By supporting ‘constitutional carry,’ are Alabama Republicans ‘defunding the police’?

Twenty-one states have “constitutional carry” laws, meaning they do not require licenses to carry a weapon or firearm openly or concealed

Twenty-one states have “constitutional carry” laws, meaning they do not require licenses to carry a weapon or firearm openly or concealed, according to Matt Collins, director of legislation for Florida Gun Rights, a state National Association for Gun Rights affiliate. (Dreamstime/TNS)TNS

Marengo County Sheriff Richard “Ben” Bates wants the public to know he’s supportive of gun ownership and encourages women to get familiar with using a gun for their own protection.

He also has taken his daughters to a shooting range, so they can target practice.

As the sheriff of a small Black Belt county, the permits his office issues for conceal carry gun permits also provide an important source of revenue for his agency. And if Alabama lawmakers go forward with plans to do away with the need for those permits, the money it generates will need to be raised elsewhere.

“The county commission will have to raise taxes for this,” said Bates.

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He’s not the only one expressing concerns about losing annual revenues – potentially millions of dollars statewide - from the permit fees that historically help fund the state’s 67 sheriff’s departments.

In the past two weeks, the phrase “defund the police” has surfaced in the debate over the fate of permitless carry legislation. The Alabama Senate will take the measure up soon. Legislation that would do away with legal penalties for carrying concealed firearms without a permit was adopted by the Alabama House last week, on a 65-37 vote.

The debate over the issue has mostly centered around public safety. Sheriffs have long contended the permits provide them a tool to screen people who should not possess a gun.

But a financial hit to the agencies also looms over the debate, even if it’s taken a backseat to the safety concerns expressed by sheriffs by doing away with Alabama’s provision requiring gun owners to purchase a permit if they conceal a handgun or carry a gun in their vehicle. Alabama is otherwise an open-carry state.

The Alabama Sheriff’s Association and the Association of County Commissions of Alabama have voiced concerns about the financial implications of removing the permit requirement. Their claim is that a loss of concealed carry permit revenues will require county commissions throughout Alabama to dip into General Funds and pay for equipment purchases and vehicles.

Smaller counties, according to officials with both associations, will be the most affected.

“Anyone who says it won’t cause financial decision to be made is not telling the truth,” said Sonny Brasfield, executive director with the ACCA. “You cannot say it won’t impact the sheriffs financially. It will.”

Permitless carry proponents say the sheriffs and other opponents are overstating their concerns, and point to the 21 states that do not require gun owners to purchase a permit to carry concealed weapons.

“Not one of those 21 states have attempted to repeal their (permitless carry) bills because of any issues, and certainly fees would be included in there,” said State Rep. Allen Treadaway, R-Birmingham, who served as the city’s assistant police chief until retiring in 2020. “It’s not like we don’t have a blueprint to follow here.”

Supporters also say there won’t be a big drop off in permits purchased from sheriffs. The permits will still be needed to carry concealed guns whenever traveling to other states, or while visiting a military base.

Other supporters believe that out of principle, the county governments should not be supporting public services with concealed carry permit fees.

“We don’t charge people to the right to free speech or for the right to vote,” said state Rep. Andrew Sorrell, R-Muscle Shoals. “This is basically a poll tax. You have a constitutional right as long as you pay your sheriff for it.”

‘Irony is not lost’

Politics has also surfaced in the dispute, with Democrats and some Republicans accusing the GOP supporters of permitless carry that they are backing the defunding of a police initiative.

Republicans have sought to link Democrats to the nationwide “defund the police” movement since it gained momentum following the May 2020 killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis. Thirteen mostly large cities in the U.S. have since adopted measures to reduce funding for policing agencies in favor of boosting non-policing services like social and youth services and housing.

“I do find it ironic that the Republicans ram through a bill that literally defunds the police,” said Wade Perry, executive director with the Alabama Democratic Party. “The law enforcement officers, by and large, are opposed to it. This bill makes it tougher on them financially. It has a public safety impact and impacts their safety to do an already tough job.”

Alabama GOP Chairman John Wahl said the Democratic Party is “spreading misinformation” about the party’s stance. He said the GOP remains “very supportive of our state’s law enforcement,” while also backing “people’s constitutional rights” to own and possess a gun without having to pay a permit fee.

“It is the Democratic Party who has been calling to defund the police, and it seems a bit hypocritical for them to change their tune now.”

Minneapolis police

FILE - In this June 7, 2020, file photo, Alondra Cano, a city council member, speaks during "The Path Forward" meeting at Powderhorn Park in Minneapolis. The focus of the meeting was the defunding of the Minneapolis Police Department. (Jerry Holt/Star Tribune via AP, File)AP

But in Alabama, where the GOP enjoys supermajority dominance in the Legislature, some Republican lawmakers and sheriffs are equating the permitless carry push to a reduction in budgeting for law enforcement.

The Alabama House adopted a bill last week that does not spell out how to supplement the loss revenues for the sheriff’s agencies. The legislative fiscal note attached to the bill, HB272, says it would reduce permit revenues to the counties and that the amount was “undetermined.”

In Tennessee, where permitless carry was approved last year, the estimated revenue loss is $20 million.

“The irony is not lost, I can assure you,” said Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones, a Republican who has been in law enforcement for 47 years. “If you consider anything that removes funds from law enforcement would be defunding law enforcement, then technically it applies in this situation.”

Permit revenue generates around $250,000 in any given year for Jones’ agencies. While the most doesn’t pay salaries, it does support ongoing training and education, technology upgrades, and equipment like bulletproof vests.

In Baldwin County, Republican Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack said the permit fees generate $600,000 to $650,000 per year to support training and equipment purchases. He said there have been no discussions with the county commission on how those funds could be replaced, although he said the county commission would be asked to dip into the General Fund to make up the losses.

In Montgomery County, Democratic Sheriff Derrick Cunningham said the county brings in around $760,000 each year in permit fees. He said the money does support five employees who handle permitting within his office, and he does not plan on laying off workers if the permits go away.

“Yes, the Republican supermajority is defunding law enforcement especially in the smaller counties which will result in response times, and some services being stopped,” Cunningham said. “Which, again, is public safety.”

Ridiculous premise’

Gun rights groups and some GOP political strategists caution against calling the permitless carry push – often called “constitutional carry” by proponents – an effort to defund law enforcement in Alabama.

D.J. Parten with the National Association for Gun Rights, which is pushing permitless carry measures nationwide including in Alabama, said that the effort has “nothing to do with funding for law enforcement because there is no correlation between number of permits issued and the adopt of Constitutional Carry laws.”

He said that if critics of the effort feel otherwise, he encourages “them to look for other ways to provide revenue for the sheriff’s office beside taxing a select group of people who want to exercise a constitutionally guarantee right.”

Parten added, “If someone can legally possess a firearm, they should be able to carry that firearm without being forced to pay a fee or get a government permit.”

Jonathan Gray, a GOP strategist based in Mobile, said the permitless carry effort in Alabama has been underway since former Gov. Bob Riley’s administration, and long before the recent “defund the police” movement.

“Saying ‘defund the police’ is the result of cutting out permit fees is not the same thing as an Illinois protester saying, ‘defund the police,’” said Gray. “That’s way beyond pale. It’s a ridiculous premise. No one from Alabama on the Republican side of the bench is considering ‘defund the police’ in the context of the liberal majority around the country is talking about.”

Angi Horn, a political consultant based in Montgomery, cautions critics of the measure to be careful about how they describe the issue. She said that there are sheriffs in Alabama who back permitless carry and are not overly concerned about the loss of permit fee revenues.

Sheriffs in Limestone, Cullman and Lawrence counties have taken different stances than the Sheriffs Association.

“It’s just not cut and dry when it comes to law enforcement,” Horn said.

Treadaway also noted that the 400-plus municipal police forces in Alabama do not receive permit fee revenues to support their agencies. In Alabama, only the state’s 67 county sheriffs receive funding from the concealed carry permits.

‘Comes down to funding’

Still, some GOP lawmakers are worried about adopting permitless carry without addressing potential hits to sheriff budgets.

“As with so many things, it comes down to funding,” said State Senator Chris Elliott, R-Daphne. “The sheriffs are making a good argument on public safety. I don’t think anyone’s beef is the public safety side. The beef is they have to pay to exercise a constitutional right.”

State Rep. Allen Farley, R-McCalla, was the lone House Republican to speak out against the measure while it was disputed on the House floor.

He was also one of nine Republicans to vote against the bill.

During a committee hearing, Farley said the Legislature is “fixing to defund” law enforcement if the legislation passes” and he rattled off several states – Kentucky, Kansas and Oklahoma – where permit sales dropped considerably since their lawmakers adopted permitless carry.

“If you have a sheriff and his sources are limited, does this defund him? Yes, it does,” Farley said. He said that comments about permit fees create a “slush fund” for sheriffs are inaccurate since the Alabama Department of Examiners of Public Accounts audits them annually.

“The sheriffs use this for school resource officers, patrol officers, radios, computers, cars, automatic defibrillators, extradition of felons from other states, DARE programs, and children’s advocacy,” said Farley. “Let’s be serious, what you are doing here is defunding the police.”

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