Federal law establishes a baseline national standard regarding individuals’ eligibility to acquire and possess firearms. Under federal law, people are generally prohibited from purchasing or possessing firearms if they have been convicted of a felony or some domestic violence misdemeanors, or if they are subject to certain court orders related to domestic violence or a serious mental condition. However, federal law merely provides a floor, and has notable gaps that allow individuals who have demonstrated significant risk factors for violence or self-harm to legally acquire and possess guns.
Alabama law provides that, subject to certain limited exceptions, no person shall possess or own a firearm, or have a firearm under his or her control, if he or she:1
- Has been convicted of any kind of felony offense within the past five years;
- Has been convicted of three or more felony offenses of any kind at any time, provided the felony offense convictions each arose from a different indictment or complaint or otherwise arose on a different date of charge;
- Has been convicted2 of committing, or attempting to commit, a crime of violence or a violent offense,3 or a misdemeanor offense of domestic violence;4
For more details about Alabama’s laws related to guns and domestic violence, see Domestic Violence & Firearms in Alabama.
Subject to limited exceptions, Alabama law prohibits the ownership, possession, or control of a handgun by any person who is under 18 years of age, addicted to drugs, or “an habitual drunkard.”7
Alabama law prohibits any person from knowingly having a firearm in his or her possession or under his or her control when the person has been charged with committing or attempting to commit a crime of violence, misdemeanor offense of domestic violence, or violent offense, and thereafter has been released pending or during trial.8
No person who is an “alien and is illegally or unlawfully in the United States or has been admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant visa” may own, possess, or have under their control, a firearm.8
For information on the background check process used to enforce these provisions, see the Alabama Background Checks section.
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- Ala. Code § 13A-11-72(a).[↩]
- The term “convicted” requires that “the person was represented by counsel in the case, or knowingly and intelligently waived the right to counsel in the case if required by law, and either the case was tried before a judge, tried by a jury, or the person knowingly and intelligently waived the right to have the case tried, by guilty plea or otherwise.” Ala. Code § 13A-11-72. Additionally, a person may not be considered to have been convicted for the purposes of this section if the person is not considered to have been convicted in the jurisdiction in which the proceedings were held or if the conviction has been expunged, set aside, or is of an offense for which the person has been pardoned or has had civil rights restored, unless the pardon, expungement, or restoration of civil rights expressly provides that the person may not ship, transport, possess, or receive firearms. Id.[↩]
- These include murder, manslaughter (except manslaughter arising out of the operation of a vehicle), rape, mayhem, assault with intent to rob, assault with intent to ravish, assault with intent to murder, robbery, burglary, stalking, child abuse, and kidnapping crimes. Ala. Code §§ 13A-11-70, 12-25-32(15). It also includes any Class A felony or any Class B felony that has as an element serious physical injury, the distribution or manufacture of a controlled substance, or is of a sexual nature involving a child under the age of 12. Ala. Code § 13A-11-70.[↩]
- Ala. Code § 13A-11-72.[↩]
- Ala. Code § 13A-11-72.[↩]
- The term “unsound mind” as used in this section includes any person who is subject to any of the findings listed below, and who has not had his or her rights to possess a firearm reinstated by operation of law or legal process:(1)Found by a court, board, commission, or other lawful authority that, as a result of marked subnormal intelligence, mental illness, incompetency, condition, or disease, is a danger to himself or herself or others or lacks the mental capacity to contract or manage his or her own affairs.(2)Found to be insane, not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, found mentally incompetent to stand trial, or found not guilty by a reason of lack of mental responsibility by a court in a criminal case, to include state, federal and military courts.(3)Involuntarily committed for a final commitment for inpatient treatment to the Department of Mental Health or a Veterans” Administration hospital by a court after a hearing. Ala. Code § 13A-11-72.[↩]
- Ala. Code § 13A-11-72(c). See also Ala. Code § 13A-11-76 (defining minor as a person under age 18).[↩]
- Ala. Code § 13A-11-72.[↩][↩]