Soon, many Alabamians will be able to acquire lifetime permits to carry a concealed gun.
Governor Kay Ivey signed the bill into law last week.
This new law will allow people to purchase lifetime permits to carry concealed handguns and to standardize the background checks for permits across 67 counties.
Lauderdale County Sheriff, Rick Singleton, said the prospect of a lifetime permit for many will be how convenient it is.
“I know some people have said that permits are inconvenient for citizens, but it’s really like getting pre-approved by TSA to fly. You either stand in the long line or you be pre-approved and go to the short line,” said Singleton.
And although Lauderdale County residents won’t have to wait their whole lives for a lifetime permit, they’ll have to wait at least until 2022.
ALEA must first create a database of people who are prohibited from carrying a firearm due to state or federal criminal convictions, or because of a mental illness adjudicated by a court.
The bill also allows a sheriff to require an applicant for a lifetime carry permit to possess a valid concealed carry permit for not more than five consecutive years prior to approving the application for issuance of the permit.
40 percent of gun permit sales will go to the budget of the local sheriff’s office.
The lifetime permit will be $300. For those who are 60 years and older, the lifetime fee is $150.
Singleton said he expects this new law to neither hurt nor help his department.
“I don’t think it’ll affect our budget really much at all as far as the sheriff’s discretionary funds that is generated through the sales of pistol permits,” said Singleton.
