MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) – Thursday morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Protecting Our Kids Act. It includes a series of individual bills aimed at preventing gun violence, one of which will incentivize states to have red flag laws.
State Rep. Merika Coleman, D-Birmingham, is preparing to introduce a bill to do just that. She says she’ll file it during a potential special session or during the 2023 regular legislative session.
Even with a supermajority Republican Legislature and with Alabama being a constitutional carry state, Coleman believes that doesn’t matter when it comes to safety.
“People don’t feel safe at school, in churches, at the movie theater, at the mall,” said Coleman.
Coleman plans to once again file a red flag bill. The legislation would allow the state to remove a firearm from someone deemed a danger to themselves or others. It’s failed every time Coleman has introduced similar legislation.
“Sometimes it’s timing,” she said. “Unfortunately we just all witnessed the travesty that happened in both Buffalo and in Texas.”
According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 253 mass shootings in the country this year. They define a mass shooting as an incident where four or more people are shot, injured or killed.
“We got to talk about it to be able to fix it,” said Republican state Sen. Greg Albritton.
Albritton says he’s open to the conversation about red flag laws in a nonpartisan way.
“I want to see what the bill is. I want to have an opportunity to make changes to it. I want to be able to deal with that in a legislative way,” he said.
“There’s a supermajority in both the House and the Senate of Republicans. I’m still optimistic because red flag bills are not partisan issues,” said Coleman. “Other Southeastern states have passed them.”
Coleman’s legislation has not been filed yet.
