Is Alabama Really This Crazy?

Town I live in here in Alabama might have 552 people on a good day, Mayor would be facing a real hard time trying to do that here.

"Government" is seeing their opportunity to seize as much power

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Not "government." Just one political party and one particular mindset. But because THR strives to be PC middle of the road we can't engage in meaningful dialogue re such. Only monologue.

Meanwhile, Rome burns.

Several years ago alarm went off at work and I beat LEO to scene and was entering when a very nervous rookie female cop rolled in. She saw my registered SBS and said would not enter building with me while carrying said weapon. Actually forcibly took it and locked in her patrol car. I finished opening the door we entered and a few moments later noticed I had snakes out my 1911 as we cleared the building. She said to surrender or she would leave, I said give me my shotgun and get off my property. Next morning I called the Sheriff on his cell and met him for breakfast. He asked me how busy my day was and I replied I could make time so he told me to bring my training equipment to the S.O. range at noon. He had her watch commander pull her in and chastise her a bit and sent her out to the range for some additional training. Imagine her suprise to find lil ol me as the training officer that day. Been a civilian tactics and marksmanship contractor with LEO's for years. The full time range officer introduced us, put us side by side and ran us through a few drills. I would be holstered and behind the line talking to the boss while she was on second and third mag trying to clear her targets. I spent two hours with her personally and she was a nice girl. Just a little tentative and scared. By end of session I had cleaned up her stance, fixed her grip, gave her a trick or two speeding up mag changes and she thanked me. Especially when she learned not one bit of our interaction night before went into her file. We have free coffee for LEO and F.D. at my business every day. She still stops by on occasion for a free cup o Joe and an occasional dryfire practice.on some basics. Cops are people too. All kinds and some are just scared. Why I work with them is to help with this. A scared cop will get somebody hurt.

What a liar she is and doesn't get called on it...

"... by no means is it our intent to disarm or seize anyone's firearms..."

".... it would give an officer that authority... (blaa, blaa , blaa) ...to protect people..."

"... we are not trying to infringe on anybody's Constitutional Rights..."


I should think that since officers may already take action as regards an individual misbehaving with a firearm - the intent is to allow greater leeway and broader protections for an officer in disarming an individual at a threshold lower than an arrest or detainment.

I read seizure/disarmament/confiscation without due process.

I can't believe she didn't work "it's for the children" in there but she did address those poor endangered aid workers.

hso said:

AL needs to put a similar law preempting confiscation in emergencies just as TN did in response to abuses in LA during Katrina.

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I actually thought we HAD done that ......
In any case we have state pre emption. Localities cannot pass gun control laws, they must be passed in the state capital for the state.
During the late 1990s the city I live in (Decatur) tried to pass a law, a really oddball law that restricted people from carrying in parks and on roads. I have forgotten the details, but one of the complaints about it was it was hard to interpret.
The law was immediatly nullified by the state law.
As it happens my sister works for the city government and knows the lady ..."politician" behind the law. She doesn't like her as she says she's very vain, and in the denoument of this claimed she was positively fried and embarrassed her pet law was so summarily removed from the registry.
I don't engage in schadenfreude.
Very often....................

As from a FEMA volunteer relief worker at Katrina, Gustov, Haiti, West Virginia, and others, New Orleans was a different event. Most places we go people are happy to see our crews roll in. In the Big Easy the roving gangs were shooting at us. A under wraps shoot to kill order was unofficial policy in some areas. Roll in with food and water then the thugs would try to confiscate the load. I wear body armor and carry concealed at all hurricane response events. No problems anywhere else. Don't know why big city locations on the Gulf Coast have such a different dynamic. What is funny is how many are dying and starving, some other areas we show up you hear generators and the folks are all helping each other, cooking hot dogs on the grill and zero issues they needed us for. Including protection.

this is a small town choosing to do this to themselves only, in spite of state law; it will not succeed. in fact if it were to pass city counsil they will be sued into bankruptcy if the state doesnt slap them down first.

and dont try to compare colorado to alabama. do you think because you can smoke dope by state law makes you are free? if so, then you are too high to see all the anti gun rights stuff happening right now in that same state. fat, dumb, and happy, then take their guns.

it would be different if you could have both, but you cant.

Having grown up in Alabama, when I saw the thread title, my instinctive response was "Is Alabama really this crazy? Hell yes it is."

Then I opened the thread and saw the specific form of crazy involved and I honestly just can't wrap my head around it. I can't see any of Alabama's major urban areas pulling a Chicago and going out of step with statewide sentiments, and I definitely can't wrap my mind around a rural town like Guntersville trying to pull this sort of thing.

A small town in GA requires its citizens to own a gun (Gunbroker reportedly is based there), yet a few "big fish wannabes in a small pond" next door in AL are that hungry for such future power?

They might be able to, by state law, confiscate rifles and shotguns (good luck with that) but the "entire matter" of handguns is reserved to the state legislature. An attorney general's opinion opined that, under strict interpretation, the law prevents cities from legislating the discharge of handguns.

Might be time to expand the existing preemption law.

I left north Alabama to go in the military all those years ago and still have family in the Huntsville area that I visit regularly.... I'd guess that the politician who proposed that law will reconsider it shortly. Nothing like your friends and neighbors chewing on your ears.... I used to fish around the Guntersville area and can't think of a better area to raise a family (it's just a bit too far from saltwater for me...).

Here in Florida we've always had a law that allowed any officer to impound a weapon IF IT WAS INVOLVED IN A BREACH OF THE PEACE. In practice we only used it when we weren't going to make an arrest but were worried that things (usually neighbor or family disputes) would get out of hand if we didn't. I'd be surprised if most states didn't have something very similar.

nitesite said:

I'm a cop in north Alabama, not far from the town in question.

I am never going to disarm citizens of their firearms if they are not a criminal threat.

Emergency, Disaster, Plague, Locust Infestation.... People need access to their guns.

Folks in general peacetime have a right to them, too. Carry what you want, just don't go crazy with it.

"We Dare Defend Our Rights"

You're GodDamn Right

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Good to hear that, since I live 10 minutes away from Guntersville.

The 2010 census shows Guntersville with a population of less than 10,000(8,192). The City of Guntersville though borders Lake Guntersville which brings in a LOT of money from the fishinf and boating "industry". Many LARGE fishing tournaments are held there annually. The city stands to loose a lot of money if that industry choses to boycott any unjust gun laws.

Somebody got the message.

The article was posted Feb. 25, but was updated Feb. 26. The photo of the Mayor at the top of the article now has the following caption:

Guntersville Mayor Leigh Dollar and the city council have called a special meeting for 4:30pm Wednesday to remove an ordinance from consideration that would allow officers to disarm individuals during a disaster.

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I like the Guntersville area and I know some folks there. This will go over like a turd in a punch bowl. We shall see what happens election time!

More on the story.http://whnt.com/2013/02/26/guntersv...ss-concerns-over-emergency-powers-resolution/

She realized that by signing in the local ordinance.... She was signing her involuntary resignation come election day....

Don't just assume it won't pass or will be slapped down if it does, make sure your voices are heard to the right people.

No LEO in their right mind is going to approach a person or group of average looking folks during a disaster and ask them to give up their guns.
If they have to call for assistance to disarm a group, that kind of negetes the disaster, being busy trying to talk people into surrendering their guns, takes needed personell away from doing what the should be doing, like evecuating people and patroling. I don't see it flying very far.
Not many people I know would hand over their guns so easily, especially people who have been collecting their whole life. It would be like giving a stranger your money to hold.

Ordinance will be withdrawn from consideration at this afternoon's City Council meeting.

As someone who is in Guntersville from time to time, I find this surprising but I do believe Alabama will have one heck of a preemption statute come 2014.

If Colorado can defy federal law, legalize marijuana and get away with it, why can't one town in Alabama defy federal law as well?

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File a complain with the Justice Dept, I'm sure Eric Holder will get right on it.

Guntersville Mayor Leigh Dollar and the city council have called a special meeting for 4:30pm Wednesday to remove an ordinance from consideration that would allow officers to disarm individuals during a disaster.

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Roll Tide

It's been years since I lived in Alabama - but it's still the closest thing I have to a home state, and Huntsville was the closest I ever came to a home town since I was an Army brat and born overseas....

Looking at the reports, things went the way I figured they would. Once your friends and neighbors get after you about something really foolish that you proposed I'll bet the nice lady (see, I'm being polite...) quickly changed her mind. If only things got done as quickly in urban areas....