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Under Alabama law, individuals carrying a concealed firearm must inform law enforcement officers of the firearm when asked. However, there is currently no criminal penalty for violating the law.
HB-58, pre-filed last week by Rep. Chris England, would institute a criminal penalty for those who do not properly disclose their possession of a concealed firearm to a law enforcement officer when asked.
“Any person who knowingly possesses a pistol or firearm concealed on or about his or her person or in a vehicle occupied by the person, and who is asked by a law enforcement officer operating in the line or scope of his or her official duties whether he or she is armed with a concealed pistol or firearm, shall immediately inform the law enforcement officer that the person is in possession of a pistol or firearm,” the law currently reads.
England’s amendment would add a subsection to the law, making a violation a Class A misdemeanor. Class A misdemeanors are the most severe type of misdemeanor in Alabama law and can result in up to one year in jail and up to $6,000 in fines.
If passed, the criminal penalty would be added to the law on Oct. 1, 2025.
The bill’s pre-filing comes less than a month after a deadly mass shooting in Birmingham’ Five Points South nightlife district left four dead and 17 injured in September.
In the wake of the shooting, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin has called for legislative action to address gun violence in the state.
“Do not tell me this is not solvable. At the same time, do not tell me this is only on the police to solve,” Woodfin said following the shooting. “Elected officials — locally, statewide and nationally — have a duty to solve this American crisis, this American epidemic of gun violence.”
In his appeal to legislators, Woodfin noted that Birmingham saw a sharp decline in gun violence when a federal ban on assault weapons went into effect in 1994, but that violent crime saw a resurgence once the ban expired 10 years later. Birmingham Police Chief Scott Thurmond had disclosed that investigators believe at least one fully automatic weapon was used in the Five Points South shooting.
