Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, speaks during a debate in the Alabama House of Representatives on April 25, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. He filed a bill adding a penalty to portion of permit-less carry law. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)
An Alabama state representative has filed a bill that would make it a misdemeanor to not inform law enforcement about a person carrying a concealed weapon.
State law already says that a person knowingly concealing a weapon on their person or vehicle shall immediately inform law enforcement in any encounter, such as a traffic stop. The legislation, HB 58 , sponsored by Rep. Chris England, D-Tuscaloosa, would add a penalty for not informing law enforcement, something missing from the current law.
“So if there’s no penalty, it essentially means that it’s unenforceable,” he said in a Thursday phone interview. “You can’t use it, you can’t do it, you can’t require anybody to do anything. It’s just there. So this bill attempts to make the promise that was made to law enforcement in negotiations regarding permitless carry. It attempts to make that promise whole.”