Let me rephrase then. Is it legal to carry my handgun with me hunting with my bow in management areas ?
Your state's constitution excepts the right to bear arms for your defense out of the general powers of government.
Having said that, the last
Regulation Book that was published for general distribution had this to say:
220-2-.21 Possession of Firearms or Bow and Arrow in Any Wildlife Management Area, Refuge or Sanctuary Prohibited
No person shall take, carry, or possess any firearms or bow of any description whatsoever (except handguns possessed by legally licensed persons for personal protection) in any wildlife management area in this State during the closed season on game birds, game and/or fur-bearing animals, except on an open designated target range and except a person may possess a bow and arrow only during special bow season allowed for the taking of rough fish. No person shall at any time take, carry or possess any firearms or bows of any description whatsoever in or on any wildlife refuge or wildlife sanctuary located in or on any national forest area in this State, or on or in any state or federal sanctuary except by special permit or when bow and arrows may be legally possessed during special bow season provided for the taking of rough fish on such areas by regulations of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources; provided, however, that this rule shall not apply to the possession of firearms by State Conservation Officers, state or county enforcement officers, or federal agents, when they are on active duty in the performance of their duties in the enforcement of the laws of this State.
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220-2-.55-.192ER Wildlife Management Areas, Community Hunting Areas, Public Hunting Areas, and Refuges of Alabama
(1) It shall be unlawful on ALL WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT AREAS, COMMUNITY HUNTING AREAS, PUBLIC HUNTING AREAS, AND REFUGE AREAS, all of which are established as "wildlife management areas" by Rule 220-2-.22 and all of which are hereinafter sometimes collectively referred to herein as "AREAS" or "AREA":
(a) To hunt, trap, use dogs, possess firearms, traps, or bow and arrow, except on open designated target ranges and except bow fishing equipment from March 1 -August 31, without a valid permit. A permit is valid only during scheduled AREA seasons during legal hunting hours and only with the required hunting license(s) and stamps and only with weapons and ammunition permitted for hunting the wildlife listed on permit. See (p) and (ff) for limited exception for certain lawfully authorized handguns possessed for personal protection.
…(p) For any person to possess any firearm while hunting with bow and arrow or crossbow, except on days of either sex gun deer hunts. This prohibition shall not apply to the possession of handguns by lawfully authorized persons for their personal protection, provided the handguns are not used to hunt or take or to attempt to take wildlife except as otherwise provided by this regulation.
…(ff) Nothing in this regulation prohibits or requires a wildlife management area permit for the possession of handguns by lawfully authorized persons for personal protection, provided the handguns are not used to hunt or take or to attempt to take wildlife except as otherwise provided by this regulation.
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No pistol permit or license is required by our Constitutions. Everyone is legally authorized to carry pistols by the Constitutions that the people ratified. I have reminded the Commissioner of the DCNR of that fact several times when his rules fall under the AAPA for review. You should remind him as well.
Regardless of our Constitutions, state law requires a pistol license or permit for carrying pistols in your vehicle or if you conceal your pistol while carrying it on land not your own or under your control. Public lands have been excluded by case law and AG opinions.
Authority was said to come from the common law of England by our Alabama Supreme Court in
The State v Reid when a sheriff carried a concealed pistol for his own defense in violation of a law after having his own life threatened.
link:
The State v Reid ... But let it be conceded that it is doubtful, whether the statute does not come in collision with the constitution, yet it is our duty to maintain its validity.
According to the Court in
The State v Reid, law enforcement officers have no need to carry firearms. They don't need to be carrying firearms on WMAs at all according to the Court. It is the citizens of this state who have a duty to be armed when law enforcement calls on us for help.
How is that working out for them??? The judges, the cops, the bureaucrats, and the legislators are all a bit two-faced about the matter, aren't they? They want us to accept the part of
Reid that restricts the citizen's right to bear arms, but they don't accept the part that says law enforcement officers have no need to carry firearms because we do.
The
Uniform Firearms Act that was later adopted in Alabama relects a changed attitude by our government. It no longer holds to the view that firearms can only be used for defense when carried openly. It now recognizes that concealed pistols can indeed be used for defense, but only as a privilege granted by the sheriff of your county of residence at his own discretion, but not as a right. (The NRA helped draft the UFA, btw.)
Until 1956, you could carry an unconcealed pistol in your vehicle without permission. Now you have to have your sheriff's permission to carry a pistol in your vehicle, either concealed or unconcealed, unless you are a member of one of the privileged classes of citizens our legislature has created:
--link to a history of the
Uniform Firearms Act:
Alabama gun control history lesson [Note: the law (as written by the legislators, not our Constitutions) changed again in 1956 after this was written to require a license for any pistol carried in a vehicle]
The NRA also had a hand in this crap:
The NRA andf the Uniform Firearms Act Our Constitution still says:
Constitution Of Alabama 1901
Article 1 Declaration of Rights. SECTION 2
People source of power.
That all political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their benefit; and that, therefore, they have at all times an inalienable and indefeasible right to change their form of government in such manner as they may deem expedient.
SECTION 26
Right to bear arms.
That every citizen has a right to bear arms in defense of himself and the state.
SECTION 36
Construction of Declaration of Rights.
That this enumeration of certain rights shall not impair or deny others retained by the people; and, to guard against any encroachments on the rights herein retained, we declare that everything in this Declaration of Rights is excepted out of the general powers of government, and shall forever remain inviolate.
(emphasis added)
