I have a few questions about open carry and public lands in the Northern Alabama area and would love to get some feedback from any who are familiar with the questions and don't mind taking the time for it.
My family and I are traveling to Hunstville for the first several days of April to visit my brother. He's a disabled vet and is bound to a wheelchair. I am an avid morel mushroom hunter and my brother has never went out looking for and gathering the mushrooms nor has he ever eaten them. He's excited at the idea as its something I've talked about for the past couple of years with him. Now, I finally get a chance to visit him in the last part of the morel season for Northern Alabama.
I first want to know if anyone is familiar with any public lands, preferably river bottom lands, where there are trails through wooded areas such that a wheelchair can travel along, even if they aren't long trails or paved. I've done some research about the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge along the Tennessee River and talked to a park official and it sounds like they have some trails that might work such that I can at least get my brother out in the woods with us. He also said that alligators up to 12 feet long have been reported in the area which surprised me as I didn't realize they were that far north in Alabama. Is anyone familiar with any other public outdoor lands in the area that might be worth a look?
I also would prefer to bring my handgun with me and open carry it while I am there if its allowed. I don't have any carry permits as we don't need to have a permit or a registered firearm here in Missouri to open carry and was wondering if Alabama was the same way and if its state wide or goverened through local ordinances. Can I as an out of stater, carry openly in Alabama without a permit and if so, what are the rules as far as traveling with it inside my car within the state? I also saw on the Wheeler Refugre pamphlet that firearms aren't allowed. I assumed its for their lands as well as their buildings. Are they allowed to ban firearms on their lands? Here in Missouri they used to have those signs at a nearby National Wildlife Refuge but I do believe they are no longer in effect and enforceable.
My family and I are traveling to Hunstville for the first several days of April to visit my brother. He's a disabled vet and is bound to a wheelchair. I am an avid morel mushroom hunter and my brother has never went out looking for and gathering the mushrooms nor has he ever eaten them. He's excited at the idea as its something I've talked about for the past couple of years with him. Now, I finally get a chance to visit him in the last part of the morel season for Northern Alabama.
I first want to know if anyone is familiar with any public lands, preferably river bottom lands, where there are trails through wooded areas such that a wheelchair can travel along, even if they aren't long trails or paved. I've done some research about the Wheeler Wildlife Refuge along the Tennessee River and talked to a park official and it sounds like they have some trails that might work such that I can at least get my brother out in the woods with us. He also said that alligators up to 12 feet long have been reported in the area which surprised me as I didn't realize they were that far north in Alabama. Is anyone familiar with any other public outdoor lands in the area that might be worth a look?
I also would prefer to bring my handgun with me and open carry it while I am there if its allowed. I don't have any carry permits as we don't need to have a permit or a registered firearm here in Missouri to open carry and was wondering if Alabama was the same way and if its state wide or goverened through local ordinances. Can I as an out of stater, carry openly in Alabama without a permit and if so, what are the rules as far as traveling with it inside my car within the state? I also saw on the Wheeler Refugre pamphlet that firearms aren't allowed. I assumed its for their lands as well as their buildings. Are they allowed to ban firearms on their lands? Here in Missouri they used to have those signs at a nearby National Wildlife Refuge but I do believe they are no longer in effect and enforceable.