This is an interesting law, and once again shows how poorly constructed Alabama laws are as they relate to firearms.
b) It shall be unlawful for any person, other than a law enforcement officer, to have in his or her possession or on his or her person or in any vehicle any firearm
while participating in or attending any demonstration being held at a public place.
Am I to read this that as long as I am not
participating or there for the purposes of
attending
That I may carry? Of course we all know the law will be enforced for intention of the statute not for what it really says.
Lets say that there is a protest in front of City Hall, and I am going to eat lunch at the diner across the street but the location of the diner is within 1000 feet of the demonstration, my interpretation of this statute is that I am "good to go" since I will not be participating or attending the demonstration.
(c) It shall be unlawful for any person, other than a law enforcement officer as defined in subsection (a) of this section, to have in his or her possession or about his or her person or in any vehicle at a point within 1,000 feet of a demonstration at a public place, any firearm
after having first been advised by a law enforcement officer that a demonstration was taking place at a public place and after having been ordered by such officer to remove himself or herself from the prescribed area until such time as he or she no longer was in possession of any firearm. This subsection shall not apply to any person in possession of or having on his or her person any firearm within a private dwelling or other private building or structure.
So I can be armed provided that I am not personally informed there is a "Demonstration" is in progress by an LEO, and then the LEO must also order me to leave the area?. Seems to me that absent officers at every street corner telling anyone who enters that a demonstration is in progress this law has no real meaning either.
I also note that there is no statutory requirement for police officers to assume a perimeter around a demonstration and to post notificaitons or to make announcements of the fact that a demonstration is in progress.
Even if I view this from a utterly and overtly biased public safety standpoint, I have a hard time with it. We all know that there were in fact two armed individuals at the AZ shooting of REP. Gillfords besides Jared Loughner, and they played a role in that event, which reflected well on the judgment of CCW permit holders in clearly what was the embodiment of a "shoot don't Shoot" situation. They seemed to me to be well prepared for the situation, responded appropriately, and showed great restraint under tremendous stress, and excellent judgment in their reactions,,,IMHO. And as I recall only one of these persons was at the location of this shooting for the purpose to "attend or participate", the other just happened to be there.
I would also point out that not one person who was killed or injured by Loughner was also armed and able to defend themsleves.
Can anyone cite for me a case where a CCW permit holder has committed an unlawful assault or a homicide with a weapon at a public demonstration?
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Yes, there is. Code of Alabama, 13a-11-59 forbids carry of a firearm within 1000' of a public demonstration. Applicable portion:
(c) It shall be unlawful for any person, other than a law enforcement officer as defined in subsection (a) of this section, to have in his or her possession or about his or her person or in any vehicle at a point within 1,000 feet of a demonstration at a public place, any firearm after having first been advised by a law enforcement officer that a demonstration was taking place at a public place and after having been ordered by such officer to remove himself or herself from the prescribed area until such time as he or she no longer was in possession of any firearm. This subsection shall not apply to any person in possession of or having on his or her person any firearm within a private dwelling or other private building or structure.
