Letter re. Open Carry I sent to my Sheriff

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BluesStringer wrote:

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.)

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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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Blues, I can agree with not wanting training courses. (They are more obstacles.) However, I still maintain that it is asinine that the cost varies from county to county, and that some sheriffs usurp the role of the state legislature with their illegal restrictions. (I actually know people who moved from 1 AL county to another and their permit fees went up. Counties involved were Jefferson, Lee, and Madison.) I'm no fan of bureaucracy either, but even if the county sheriffs are the issuing authority, the process should be the same statewide.

Respectfully, Progun.

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ProguninTN wrote:

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.

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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.

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1. Money.
2. Time.
3. Knowledge.
4. Repercussions.
5. I don't OC unless I'm on private property.

I do think someone should, just not me.

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ProguninTN said: "However, I still maintain that it is asinine that the cost varies from county to county, and that some sheriffs usurp the role of the state legislature with their illegal restrictions.

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Hey Progun,

These are two separate issues as I see them, so let me address them as such.

1) "Asinine" that costs vary from county to county? I see it as quite logical. It costs more to run a Sheriff's Dept. in Madison County than it does in Limestone, therefore the services offered cost more. Choosing to live in a given county always involves compromises on either services offered or the cost of those services. My property taxes in Limestone are WAY less expensive than Madison. My services are also less. The City of Madison is right across the street from me and is where we lived before moving to a Madison PO address that is actually in Limestone County 10 years ago. Madison has trash pickup twice a week. Limestone only picks up once a week. The vast majority of Madison County is on public sewer. We've got a septic tank. More services, more people employed to deliver those services equals higher cost of services offered. A larger Sheriff's Dept. with larger jails, busier courts, more and bigger administrative buildings and staff equals higher costs than it takes to offer the same services in Limestone. I see nothing at all asinine about that.

What would seem asinine to me is if they did standardize the cost between counties and my cost goes up $5 or $10 bucks a year while the higher-cost counties' charge stayed the same. That would mean that I would be subsidizing their costs. No thanks. That ain't fair, and would pretty much make moot my rationale for moving literally across the street to save on what it costs me to live.

2) Sheriffs taking it upon themselves to usurp state law is illegal according to the very law they're supposed to be upholding. I have no disagreement with you at all that that problem needs to be dealt with in a standardized fashion across the state. However, that is a function of the A.G. and courts doing the job they're already elected/hired to do and I can see no reason at all why it should cost the state more. It's a function of activists doing what we are always responsible for doing; educating our representatives and holding our courts' and law enforcement agencies' feet to the fire to uphold their oaths. You're absolutely right, the proscribed process should be the same from county to county, but that can (and should) be accomplished without making lower-cost counties subsidize increased costs in bigger, more expensive counties.

Blues

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Blues,

As far as 2. goes, I'm glad we agree.

For 1., I understand that the cost of doing business varies from county to county. I can understand not wanting to pay for other counties.

I guess it boils down to the fact that you prefer that counties issue the permit. (You don't trust a centralized state agency for possible bureaucratic problems. I do respect that. That is a legitimate concern, and I have heard of problems with the TN Dept. of Safety which needed correcting, and were corrected)

I prefer a state agency for the purposes of uniformity in both procedure and cost. (I don't trust the counties, due to history abuses in TN, and I am of the opinion that being a statewide permit, the state should bear the burden of issuing/funding said permits. Driver licenses, gun permits, etc all cost the same in TN unlike AL.) I am aware that drivers licenses can also vary in cost in AL due to county probate courts being responsible for their issuance. I guess this is one area where we agree to disagree.

Respectfully,
Progun.