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The battle over SB24 just keeps getting stranger. The legislation introduced by Senator Gerald Allen (R-Tuscaloosa) removes the requirement for Alabamians to obtain a license before carrying a concealed pistol. The Alabama Sheriffs Association doesn't want to change a thing.

Plenty of Alabama's legislators agree that law-abiding Alabamians shouldn't be forced to secure a license and pay a fee to exercise their Second Amendment rights. Twelve states already allow individuals to carry concealed firearms without a permit, and a few of them might surprise you. Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine all have less restrictive concealed carry laws than Alabama.

SB24 pits the NRA, which supports the measure, against the Alabama Sheriff's Association opposing it. Testimony before the Alabama Senate Judiciary Committee led to a heated exchange between Alabama Sheriffs Association Executive Director Bobby Timmons and Jim Porter, former National President of the NRA.

A number of sheriffs have argued that the current law improves safety for law enforcement--a consideration that many legislators and Alabamians take seriously. Streamlining and reducing or eliminating the permit fees across the state makes sense as a potential compromise.

A recent internal email suggests that the Sheriffs Association isn't necessarily negotiating in good faith. An email from Timmons called on sheriffs to contact their legislators "if you value your permit fund." He specifically warned against a compromise that would clearly benefit Alabama's gun owners. "The National Rifle Association WILL return next time the Legislature meets to bring back Jabo [Waggoner's] 'any county bill' and will push for uniform -- one cost -- statewide permit fee...if any fee at all!"

If the Sheriffs Association's opposition was primarily an officer safety issue, the big "push" email didn't make it a direct focal point at all.

The email strongly suggests that money is the primary driver for the sheriff's objection to SB24. Counties must adequately fund law enforcement, but pistol permits shouldn't be the mechanism. If the Alabama Sheriff's Association won't work towards a good faith compromise that ensures a streamlined pistol license that's the same for all Alabamians, legislators ought to move ahead and join the twelve states that don't require concealed pistol licenses at all.

Cameron Smith is a regular columnist for AL.com and state programs director for the R Street Institute, a think tank in Washington, D.C.

Bobby Timmons Email on Pistol Permits by David Cameron Smith on Scribd