It’s an interesting time in Alabama.

Right now, a lot of folks are bummed about the college football national championship game on Monday night (Go Dawgs!) for one thing. For another, they’ve got their sheriffs association trying to put the kibosh on constitutional carry there in the state.

Not cool.

It seems the folks at the National Association of Gun Rights agree.

The National Association for Gun Rights (NAGR), which has long championed the implementation of constitutional carry across the nation, plans to be heavily involved in Alabama’s debate of the topic.

Dudley Brown, the association’s president, in a release urged constitutional carry advocates to apply pressure upon lawmakers to ensure the successful passage of the gun rights legislation.

“For the first time in a decade, the Alabama Legislature appears primed to pass a solid piece of pro-gun legislation,” advised Brown. “But the citizens of Alabama must keep the pressure on their elected officials and urge them to make Alabama the next Constitutional Carry state.”

…

In conjunction with its lobbying efforts, the gun rights group has also taken aim at the Alabama Sheriffs Association (ASA) which has stated its public dissension to constitutional carry legislation.

“It’s sad that certain sheriffs are actually fighting against restoring gun rights to law-abiding Alabamians,” stated Brown. “Constitutional Carry laws simply recognize what we all know to be true – that the government should not force you to get a permit in order to carry a handgun.”

NAGR claims that the ASA’s disapproval of the constitutional carry campaign places it in line with Moms Demand Action, a progressive self-proclaimed anti-gun violence organization.

According to NAGR, the ASA alleges that constitutional carry laws cause crime to rise and stop individuals from voluntarily obtaining permits. The gun rights group points to data which it claims shows that constitutional carry states are among the safest in the nation. It also says the law holds no negative impact on permits.

Frankly, Brown isn’t wrong about the Alabama Sheriffs Association being in line with Moms Demand Action, at least on this one. They, too, oppose constitutional carry and will likely use the ASA’s opposition as a talking point.

The truth is that law enforcement tends to get very worked up about constitutional carry, claiming that it’ll make their jobs harder or more dangerous, and then when the laws go into effect…nothing. No problems at all.

See, like we’ve said before, constitutional carry doesn’t actually impact criminals. They’re going to carry no matter what the law says.

More than that, if an officer sees a bulge in the pants of a “frequent flier” who they know is a felon, they still can act on that. They know the guy is prohibited, so why not?

What they can’t do is to demand to see a permit from someone who has done nothing wrong and who they have no reason to suspect has done anything unlawful. That may well lead to increased officer safety if you think about it.

The Alabama Sheriffs Association can be concerned all they want, but they cross the line when they decided to oppose the restoration of Alabamans Second Amendment rights as they were originally intended.