Shots fired between Sheriffs Association and NRA in Alabama legislature

"SB24 is not a 2nd Amendment bill and NRA should have kept their nose out of it," wrote Alabama Sheriffs Association Executive Director Bobby Timmons in an email to members in March. "I am a lifetime Golden Eagle NRA Member and I resent the past President's involvement in legislation that is none of their business."

Senator Gerald Allen's SB24 would repeal certain restrictions on carrying a firearm without a permit and make other changes favorable to gun owners. To put it mildly, the NRA and the Alabama Sheriffs Association don't see eye-to-eye on the measure.

Timmons took exception that Jim Porter, former National President of the NRA, and Jefferson County Sheriff Mike Hale testified in the Alabama Senate that "a citizen should not have to pay for his/her constitutional right to bear arms." The text of the email suggests that Timmons is a bigger fan of government fees than the rights and privileges of Alabamians. If you want to fish, hunt, drive or marry, Timmons thinks you ought to have a little bureaucracy in your life.

To stir the pot even more, Timmons didn't seem to like Hale using his First Amendment rights either. "The Alabama Sheriffs Association voted openly to be against SB24 and the majority in attendance won," wrote Timmons. "Together, whichever way you voted, should have bonded. What happened?" The clear message from Timmons was that Hale should have kept his mouth shut while the association opposed the bill.

Read more: http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2017/03/shots_fired_between_sheriffs_a.html