Sheriff working with law makers on constitutional carry bills – Sand Mountain Reporter

Marshall County Sheriff Phil Sims is making it clear how he feels about the constitutional carry bills now before the legislature.

In a recent interview, Alabama Sheriffs Association Executive Director Bobby Timmons reportedly said Americans dont have the right to carry a handgun and that he would be in favor of changing the Constitution to limit the Second Amendment.

Bobby Timmons may be our Executive Director but he does not speak for us all, Sims said. I am a Republican conservative sheriff. I believe in the Second Amendment and I support the Second Amendment. He does not speak for me and what he said does not reflect my views as the sheriff of this county.

Sims said there are several bills being looked at in the session right now that involve the constitutional carry, also known as permit-less carry.

I have read several of the bills and am working with our local delegation and with our Lieutenant Governors office to help make the bills better, Sims continued.

In HB-66, or House Bill 66, there are some things I would like to see added to it.

Sims said many things are important to address.

In this bill, what I would like to see is a more definitive answer as to certain persons who are forbidden to carry guns, he continued. Examples are anyone convicted of a felony needs to be added to this bill. Right now, in Alabama, if you are convicted of a non-violent felony, you can posses a pistol. Its contrary to federal law. Alabama law conflicts with federal law, in that part of it. I want to see that if you are convicted of a felony, until you get it expunged, you cant have a pistol.

These will go to the repeat offenders who have low level felonies, like drugs offenses, burglaries, thefts, interference with custody, those type things. Another thing Id like to see addressed is people who are out on bond for felony arrests. No matter what the arrest is, if you are out on bond for a felony arrest, I dont believe those people have the right to carry a pistol until their case is disposed of. That needs to be addressed in this bill, Sims continued.

Another thing I would like to see more definitive is our mental health issues that we face. We are in a mental health crisis right now. Some of the most dangerous calls that we answer are mental health related. I would like to see that be addressed. For instance, if you have been involuntarily committed, those people should not have a weapon or firearm until they are cleared by a medical doctor.

Sims says taking away pistol permits actually hurts his officers.

If permits were gone, we couldnt track people who have come from out of state and have felony convictions. Right now, we can track it because we can check peoples permits, he said. We need to have those things addressed in the bill so when we do come across those people who get guns, we need to have a tool to be able to take that gun away from that person. Yes, they are going to get guns but if we dont have a tool to take it from them, we cant take the gun.

Sims said he would even be willing to negotiate and give up the permits, as long as they can maintain a way for law enforcement to still take the guns off the streets from those who should not have them.

Pistol permits are $10 a year and the revenue greatly helps law enforcement, Sims said. If the permits were dropped, that revenue would then have to come from somewhere else.

The pistol permit fees go into a discretionary account that is audited by the the Public Examiners of the State, he said. Those funds go to things like training, guns, ammo, sending deputies to the academy, vehicles sometimes, new training facilities and even a new firing range weve never had.

My goal is to see that the permits remain, if nothing else, as voluntary. I think citizens would buy a permit and want to continue to support their local law enforcement, Sims said.

A pistol permit can also be used as an ID in the State of Alabama.

No doubt about it. I think if law abiding citizens want to carry guns, they have the right to. Theres no question about that, Sims said.

Timmons has come under fire from gun groups for his statements.

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Sheriff working with law makers on constitutional carry bills - Sand Mountain Reporter