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Letter re. Open Carry I sent to my Sheriff

Monkeytown

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OK, as previously posted by Neo, we may get a bill introduced this Legislative Session that clears up the confusion on the legality of open carry in Alabama. As a precursor to this possibility, I thought I would send a letter to my Sheriff and point out to him the contradictions between my CPL and the law. I just faxed him the letter below along with a hard copy of the Alabama Tri-fold and State of Alabama Firearms and Weapons Laws. I will keep you all posted on any response I get from him.

Sheriff Franklin,

Good afternoon, my name is XXXXXXXXXXXXX and I wanted to contact you in regards to the legality of open carry of a pistol in Alabama. I am relatively new concealed pistol license (CPL) holder in Elmore County. Since receiving my permit I have joined several internet forums for people with CPL’s in order to gain knowledge about concealed carry gear, situational awareness and to gather other information that will help me to become a safer and more responsible permit holder. During some of my investigation I have come across quite a bit of information that seems to indicate that open carry of a pistol is legal in the State of Alabama. I have attached two (2) documents that were put together by some folks at http://www.alabamagunrights.org. Would you be open to reviewing these documents and consider allowing persons within the County to carry openly without risk of arrest, detainment or possible revocation of their CPL? I’d also like to suggest a visit to the website listed above for additional information on the legality of open carry in Alabama.

Restriction #1 on my CPL states that the permit does not permit me to carrying openly, however after reviewing the attached documents it appears that it is completely within my rights to carry openly without a permit of any kind (as long as I am afoot and not in a vehicle) per Alabama Statute 13A-11-73.

Restriction #4 states that I am not allowed to carry my pistol in any place that serves alcohol. I realize that common sense would dictate that carrying while consuming alcohol is terribly irresponsible and should be prohibited. However, would you consider it ok to carry in a restaurant that sells alcohol as long as I was not consuming?

Restriction #5 restricts the carry of my pistol within government buildings, airport terminals, etc. However the Alabama Statute 13A-11-59(b) only restricts concealed carry while attending any demonstration being held at a public place. Also, the Statute 13A-11-72(c) & (d) specifically allows a citizen to carry a pistol on the premises of a public school as long as there is no intent to bodily harm.

In addition, the Alabama Statute 11-45-1.1 reserves the entire subject matter of handguns to the State Legislature, thereby voiding any and all restrictions on the CPL that are not in concert with the Alabama Statutes.

Please do not misunderstand my intentions. They are not to question or undermine your authority, but only to bring to your attention what appear to be contradictions between the law and the restrictions on my CPL. As a matter of preference I do not necessarily want to openly carry my pistol, but would like to have the option available to me, without the threat of arrest, detainment or revocation of my CPL, as it appears to be legal. Also, there is a large community of CPL holders across the State of Alabama, many of them here in Elmore County, that would also like to have this option. I know there is a concern about “man with a gun” calls and the difficulty in differentiating between bad guys and good guys, however there is a common saying I’m sure you have heard, “a right not exercised, is a right lost”.

Any thoughts or opinions you may have on this matter are greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read this fax and review the attached information. I can be reached at the telephone number listed above or at my e-mail address: jkd_man2001@yahoo.com.

Thanks again,
Shaun
 

Monkeytown

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WOW!!! Before I could even post the above, my phone rang and it was Sheriff Franklin!! He was very friendly and we had a fantastic conversation. He said he is all for exercising of our rights, including the right to open carry. He stated that everything I stated in my fax was true and he agreed fully. His only issue was what I stated in my next to last paragraph regarding "man with a gun" calls. He said his deputies and other city police don't know if the person with firearm is a GG or BG. Their protocol is to approach and gather information "What's goin' on?" "How are you?" etc. If everything goes well then no problem. They have been instructed, and understandably so, that on the first indication that a confrontation may occur, then the situation is escalated accordingly. This makes me fell better about maybe one day getting a wild hair and choosing to open carry. He also stated that I would be hard pressed to find a Sheriff in Alabama that did not share his views on this matter.

Shaun
 

Neo

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Hey MT,

Great to hear that your sheriff is on-board with OC. I'm thinking that you're in the same area as Representive Mask, so many head LEOs may be of the same mind as him. Thanks for sharing your experience. Let's make OC "normal" again!
 

BluesStringer

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Hey Monkeytown, Would you please identify the two documents that you referenced attaching to your correspondence with your Sheriff that you got from http://www.alabamagunrights.org[/u]? I'm guessing they're the two AG Reports, but I wanted to make sure before I confused my Sheriff (Blakely, Limestone County).

Thanks,

Blues
 

arolfsen

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montgomery's sheriff dt marshall has weighed in on this. i've posted his response in other threads.
 

Monkeytown

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BluesStringer wrote:
Hey Monkeytown, Would you please identify the two documents that you referenced attaching to your correspondence with your Sheriff that you got from http://www.alabamagunrights.org? I'm guessing they're the two AG Reports, but I wanted to make sure before I confused my Sheriff (Blakely, Limestone County).

Thanks,

Blues
The two documents I attached were the Alabama Trifold and the Alabama Weapons and Firearms Laws from Alabamagunrights.org.
 

blackjack1

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Great Job. I have been wanting to corner Sheriff Franklin and personally ask him the same thing, but you have done such a great job, no need. Thank you for your contribution. Did you send the same to Barry Mask or other representitives?
 

Monkeytown

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blackjack1 wrote:
Great Job. I have been wanting to corner Sheriff Franklin and personally ask him the same thing, but you have done such a great job, no need. Thank you for your contribution. Did you send the same to Barry Mask or other representitives?
Thank you. My brother-in-law plays FB at ECHS with Bill's son so I've seen him at the games but never approached him to talk about OC. If I see him out again I will definitely introduce myself as he seems like a really nice guy.

Barry Mask is a friend of mine and last year I sent him an e-mail that was originated by Dianosis on this forum.

http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum59/23925.html

His response can be found in that thread also. I sent the note to Larry Dixon also, and never got a response. He sucks and never responds to anything.

Shaun
 

Neo

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Monkeytown wrote:
Barry Mask is a friend of mine and last year I sent him an e-mail that was originated by Dianosis on this forum.

http://opencarry.mywowbb.com/forum59/23925.html

His response can be found in that thread also....

MT,

Thanks for reminding me of that thread. I'm getting my thoughts together for letters to my state representatives and senators. As soon as Rep. Mask gets that bill together, I'll be ready to support it.

- Neo
 

ProguninTN

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smttysmth02gt wrote:
I disagree with his statement about other Sheriff's. I can guarantee you that Mr. Sam Cochran does NOT share the same opinion.
You should take him to court. He probably needs education on Looney v. State, and Morris v. State. They are cited in an AL AG opinion, and I've posted them in the past somewhere in the AL forum.
 

HungSquirrel

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I cited those particular cases when I wrote him a letter asking how he would instruct his deputies to handle OC encounters. I never got a reply, and he continues to instruct the pistol permit office clerks to inform applicants that OC is illegal.
 

ProguninTN

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Well, I can't fault you for trying. I guess one of the following needs to happen:

1. Someone in some county somewhere needs to take one of these sheriffs to court, as open carry has already been found lawful in the aforementioned cases, and the Sheriffs are illegally bypassing the legislature with their own restrictions.

2. Alabamians need to push for a legislative remedy. (Clarify the Code of AL to permit open carry, [expressly authorize it, or remove any and all use of the word "concealed" thereby authorizing open carry by default as was done here in TN.) Another option would be to simply strip sheriffs of the power to issue permits and give it to a state agency with a uniform procedure. (This was also done in TN in 1996, due to inconsistent processes from county to county and similar nonsense from sheriffs on power trips.)
 

BluesStringer

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ProguninTN wrote:
Well, I can't fault you for trying. I guess one of the following needs to happen:

1. Someone in some county somewhere needs to take one of these sheriffs to court, as open carry has already been found lawful in the aforementioned cases, and the Sheriffs are illegally bypassing the legislature with their own restrictions.

2. Alabamians need to push for a legislative remedy. (Clarify the Code of AL to permit open carry, [expressly authorize it, or remove any and all use of the word "concealed" thereby authorizing open carry by default as was done here in TN.) Another option would be to simply strip sheriffs of the power to issue permits and give it to a state agency with a uniform procedure. (This was also done in TN in 1996, due to inconsistent processes from county to county and similar nonsense from sheriffs on power trips.)
I'd be all for #1, but the second option in #2 I would want no part of. As it is now, permits vary by $5 or $10 bucks from county to county. In my county (Limestone), a permit is $15. I used to live in Cullman and it was $10 bucks back then. I think Madison County is $20 or $25. You go putting the permit issuance in the hands of some state-wide bureaucracy and we'll not only be paying over $100 bucks for the permit every year, but there'll be anywhere from $100 to $350 mandated safety courses before you can even qualify for a permit in no time at all.

Also, it takes a 15 minute drive and about 2 - 5 minutes out of my life every year to have the permit in my wallet and headed out the door of the Sheriff's Office. Make it a state authority and we'll be waiting two weeks minimum for the thing to come in the mail.

Now don't get me wrong. I neither support any permitting structure that stifles my free exercise of my God-given rights, nor do I have anything against folks being well-trained. I don't see any licensing structures in place for preachers to exercise their religious liberties or for news agencies to exercise theirs, so why I have to be licensed to exercise mine is something I greatly resent. But I don't want the structure made less accessible or more expensive, and that is surely what would happen under a state agency structure.

Both my wife and I just finished our fourth advanced tactical training course last month, so I'm all for being well-trained, but I don't want the government dictating what courses we take, when we take 'em, or which organization that I may or may not trust (NRA) to be working in my best interests I have to pay to take 'em.

If we have to be permitted, I much prefer the system we have now over any that I've looked at that are controlled at the state level.

Blues
 
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