Alabama lawmaker wants to change permit requirement for assault weapons

MONTGOMERY, Ala ( WIAT ) – An Alabama lawmaker wants to make carrying permits a requirement for carrying assault weapons.

Alabama has not made it a requirement to carry a permit when carrying a concealed weapon since 2022.

State Rep. Kenyatté Hassell (D-Montgomery) pre-filed a bill for the 2025 session that would require a permit to carry assault weapons. He said, without permits, police have no authority to question people who have military grade weapons.

“So, for anybody to say it’s not the permits, I totally disagree with that,” said Hassell. “You can look at data and it shows you that more shootings are happening. That’s equivalent to more homicides.”

State Rep. Allen Treadaway has served in law enforcement for thirty-one years. He believes that a different focus is needed in regard to fixing the problem of homicides in Alabama.

“To try and address gun violence when you don’t have enough officers on the street to respond to the violence that we’re seeing; that is really the major issue here,” said Treadaway.

According to Treadaway, Alabama recently started using a statewide database to track crime. He said this keeps a better track than permits of who should or should not have a gun.

“Alabama is one of the only states, if not the only one that has a database of folks that are forbidden to carry firearms in it,” Treadaway said. “So, officers have a number of reasons to stop somebody.”

Hassell, however, does not believe that a database alone is the right answer.

“Why am I stopping you, how would I know about this database if I can’t even have that first initial conversation, or initial stop with that person?” said Hassell. “I can’t benefit from a database.”

Hassell said he is still speaking with colleagues about the legislation and filed it early to get support. The next session begins in February of next year.

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