Gun-free zones are vanishing across Alabama because of a 2013 open carry law that “allows people to visibly wear pistols on government property.”
Gun rights proponents have rallied behind the law and spent the past two years filing complaints over “local governments and state agencies, … public parks, libraries and senior centers” that have yet to comply with the law. In turn, the state attorney general’s office has sent letters to the respective properties/facilities to urge compliance with the open carry law.
According to The Annistan Star, this methodology of filing a complaint, followed by a letter by the attorney general, resulted in opening numerous Selma facilities to open carry last year.
The city received a letter from Attorney General Luther Strange in December, urging compliance with the open carry law. Selma city attorney Jimmy Nunn said, “We don’t know who filed the complaint. We just know we heard from the attorney general’s office.”
As a result, open carry is now allowed in the Selma Interpretative Center, “Selma’s City Hall when the council isn’t in session, and at the local animal shelter.” Open carry is also allowed “at the Selma-Dallas County Public Library and the building that houses the Selma City Ceramic Art Program.”
The Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence’s Laura Cutilletta believes the expansion of open carry is dangerous, that more guns being carried by law-abiding citizens “increase[s] the risk of injury and death.”
She suggested the open carry law will also “create more work for law enforcement.”
AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.