1 HB44
2 214779-1
3 By Representatives Sorrell, Sullivan, Mooney, Kiel,
4 Stadthagen, Rowe, Kitchens, Whorton, Harbison, Wadsworth,
5 Estes, Wood (D), Dismukes, Lipscomb, Fincher, Holmes, Greer,
6 Easterbrook, Crawford, Carns, Standridge, Brown (C), Marques,
7 Robbins, Meadows, Moore (P), Garrett, Robertson, Stringer,
8 Gaston, Wheeler, Oliver, Hanes, McCutcheon, Smith, Wilcox,
9 Shedd, Treadaway and Isbell
10 RFD: Public Safety and Homeland Security
11 First Read: 11-JAN-22
12 PFD: 12/07/2021
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1 214779-1:n:10/27/2021:CNB/bm LSA2021-1670
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8 SYNOPSIS: This bill would repeal certain restrictions
9 on the carrying or possession of a firearm on
10 certain property or in a motor vehicle by persons
11 with or without a concealed pistol permit.
12 This bill would revise certain restrictions
13 on the carrying or possession of firearms at
14 certain locations.
15 This bill would eliminate the need for a
16 person to obtain a concealed carry permit in order
17 to carry a pistol.
18 This bill would also make nonsubstantive,
19 technical revisions to update the existing code
20 language to current style.
21 Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama
22 of 1901, as amended by Amendment 890, now appearing
23 as Section 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of
24 the Constitution of Alabama of 1901, prohibits a
25 general law whose purpose or effect would be to
26 require a new or increased expenditure of local
27 funds from becoming effective with regard to a
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1 local governmental entity without enactment by a
2 2/3 vote unless: it comes within one of a number of
3 specified exceptions; it is approved by the
4 affected entity; or the Legislature appropriates
5 funds, or provides a local source of revenue, to
6 the entity for the purpose.
7 The purpose or effect of this bill would be
8 to require a new or increased expenditure of local
9 funds within the meaning of the amendment. However,
10 the bill does not require approval of a local
11 governmental entity or enactment by a 2/3 vote to
12 become effective because it comes within one of the
13 specified exceptions contained in the amendment.
14
15 A BILL
16 TO BE ENTITLED
17 AN ACT
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19 Relating to firearms; to amend Sections 13A-11-7,
20 13A-11-50, 13A-11-55, 13A-11-61.2, 13A-11-62, 13A-11-71,
21 13A-11-75, as last amended by Act 2021-246, 2021 Regular
22 Session, and Sections 13A-11-85 and 13A-11-90, Code of Alabama
23 1975, to delete certain language regarding the carrying of a
24 visible pistol; to delete certain language regarding the
25 carrying of a concealed pistol; to revise certain restrictions
26 on the carrying or possession of firearms at certain
27 locations; to eliminate the requirement for a person to obtain
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1 a concealed carry permit in order to carry a pistol; to revise
2 language regarding an employee storing a firearm in the
3 employee's vehicle; to make nonsubstantive, technical
4 revisions to update the existing code language to current
5 style; to repeal Sections 9-11-304, 13A-11-52, 13A-11-73, and
6 13A-11-74, Code of Alabama 1975, relating to the carrying or
7 possession of a firearm or pistol, to repeal certain
8 restrictions on the carrying or possession of a firearm on
9 certain property or in a motor vehicle; and in connection
10 therewith would have as its purpose or effect the requirement
11 of a new or increased expenditure of local funds within the
12 meaning of Amendment 621 of the Constitution of Alabama of
13 1901, as amended by Amendment 890, now appearing as Section
14 111.05 of the Official Recompilation of the Constitution of
15 Alabama of 1901.
16 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
17 Section 1. Sections 13A-11-7, 13A-11-50, 13A-11-55,
18 13A-11-61.2, 13A-11-62, 13A-11-71, 13A-11-85, and 13A-11-90,
19 Code of Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows:
20 "13A-11-7.
21 "(a) A person commits the crime of disorderly
22 conduct if, with intent to cause public inconvenience,
23 annoyance, or alarm, or recklessly creating a risk thereof, he
24 or she does any of the following:
25 "(1) Engages in fighting or in violent tumultuous or
26 threatening behavior.
27 "(2) Makes unreasonable noise.
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1 "(3) In a public place uses abusive or obscene
2 language or makes an obscene gesture.
3 "(4) Without lawful authority, disturbs any lawful
4 assembly or meeting of persons.
5 "(5) Obstructs vehicular or pedestrian traffic, or a
6 transportation facility.
7 "(6) Congregates with other person another person in
8 a public place and refuses to comply with a lawful order of
9 law enforcement to disperse.
10 "(b) Disorderly conduct is a Class C misdemeanor.
11 "(c) It shall be a rebuttable presumption that the
12 The mere carrying of a visible pistol, holstered or secured,
13 in a public place, in and of itself, is not a violation of
14 this section.
15 "(d) Nothing in Act 2013-283 shall be construed to
16 prohibit law enforcement personnel who have reasonable
17 suspicion from acting to prevent a breach of the peace or from
18 taking action to preserve public safety.
19 "13A-11-50.
20 "Except as otherwise provided in this Code by law, a
21 person who carries concealed about his person a bowie knife or
22 knife or instrument of like kind or description or a pistol or
23 firearm of any other kind or an air gun shall, on conviction,
24 be fined not less than $50.00 fifty dollars ($50) nor more
25 than $500.00 five hundred dollars ($500), and may also be
26 imprisoned in the county jail or sentenced to hard labor for
27 the county for not more than six months.
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1 "13A-11-55.
2 "(a) In an indictment for In the prosecution for
3 carrying weapons unlawfully, it is sufficient for the
4 complaint to state, with particularity, to charge that the
5 defendant carried concealed about his or her person a pistol,
6 or other description of firearms, on premises not his own, or
7 a bowie knife, or other knife or instrument of the like kind
8 or description, or other forbidden weapon., describing it, as
9 the case may be;
10 "(b) and the excuse, if any, must be proved by the
11 defendant on the trial, to the satisfaction of the jury; and
12 if the evidence offered to excuse the charge raises a
13 reasonable doubt of the defendant's guilt, the jury must
14 acquit him. The burden of injecting the issue of justification
15 in subsection (a) is on the defendant, but this does not shift
16 the burden of proof.
17 "13A-11-61.2.
18 "(a) In addition to any other place limited or
19 prohibited by state or federal law, a person, including a
20 person with a permit issued under Section 13A-11-75(a)(1) or
21 recognized under Section 13A-11-85, may not knowingly possess
22 or carry a firearm in any of the following places without the
23 express permission of a person or entity with authority over
24 the premises:
25 "(1) Inside the building of a police, sheriff, or
26 highway patrol station.
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1 "(2) Inside or on the premises of a prison, jail,
2 halfway house, community corrections facility, or other
3 detention facility for those who have been charged with or
4 convicted of a criminal or juvenile offense. It is not a
5 violation of this subdivision to knowingly possess or carry a
6 firearm at a location described in this subdivision if the
7 location is also a sheriff's office that issues pistol permits
8 and the pistol remains inside a locked vehicle at all times
9 while the person is on the premises.
10 "(3) Inside a facility which provides inpatient or
11 custodial care of those with psychiatric, mental, or emotional
12 disorders.
13 "(4)a. Inside a courthouse, a courthouse annex, a
14 building in which a district attorney's office is located, or
15 a building in which a county commission or city council is
16 currently having a regularly scheduled or specially called
17 meeting.
18 "b. For purposes of this subdivision, "courthouse
19 annex" means a building that is currently having regularly
20 scheduled or specially called court hearings.
21 "(5) Inside any facility hosting an athletic event
22 not related to or involving firearms which is sponsored by a
23 private or public elementary or secondary school or any
24 private or public institution of postsecondary education,
25 unless the person has a permit issued under Section
26 13A-11-75(a)(1) or recognized under Section 13A-11-85.
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1 "(6) Inside any facility hosting a professional
2 athletic event not related to or involving firearms, unless
3 the person has a permit issued under Section 13A-11-75(a)(1)
4 or recognized under Section 13A-11-85.
5 "(b) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection
6 (a), a person, including a person with a permit issued under
7 Section 13A-11-75(a)(1) or recognized under Section 13A-11-85,
8 may not, without the express permission of a person or entity
9 with authority over the premises, may not knowingly possess or
10 carry a firearm inside any building or facility to which
11 access of unauthorized persons and prohibited articles is
12 limited during normal hours of operation by the continuous
13 on-site posting of guards who are responsible for the
14 prevention of prohibited items from entering the facility, and
15 the use of other security features, including, but not limited
16 to, magnetometers, key cards, biometric screening devices, or
17 turnstiles or other physical barriers that prevent all persons
18 entering the facility from bringing prohibited items into the
19 facility. Nothing in this subsection otherwise restricts the
20 possession, transportation, or storage of a lawfully possessed
21 firearm or ammunition in an employee's privately owned motor
22 vehicle while parked or operated in a public or private
23 parking area provided the employee complies with the
24 requirements of Section 13A-11-90.
25 "(c) The person or entity with authority over the
26 premises set forth in subdivisions (1) to (6), inclusive, of
27 subsection (a) and subsection (b) shall place a notice at the
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1 public entrances of such the premises or buildings alerting
2 those entering that firearms are prohibited.
3 "(d) Except as provided in subdivisions (5) and (6)
4 of subsection (a), any Any firearm on the premises of any
5 facility set forth in subdivision (1) of subsection (a), or
6 subdivisions (4) to (6) inclusive, of subsection (a), or
7 subsection (b) must shall be kept from ordinary observation
8 and locked within a compartment or in the interior of the
9 person's motor vehicle or in a compartment or container
10 securely affixed to the motor vehicle.
11 "(e) A violation of subsection (a), (b), or (d) is a
12 Class C misdemeanor.
13 "(f) This section shall not prohibit any person from
14 possessing a firearm within the person's residence or during
15 ingress or egress thereto.
16 "(g) Prohibitions regarding the carrying of a
17 firearm under this section shall not apply to law enforcement
18 officers engaged in the lawful execution of their official
19 duties or a qualified retired law enforcement officer. For
20 purposes of this section, qualified retired law enforcement
21 officer shall mean a retired officer who meets all of the
22 following requirements:
23 "(1) Was separated from service in good standing
24 from service with a public agency as a law enforcement
25 officer.
26 "(2) Before separation, was authorized by law to
27 engage in or supervise the prevention, detection,
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1 investigation, or prosecution of, or the incarceration of any
2 person for, any violation of law, and had statutory powers of
3 arrest.
4 "(3) Before separation, served as a law enforcement
5 officer for an aggregate of 10 years or more and separated
6 from service with such agency, after completing any applicable
7 probationary period of such service, due to a
8 service-connected disability, as determined by the agency.
9 "(4) During the most recent 12-month period, has
10 met, at the expense of the individual, the standards for
11 qualification in firearms training for active law enforcement
12 officers, as determined by the former agency of the
13 individual, the state in which the individual resides or, if
14 the state has not established such standards, either a law
15 enforcement agency within the state in which the individual
16 resides or the standards used by a certified firearms
17 instructor that is qualified to conduct a firearms
18 qualification test for active duty officers within that state.
19 "(5) Has not been officially found by a qualified
20 medical professional employed by the agency to be unqualified
21 for reasons relating to mental health, and as a result, will
22 not be issued the photographic identification described in
23 subdivision (8) and has not entered into an agreement with the
24 agency from which the individual is separating from service in
25 which that individual acknowledges he or she is not qualified
26 under this section for reasons relating to mental health and
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1 for those reasons will not receive or accept the photographic
2 identification as described in subsection subdivision (8).
3 "(6) Is not under the influence of alcohol or
4 another intoxicating or hallucinatory drug or substance.
5 "(7) Is not prohibited by state or federal law from
6 receiving a firearm.
7 "(8) Is carrying any of the following identification
8 documents:
9 "a. A photographic identification issued by the
10 agency from which the individual separated from service as a
11 law enforcement officer that identifies the person as having
12 been employed as a police officer or law enforcement officer
13 and indicates that the individual has, not less recently than
14 one year before the date the individual is carrying the
15 concealed firearm, been tested or otherwise found by the
16 agency to meet the active duty standards for qualification in
17 firearms training as established by the agency to carry a
18 firearm of the same type as the concealed firearm.
19 "b. A photographic identification issued by the
20 agency from which the individual separated from service as a
21 law enforcement officer that identifies the person as having
22 been employed as a police officer or law enforcement officer,
23 and a certification issued by the state in which the
24 individual resides or by a certified firearms instructor who
25 is qualified to conduct a firearms qualification test for
26 active duty officers within that state that indicates that the
27 individual, not less than one year before the date the
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1 individual is carrying the concealed firearm, has been tested
2 or otherwise found by the state or a certified firearms
3 instructor who is qualified to conduct a firearms
4 qualification test for active duty officers within that state
5 to have met either of the following:
6 "1. The active duty standards for qualification in
7 firearms training, as established by the state, to carry a
8 firearm of the same type as the concealed firearm.
9 "2. If the state has not established such standards,
10 standards set by any law enforcement agency within that state
11 to carry a firearm of the same type as the concealed firearm.
12 "(h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to
13 authorize the carrying or possession of a firearm where
14 prohibited by federal law.
15 "13A-11-62.
16 "For purposes of this division, the following terms
17 shall have the following meanings, unless the context clearly
18 indicates otherwise:
19 "(1) FIREARM. Definition is same as provided in
20 Section 13A-8-1(4).
21 "(2) RIFLE. Any weapon designed or redesigned, made
22 or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and
23 designed or redesigned and made or remade to use the energy of
24 the explosive in a fixed metallic cartridge to fire only a
25 single projectile through a rifled bore for each pull of the
26 trigger.
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1 "(3) SHOTGUN. A weapon designed or redesigned, made
2 or remade, and intended to be fired from the shoulder and
3