UAH Shooting

"we charged him with carrying a concealed weapon without a permit,"

Strange, but true.  I've talked with a couple of sheriff's departments and that's the way it works.  The whole thing revolves around a couple of legal issues:

Section 13A-11-59 of the Alabama Code

(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.

Demonstration Defined:

(1) DEMONSTRATION. Demonstrating, picketing, speechmaking or marching, holding of vigils and all other like forms of conduct which involve the communication or expression of views or grievances engaged in by one or more persons, the conduct of which has the effect, intent or propensity to draw a crowd or onlookers. Such term shall not include casual use of property by visitors or tourists which does not have an intent or propensity to attract a crowd or onlookers.

The excerpt above, paragraph (b), is the ONLY restriction in the Alabama Code I’ve found on where you can carry a firearm in the state of Alabama.  This restriction is on the carrying of firearms at “demonstrations”, it doesn’t matter if the weapon is concealed or not.  For that matter there is no provision in the Alabama code that prohibits the open carry of handguns and there is an Attorney General’s opinion from a few years back that supports the legality of open carry.

Back to the county license issue.  The concealed carry licensing program is completely under the control of each county sheriff.  He determines what information is obtained, references checked, … He decides what restrictions are placed on where you are not permitted to carry a concealed weapon in his county.  All these things are decided by each sheriff and can be changed any time he decides to make changes.  The provisions of the concealed carry program are not even covered under the county ordinances.  As a result of all this when you are issued a carry permit it is valid only as long as you carry in accordance with the restrictions of the issuing sheriff.

From the Baldwin County website:

Your license does not authorize you to carry a pistol into any establishment that serves alcohol or to be in possession of a pistol while consuming alcohol.

Your license does not authorize you to carry a pistol inside an airport, courthouse or any other public building that specifically prohibits firearms.  This includes city, state, and federal facilities.

Your license does not authorize you to carry a pistol at any public gathering such as sporting events, political events, parades, etc. (Title 13A-11-59)

As you can see, Baldwin County prohibits the carry of concealed weapons in places that serve booze or while you are consuming alcohol (in your own home?).  Limestone County doesn’t have any booze related restrictions so if I’m visiting Baldwin County and eat dinner in a Pizza Hut, that serves beer, with a friend that has a Baldwin County CCL,  I’m legally allowed to keep my handgun on my person but my friend would not.  If caught, my friend would be guilty of carrying a concealed weapon without a license because entering that establishment automatically voided his license.  On the other end of the scale, if my friend was visiting me and we went to a Limestone County restaurant that serves beer, he would not be legal if he carried his firearm into the establishment even though Limestone County doesn’t have that restriction.

An interesting aspect of the Baldwin County restrictions is that it prohibits carrying a concealed weapon at a sporting event citing Alabama Code, Title 13A-11-59.  If you look at the portions of the code which I quoted above you’ll see that the Alabama Code does not include sporting events in the definition of “Demonstrations”.

Why would you expect the legalities of carrying a concealed weapon be any less screwed up as the rest of the Alabama law and the Alabama Constitution?