After a new law threatens to cut into their slush fund, Sheriffs in this deep red state are losing their minds.
And boy, are they furious.
Sadly, these elected officials seem more interested in protecting their bottom-line instead of upholding the Constitution they swore to protect.
Alabama Sheriffs and County Commissioners Claim Sky is Falling After Passing of Constitutional Carry
Earlier this year, the Alabama Legislature sent House Bill 272 to Governor Kay Ivey’s desk where she promptly signed it into law.
This legislation, commonly known as Constitutional Carry, simply removes the requirement for citizens in Alabama to first obtain a concealed carry permit in order to carry a concealed pistol.
Open carry without a permit was already legal in Alabama, this bill just brought concealed carry into equity with open carry.
Constitutional Carry laws have been sweeping the nation as of late, with 21 states enacting this popular pro-gun legislation since 2014.
The law, which doesn’t even take effect until January 2023, is already being blamed by Alabama Sheriffs and County Commissioners for declining revenue and making radically dire predictions about the financial impact of the passage of Constitutional Carry on their departments, claiming that they could see a revenue reduction of up to 50 percent.
Sheriffs and Democrat opponents of Constitutional Carry jumped quickly at the opportunity to accuse Republicans of “defunding the police” during the legislative fight over Constitutional Carry.
But the facts coming out of the other 24 states to have passed Constitutional Carry have not proven their “sky is falling” predictions about their financial condition to be even remotely true.
In fact, there is a greater correlation between permit fee revenues nationwide and which political party holds the White House than there is between permit fee revenues and the passage of Constitutional Carry.
Taxing a fundamental right
But that all begs the question if Sheriffs and other government agencies should even be balancing their checkbooks on the backs of law-abiding gun owners in the first place?
The right to keep and bear arms is clearly protected in the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The permitting system is a relatively new creation and goes counter to the original intent that the Framers had in drafting the Second Amendment.
Permit fees are, after all, just a tax on a fundamental right.
If you don’t pay it, you could go to jail.
Sadly, too many of these Alabama Sheriffs, and Sheriffs elsewhere, sound like anti-gun Democrats as they go about misinforming the public about the impact of Constitutional Carry laws in their attempts to protect their slush funds.
In fact, the Executive Director of the Alabama Sheriffs’ Association openly admitted to working with the Michael Bloomberg-funded anti-gun Astro Turf organization, “Moms Demand Action” to try to defeat Constitutional Carry.
But it wasn’t just financial destruction that these Sheriffs were predicting, but the very breakdown of society itself.
Constitutional Carry reduces crime
John Lott of the Crime Prevention Research Center has written much about the impact on crime rates when law-abiding citizens are given the ability to defend themselves.
He laid out a strong statistical case in his book, More Guns, Less Crime where he shows by the numbers that states with less restrictions on the right to carry have lower crime rates and states with more restrictions on the right to carry have higher crime rates.
And the principle is true with Constitutional Carry laws too.
According to WVNews.com back in 2021, violent crime rates dropped in the years following West Virginia’s passage of Constitutional Carry during the 2016 legislative session.
In fact, during the Constitutional Carry fight in Alabama earlier this year, the West Virginia Sheriffs’ Association reportedly sent a letter to Alabama lawmakers letting them know that Constitutional Carry did not have the dire effects on officer safety and permit fee revenue that were being purported by some.
With crime rates soaring nationwide in the wake of the “defund the police” movement and other liberal policies looking to undermine the rule of law in our nation, the other 25 states would do well for their citizens by joining the Constitutional Carry club and give them a fighting chance against the rising rates of violent crime.
US Political Daily will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
