Legislator prefiles bill to increase firearm restrictions in the city of Birmingham

December 18, 2028 – MONTGOMERY, AL – the Alabama Legislature is already hard at work introducing bills to consider ahead of the legislative session. State Representative Juandalynn Givan (D-Birmingham) has introduced legislation to give the City of Birmingham stricter gun laws that the rest of the state.

House Bill 69 is bill that would provide state criminal penalties if someone who is federally barred from possessing firearms possess them in a Class 1 municipality. That is already federally illegal; but is prosecuted only if the FBI and U.S. Attorney's office elects to get involved in a case. Local law enforcement encounter felons with guns all the time; but there is nothing they can do if a U.S. Attorney does not want to bring the case.

This bill also would also provide state criminal penalties for persons knowingly in possession of a stolen firearm or stolen ammunition. While guns are plentiful in Alabama, many dangerous and federally barred people don't purchase their guns legally; but rather buy their weaponry from gangs and criminal syndicates.

HB69 as introduced would also provide state criminal penalties for the possession of a certain prohibited firearms, accessories, and attachments, including a short-barrel shotgun, short-barrel rifle firearm silencer, or machinegun, or any part or device that can make an otherwise semi-automatic firearm operate like a machinegun. Again this is already federally illegal; but local law enforcement can do nothing if federal authorities elect not to prosecute – which has been a common problem under Biden era Attorney General Merrick Garland's leadership.

The provisions in this legislation would apply only to Class 1 municipalities. Under Alabama lae Class 1 municipalities are limited to only cities with more than 300,000 people in the 1970 census. Birmingham has shrunk in population as the city has grown more lawless and the schools declined. Even though Birmingham has less than 200,000 people today and Huntsville is much bigger than Birmingham, according to the state legal definitions of municipalities – Birmingham is still Class 1 and Huntsville is Class 3 – thus this law would only apply to Birmingham and not its larger neighbor to the north.

There have been 156 murders thus far this year in the City of Birmingham – a new all time high for the city.

The 2024 Alabama Legislative session begins on February 4.

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