Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 2024 ‘Domestic Violence & Firearms in Alabama.’ Who Can Have a Gun. San Francisco, CA: Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. 26 April

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[Editor's note: The Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence regularly updates its webpages with new data as US gun regulation evolves state by state. For the most up-to-date information on US gun laws, please refer to the Giffords URL below]

Domestic Violence and Firearms in Alabama

Alabama enacted a law in 2015 to prohibit possession of a firearm by individuals who have been convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence offenses or other specified violent offenses (including stalking, child abuse, and domestic violence crimes),(1) and by individuals subject to a valid protection order for domestic abuse…(2)

Alabama law also authorizes a judge or magistrate, who is releasing a person who has been charged with domestic violence or violation of a protection order on bail, to prohibit the person from possessing a firearm, as a condition of bail, except when such weapon is necessary for the person's employment as a peace officer or military personnel.(5)

Alabama law still does not:

- Require courts to notify domestic abusers when they become prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition under state or federal law;
- Require the surrender of firearms or ammunition by domestic abusers who have become prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition under state or federal law; or
- Explicitly authorize or require the removal of firearms or ammunition at the scene of a domestic violence incident, although Alabama authorizes a law enforcement officer to disarm an individual if the officer reasonably believes that it is immediately necessary for the protection of the officer or another individual. Alabama also makes it the duty of an officer arresting a person charged with unlawfully possessing a firearm to seize any handguns in that person's possession or control.(6)

Sources cited:

1) Ala. Code § 12-25-32(15).
2) 2015 AL H.B. 47, amending Ala. Code § 13A-11-72(a).
5) Ala. Code § 15-13-190.
6) Ala. Code §§ 31-9-8(d), 31-9-10(d), 13A-11-84(b).

Last accessed at:
https://giffords.org/lawcenter/state-laws/domestic-violence-and-firearms-in-alabama/