Tyrone Smith, the sheriff of Barbour County, Alabama, wrote a letter to his constituents explaining the state legislature passed constitutional concealed carry and that while it will be in the law next year, he opposes the measure because he does not believe obtaining a permit goes against the Second Amendment.
The letter was originally posted on the Barbour County Sheriff's Office Facebook page but it has since been deleted.
"While I personally am a firm proponent of The United States Constitutional Second Amendment, which discusses the Right to Bear Arms, this passed law makes very little sense to even many of the largest supporters of the Second Amendment which I have spoken to in the past months," Smith wrote, adding people opposed to it include other sheriffs, police officers, and city council members.
Smith said the Republicans who passed the bill "recklessly and inconsiderably" put out a dangerous piece of legislation because they were bought off by "special interest" groups.
"Again, I am all for supporting the Second Amendment for persons legally able to possess and carry a firearm," Smith continued, but "the state of Alabama ranks 5th out of 50 states that were analyzed for gun violence and even higher in other studies. Please do not take this letter out of context, it's not about a debate about over whether guns kill people or whether it's people with guns, and it's not a debate about whether guns are attempted to be taken away from people legally authorized to have them, I have heard all of this."
Smith said the new bill will "impact all of us in a very negative way." He encouraged residents to continue obtaining conceal carry permits because some other states do not have permitless carry and due to it being a "no brainer."
