Relocating to Alabama
P

Plas62

New member
Hi All

I'm new to this forum and currently live in Ohio. I have accepted a job in Lanett AL and will be relocating to the Auburn / Opelika area in the next 30 - 60 days. I currently have a Ohio CCW permit and would like to get my Alabama permit asap once I move to AL.

From what I've been able to find on the web it looks like Alabama is a "May Issue State" with permit approval being controlled by the county sheriff. Is it fairly easy to get your pistol permit in Lee County or should I be looking at houses in the Chambers county area?

Are there any forum members who live in that area who could advise me on a good school district (my son's a Sophomore) and / or gun ranges or shooting clubs in the area??

Thanks
Plas62
 

Best bet would be to contact both of those agencies... Depends upon the Sheriff of the county you reside in but some will require you to be a resident for a certain amount of time before issuing.
 
I don't know how I missed this thread. I moved from the Soprano State to Blount County a year ago, and the CCW process was routine and efficient. I went to the sheriff's office, filled out a one-page form, showed my driver's license, and got my permit in about 5 minutes.

It is far easier to get a CCW license in Alabama than to get a permit to purchase a handgun in New Jersey, even if you already have purchased handguns. So notice how low the crime rate is in Newark, Camden, Trenton, Jersey City . . .

New Jersey and Alabama are both "may issue" states in theory, but in practice Alabama is "shall issue" and New Jersey is "won't issue."
 
Now You Must Choose...

Welcome to Dixie!!! I also moved here from ohia, will never return north. Now you must choose... Alabama Crimson Tide or auburn tigers? lol The gun laws here are very relaxed, not sure about the crime rate, but I also walked into the local SO, talked to the sheriff before I went, and had my lisence within 5 mins. Walked from the office to the local "if they make it, we sell it" store, chose my gun (a Ruger P94 .40 S&W), filled the paperwork, got some ammo, paid my money, and walked out.... no waiting period here.
 
Plas62 said:
Hi All

I'm new to this forum and currently live in Ohio. I have accepted a job in Lanett AL and will be relocating to the Auburn / Opelika area in the next 30 - 60 days. I currently have a Ohio CCW permit and would like to get my Alabama permit asap once I move to AL.

From what I've been able to find on the web it looks like Alabama is a "May Issue State" with permit approval being controlled by the county sheriff. Is it fairly easy to get your pistol permit in Lee County or should I be looking at houses in the Chambers county area?

Are there any forum members who live in that area who could advise me on a good school district (my son's a Sophomore) and / or gun ranges or shooting clubs in the area??

Thanks
Plas62
Click to expand...

Forget the whole 'May Issue' thing. Alabama just doesn't have a state wide law about concealed carry permits. It is left up to the county sheriffs to decide the actual requirements. If you look, the NRA and the Brady bunch both like AL 's concealed carry law. The Brady bunch likes it because it doesn't say 'Shall Issue' in the state law and the NRA likes it because they've actually looked at how the permits are handled. The only draw back is that some states don't like it and will not make a reciprocity agreement with AL.



Lee County is $20 a year for the permit. It used to be $15 but I think the new sheriff wanted to do away with having to keep change for a $20 around. No finger prints required. The sheriff will even send you a nice reminder card at the beginning of the month that your permit is due for renewal. The renewal can be done by mail or by dropping by the Sheriff's Office and taking about 5 or 10 minutes out of your day.

In that area, the city of Auburn would be your best bet. They have the best school system in the area. Lanet is only about 20-25 miles up the interstate, so the commute isn't outrageous.

There's an unsupervised 100 yard range out in the Tuskegee National Forest that is the closest. There's also a gun club outside Phenix City (East Alabama Gun Club - Link Removed ) that would be the next closest. Then you have an indoor range in Columbus, GA about 45 minutes away and any ranges in the Montgomery area that may still be open.
 
On January 1, 2001, when Iowa joins the "shall issue" club and recognizes all CCW permits, Alabama's permit will be good in half the 50 states. The main obstacle for many of the other states is that Alabama does not require any kind of shooting or gun safety course. For example, all my other permits (NH, ME, PA, UT, FL, VA, CT) require proof of having taken a course at one level or another.

Plas62, an Alabama lawyer who specializes in gun and self-defense cases told me that he is unaware of any instance in which a law-abiding Alabama citizen was arbitrarily turned down for a CCW permit. You will find, however, that the physical permits range from quite professionally made down to simple printouts on computer paper, not even laminated.
 
G50AE said:
I may get flamed for saying this but, I personally have a problem with Alabama's lack of a standard "shall-issue" law. I do not wish to rely on the goodwill of a particular sheriff on this issue, especially given Alabama's less than stellar history on the subject of race relations. What's to stop a sheriff from refusing to issue permits to black people, well, because they're black?!? Just because it has not happened does not mean that it cannot happen.
Click to expand...

The same could be said of ANY 'May Issue' state that gives the ranking LEO of a county or city discretionary powers.


But mostly because it's NOT 1960 any more- even in the 'wilds' of Alabama. Believe it or not. :angry:

Seriously, you've been watching way too much TV. We don't use the term 'colored' in everyday speech, there isn't a 'blacks only' water fountain in the state unless they saved one for a museum over in Selma, oral hygiene is a common practice, we wear shoes whether it's cold outside or not and nobody dates their cousins. The Civil Rights Movement won that battle almost 50 years in the past. Most folks down here have moved past it, I just wish the rest of the nation would, too.

Sheriffs are elected officials. They'd have to run for office and keep running for office to get reelected. A stunt like that would kill their political career- if they could hold it together long enough to get elected to the position to begin with. AND the first hint of such an act taking place would bring in an avalanche of Federal Civil Rights law suits and the ABI, FBI and a dozen more alphabet agencies would be looking under EVERY rock and in ALL the nooks and crannies for more signs of malfeasance. I hear former LEO's don't do well in prison and I doubt a sheriff would want to try his luck.


Besides, almost all the Klukkers got ran off in the '60's and '70's. They now mostly live up in Ohio and Indiana. The few that are still about are treated like the lunatic fringe they really are by the general public.
 
G50AE said:
If it can happen in California, who is to say that it cannot happen in Alabama?
Click to expand...

Because it is California, not Alabama.:fie:

Racism is a Southern thing, remember?:no:

Or at least that's what the mass media has led folks to believe.:angry: The first mere accusation of something like that happening in the South would lead to every civil rights group in the country lining up to sue.
 
that problem is a distinct possbilty.

Oh, get serious, G50AE. You're concocting boogeymen to worry about. Just because a government official can exercise discretion doesn't mean that the official can discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, etc. If an Alabama sheriff refused a CCW permit to a qualified citizen, the Alabama legislature would make the state "shall issue" within a week. And there are supposed "shall issue" states—like Rhode Island—that in practice make things as difficult as possible for applicants, and "may issue" states—like Maryland, Hawaii, and New Jersey—that simply do not issue at all.

And I lived in the northeast for more than half a century. I guarantee you there's more antipathy toward blacks in Connecticut and New Jersey than there is in Alabama. Of course, the New York media do portray the South as teeming with klansmen looking for a black to lynch.

It seems to me that America today has a greater problem with the arbitrary favoring of selected "victim groups."

G50AE, you are the first person I've ever heard voice concern about whether homosexuals are treated fairly regarding CCW permits. I've filled out many a CCW application, and nowhere did I have to indicate my religion, my political views, or whether I frequent bath houses.
 
100%

BamaBoy said:
that problem is a distinct possbilty.

Oh, get serious, G50AE. You're concocting boogeymen to worry about. Just because a government official can exercise discretion doesn't mean that the official can discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, etc. If an Alabama sheriff refused a CCW permit to a qualified citizen, the Alabama legislature would make the state "shall issue" within a week. And there are supposed "shall issue" states—like Rhode Island—that in practice make things as difficult as possible for applicants, and "may issue" states—like Maryland, Hawaii, and New Jersey—that simply do not issue at all.

And I lived in the northeast for more than half a century. I guarantee you there's more antipathy toward blacks in Connecticut and New Jersey than there is in Alabama. Of course, the New York media do portray the South as teeming with klansmen looking for a black to lynch.

It seems to me that America today has a greater problem with the arbitrary favoring of selected "victim groups."

G50AE, you are the first person I've ever heard voice concern about whether homosexuals are treated fairly regarding CCW permits. I've filled out many a CCW application, and nowhere did I have to indicate my religion, my political views, or whether I frequent bath houses.
Click to expand...


I agree with you 100%!!!! People :cray: about everything, when they work for nothing. that is how it is where I live where most of the people here are on welfare and would not get a job if they could.
 
Alabama

G50AE: Believe it or not, Alabama is a very progressive state. There is no difficulty in obtaining a permit here for any race of people. If you have a criminal record you are up that proverbial creek. The only problems we have come from outside the state by people who are still entrenched in the past. Believe it or not, open carry is permissable here also as in other states and ethnicity is not a major problem. Our sheriffs are not like the ones you see in the movies. We have moved into the 21st century and they are educated and dedicated men just like any other state. Please don't trash us until you have been here and witnesses things first hand. By the way, where do you live?:pleasantry:
 
I believe you regarding the Alabama permit process. I was playing devil's advocate at the suggestion that racism plays a part in permits being denied. I suggested criminal background because the math, updated annually from FBI crime stats, concludes that from a demographic pool of 18% of the population springs forth 70% of murder, rape and theft. I rounded the 18% up and the 70% down. Nobody wants to touch this topic, an American phenomenon and reality. Therefore, I don’t immediately believe that racism exists just because the cry goes out. I should probably not say more on the subject on this forum – another, say “politics” would be better. Have a good day.
 
G50AE said:
Was it Alabama that had a school principle ban mixed race couples at the annual prom some time back in the 1990's? Or more recently a judge that refused to issue inter-racial mariage licences?

Although on the flip side of that coin, Huntsville does have a chapter of the Pink Pistols. Currently my home state of South Carolina does not. :angry:

"May issue" is a holdover from the Jim Crow era. Fortunatly South Carolina has moved on, just like every other southern state except Alabama.
Click to expand...
You are so full of crap, you eyes must have turned brown.

I believe both those incidents happened in MISSISSIPPI, not Alabama. (That's the state that look like Alabama but the little footie thing on the bottom is on the other side.)

Jim Crow has nothing to do with the Alabama concealed carry law because there isn't really one. The state law gives the responsibility for issuance of 'pistol permits' to the highest ranking LEO in the county and they have the power to set price and requirements. There's no massive state conspiracy. Alabama has left it up to the LOCALS. In practice, a background check and $20 is about all you need.
 
Alabama

G50AE: Sorry if my reply was mistaken as flaming you. That was not my intention. There are things that still happen in Alabama that we are embarassed about but, for the most part, this is a great place to live. The mention of a marriage permit being denied to a mixed couple does not surprise me. There are still some die-hards left in the south but they are a small minority. I don't know if that happened in Alabama or not. I never heard about it before. As far as CCW permits, there is no difficulty in obtaining one here! I only asked where you lived out of curosity, not to cast aspersions. Anyway, I apologize if you think I was flaming you. I may not always agree with what you have to say and you probably will not agree with me all the time. We just have to agree to disagree on different subjects. Take care. :biggrin:
 
G50AE said:
Well I see I am getting flamed for expressing my personal oppinions. So much for Southern Hospitality, something that we pride ourselves in here in South Carolina. :warning2: Aparently that's not the same in Alabama.
Click to expand...

As an interested spectator to this thread (New Jersey, albeit with South Carolina relocation plans), I would say, G50, that you're not being "flamed", and certainly not simply for expressing your "opinions". I think what's happening is that those people here who live in Alabama are getting frustrated with your insistence that their State is flawed in this regard despite being reassured - numerous times, by several people - that this is not the case. Why don't you just take their word for it - since they actually live there and you don't - and move the conversation along?
 
And they would too!!!! The South gets a bad rap, albeit undeserved. The civil war was fought because the union commited an act of terrorism, not because of slavery. That was just an excuse by that scumbag lincoln. Study some history, the facts, not what the government says.
 
Ill make sure I stay away from california.... liberal bs. The South has a bad undeserved rap. Ever heard of the little thing called "southern hospitality"? Never hear of good things from california. Read some history, true history
 
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