PM
To: marc.keahey@alhouse.org
Subject: Thanks for HB225 and a request.
Importance: High



Dear Representative Keahey,



I wanted to express my personal thanks for your efforts on HB225, and congratulations on having it pass the House. I’d like to ask, when will it be voted on by the Senate?



I would also humbly request that you consider looking at the current laws regarding open carrying of firearms in our great state. While all the research I have done indicates that Alabama is in fact, an open carry state, the current laws are confusing at best. Even local law enforcement agencies are unclear or formulate their own opinions that vary from department to department. The laws need to be A LOT clearer on open carry rights.



I would ask you to consider the following changes, amendments, or additions in a future House Bill:


1) In clear language. Any person may peaceably openly carry a firearm loaded or unloaded, while on foot, or in public, or in a vehicle.

2) Repeal the prohibition of carry near or participating in a demonstration (violates the 2nd and 1st amendments of the US constitution.)

3) Make Alabama a Shall issue State instead of a May issue State.

4) No permit needed to openly or concealed carry while in a vehicle, my vehicle is an extension of my home.

5) Ability to open carry and concealed carry without fear of arbitrary harassment.

6) Change/Adjust DisorderlyConduct law to read that a person cannot be charged with disorderly conductfor merelyopen carrying andpeaceably open carrying does NOT cause public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm. Basically, disorderly conduct can't be used as a "catch all".

7) No local government, sheriff etc. can decide differentlyon state laws - no discretionary requirements.

8) Remove this, and any such wording on concealed carry permits: "This pistol permit does not permit you to carry a gun openly."

9) Law Enforcement Officers and Dispatchers should be trained on open carry calls that come in. Before even dispatching officers they should ask questionsand determine if further response is needed. Peaceably openly carrying should not justify sending officers.

10)Peaceably openly carrying does not permit illegal search & seizure. Nor does it grant the right to revoke a concealed carry permit.

11) Alabama should recognizeALL other States concealed carry permits.

12) Any person peaceably, legally openly carrying shall not be harassed, detained, incarcerated, refused service or otherwise have their rights violated for merely openly carrying.

13) Remove 13a-11-52 from the code.



It is my sincere hope that you would consider most of these proposed changes as worthwhile and a great step forward in insuring our 2[suP]nd[/suP] amendment rights. I have attached a pdf. file to this letter that includes some invaluable information I have gathered while researching this. You can also open it at this link: http://alabamagunrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/tri-fold.pdf and additional info here: http://www.opencarry.org/





Thank you so very much for your time and your consideration on this matter.



-Jason Jones

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If it's OK with you I would like to send the text of this leeter to my Representative, Barry Mask and Senator, Larry Dixon. I think if we get this to as many State politicians as we can the better our chances for success.

Let me know.
MT

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Absolutely! You may wanna add this as14 & 15:

14) Law enforcement may NOT confiscate or run serial number checks for peaceably open carring. Nor can they demand a Social Security Number.

15) Public Businesses may not prevent a person fromcarrying openly or concealed. No person shall be refusesd the right to defend themselves. If a business does so they can be held liable.

I would ask that if you get any response that you post it so we can check it out thanks!

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Will do!! I'll send the letters today at lunch.

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Barry Mask and I are friends so I got a pretty quick response from him already...Please see below. Still waiting on response from Larry Dixon. I never got one from him regardingwhether he would be attending the Tea Party on Wednesday, so I don't expect one in regards to this matter either.


"Thanks Shaun , I am glad you were there ….Yes , we are trying to get HB225 up for a vote in the senate ……as for "open carry " I am for it and expect to have bill next year ….I will file your email ….Please stay in touch ….I am sooooo glad to see you so actively participating in the process . Stay engaged , Sincerely Barry"

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This is fabulous! I'm coming in a bit late on this, but I want to encourage my AL legislators in the area of OC, too. Keep it up.

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Dianosis wrote:

Absolutely! You may wanna add this as 14 & 15:

14) Law enforcement may NOT confiscate or run serial number checks for peaceably open carring. Nor can they demand a Social Security Number.

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Pretty much illegal already.

Dianosis wrote:

15) Public Businesses may not prevent a person from carrying openly or concealed. No person shall be refusesd the right to defend themselves. If a business does so they can be held liable. 

I would ask that if you get any response that you post it so we can check it out thanks!

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I couldn't support this. In fact, I would call my representative and tell them to vote no if this was in the bill. Private property is private property.

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I agree Kurtmax, private property rights are critical and anything that infringes on them should be avoided. Other than that I really like the text of this email.

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Any word back on this?

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AWL,

You are probably right, but I am concerned about what will happen if every business chooses to not allow firearms on their property (it could easily happen with just a little pressure from the insurance companies).

Are we then to boycott all businesses? Just carry illegally?

Just sort of seems to me that when you open your property to the public, you kind of give up some of your private property rights.

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Daddyo,

I see your point but you also have to consider that most businesses reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason. I spent a long time working in retail and, while I would never ask a person to leave because they were armed, I HAVE tossed customers out for other behavior that I felt was inappropriate.

There will always be people who feel very uncomfortable around firearms and nothing we can do will convincethose confused soulsthat OC'ing is a normal behavior. They have a right to that opinion just like we have a right to ours. Part of me really wants to say "screw them, I'll take my gun wherever I want to" but another part liked knowing that I could remove people who I felt were not acting appropriately.

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AWL wrote:

Daddyo,

I see your point but you also have to consider that most businesses reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason.  I spent a long time working in retail and, while I would never ask a person to leave because they were armed, I HAVE tossed customers out for other behavior that I felt was inappropriate.

There will always be people who feel very uncomfortable around firearms and nothing we can do will convince those confused souls that OC'ing is a normal behavior.  They have a right to that opinion just like we have a right to ours.  Part of me really wants to say "screw them, I'll take my gun wherever I want to" but another part liked knowing that I could remove people who I felt were not acting appropriately.

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Just seems like between the places that don't allow weapons and the places that are general pricks, there aren't a lot of businesses left to patronize. Maybe that's why they're all going under.

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I wouldn't get too discouraged, Daddyo. You'd be surprised at what's going on just one state to our north i.e. Tennessee. As you know, TN issues a Handgun Carry Permit which allows open or concealed carry. There are many businesses there that aresupportive ofopen carry; places like McDonald's, Cracker Barrel, Red Lobster, O'Charley's, and Ruby Tuesdays. We just need to stick together, make sure we have our facts straight, and be polite and I know we can see a change in the OC climate here in AL. Sure, it might take a little legislation, too, but it isvery much within our grasp.



Daddyo wrote:

Just seems like between the places that don't allow weapons and the places that are general pricks, there aren't a lot of businesses left to patronize. Maybe that's why they're all going under.

Click to expand...

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I was curious as to the status of HB225 and a quick Google of the subject appears to show that Governor Riley HAS signed HB225 into law. Another firearms-related bill, HB432 (makes pistol permit information confidential), appears to be awaiting his signature.

http://www.nraila.org/legislation/read.aspx?id=4896

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Neo wrote:

I wouldn't get too discouraged, Daddyo.  You'd be surprised at what's going on just one state to our north i.e. Tennessee.  As you know, TN issues a Handgun Carry Permit which allows open or concealed carry.  There are many businesses there that are supportive of open carry;  place likes McDonald's, Cracker Barrel, Red Lobster, O'Charley's, and Ruby Tuesdays.  We just need to stick together, make sure we have our facts straight, and be polite and I know we can see a change in the OC climate here in AL.  Sure, it might take a little legislation, too, but it is very much within our grasp.

 

Daddyo wrote:

Just seems like between the places that don't allow weapons and the places that are general pricks, there aren't a lot of businesses left to patronize. Maybe that's why they're all going under.

Click to expand...

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I hope so, but I've encountered much more anti-gun sentiment lately. Forgive me if I botch the hierarchy on this story:
One of the things the girls in my daughter's girl scout troop want to do this year is gun safety. A couple of nights ago they had a meeting for all the troop leaders. When our leader announced they were going to be doing gun safety, the other leaders freaked out (as did many of the parents), fortunately she told them to bug off. But the anti-sentiment is running much stronger than I thought.

Remain vigilant.

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Daddyo wrote:

AWL wrote:

Daddyo,

I see your point but you also have to consider that most businesses reserve the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason. I spent a long time working in retail and, while I would never ask a person to leave because they were armed, I HAVE tossed customers out for other behavior that I felt was inappropriate.

There will always be people who feel very uncomfortable around firearms and nothing we can do will convincethose confused soulsthat OC'ing is a normal behavior. They have a right to that opinion just like we have a right to ours. Part of me really wants to say "screw them, I'll take my gun wherever I want to" but another part liked knowing that I could remove people who I felt were not acting appropriately.

Click to expand...

Just seems like between the places that don't allow weapons and the places that are general pricks, there aren't a lot of businesses left to patronize. Maybe that's why they're all going under.

Click to expand...

I haven't run across any businesses that prohibit firearms around here.

When I was in TN a few weeks ago, I didn't see a single business that was posted prohibiting firearms (and in a rather populated area). The media seems to be overexposing the businesses with the prohibited signs...