MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – The Alabama Senate on Thursday backed legislation to make it a crime for local police officers to enforce any new federal gun restrictions, part of a wave of GOP nullification proposals to try to resist any new gun control measures.
Senators voted 21-5 for the bill by Republican Sen. Gerald Allen of Tuscaloosa. It now moves to the Alabama House of Representatives.
Republicans in several states are pushing such measures, although some lawmakers questioned whether it could survive a legal challenge. Opponents of the bill argued that the U.S. Constitution already protects gun rights and that Republican lawmakers are going to get the state embroiled in a costly lawsuit that they will ultimately lose.
The bill would make it a misdemeanor for an officer to enforce a new federal law or executive order effective after President Joe Biden’s inauguration that “regulates the ownership, use, or possession of firearms, ammunition, or firearm accessories.”
“This bill would expand freedom and liberty for Alabama citizens by ensuring that certain federal restrictions would not be supported by the government or the government agencies of Alabama,” Allen said, reading a letter from a constituent.