The Alabama Senate is expected to vote on legislation that would allow people to carry a concealed handgun in Alabama without a getting a permit. In the state House, debate has been postponed on a bill that would close a loophole currently exempting faith-based day cares from state regulation.
Senators are scheduled to debate the concealed weapon proposal submitted by Republican Sen. Gerald Allen of Tuscaloosa this evening.
The bill has been heavily criticized by some law enforcement officers who say concealed carry permits are needed for public safety. Allen argues people shouldn't have to pay to exercise their Second Amendment rights.
According to the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, 11 states currently allow people to carry concealed weapons in public without a permit. Most of those states still issue concealed weapon permits, as would Alabama, for people who may want them to carry in other states.
Meanwhile in the Alabama House of Representatives, debate on a bill that would require all day care facilities to be regulated by the state has been postponed for a second time.
The House Rules Committee says Representative Pebblin Warren requested her bill be removed from today's debate agenda.
The measure would have ended a long-standing exemption for faith-based day care facilities. That proposal has been met with pushback from churches.
Warren delayed debate on the bill last month as well, out of fear the measure would lose a procedural vote.
VOICES for Alabama's Children says Alabama is one of only seven states that broadly exempt faith-based day care facilities from regulation. Alabama's Department of Human Resources says about half of day cares in the state are uninspected. Exempt facilities also do not have to comply with state child care regulations such as worker-to-child ratios.
