I'll be mildly surprised if our House passes the bill. Even if it does, recent changes in the Governor's Mansion puts the whole question up for grabs whether or not it will be signed into law. Bentley resigned rather than wait around to be impeached just a week or so ago. Our new governor, Kaye Ivey, is an unknown quantity when it comes to gun issues, as it was never expected that she would have any control over legislation on them. At least not expected to the point that local media and gun-rights .orgs questioned her extensively about it before being elected Lt. Governor.
As should be highly predictable also is the fact that all the cop unions and leadership of their associations are against this bill. Cops are always against freedom. It's "their job" to be, and they do "their jobs" very well here. I'll be amazed if this ever becomes law here. Happily amazed, but amazed nonetheless. If it does pass and gets signed, it will demonstrate a seismic shift in the state Governor's and legislature's relationships, and deference to, the state's law enforcement agencies. A shift towards upholding rights against the liberty-killing policies of the cops would be a greater sign to me that things can change for the positive than the singular issue of getting constitutional carry passed, though obviously, I'm all for that, but it's the change in mindset that I'd be most impressed by. While not optimistic about it, I'm cautiously hopeful at this point. We'll see in a couple or three months....
Blues