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We support Curry’s decision and policy on issuing pistol permits
Published 11:40am Tuesday, October 16, 2012An 18-year-old Shelby County man, Henri Beaulieu III, has filed a lawsuit against Shelby County Sheriff Chris Curry.
Beaulieu, a sophomore at UAB, applied to the Sheriff’s Office for a permit to carry a pistol. Curry denied that request.
Beaulieu is being represented by his mother, Pelham attorney Donna Beaulieu, who cited in her complaint a section of Alabama law that reads a sheriff may issue a permit to an applicant who “has good reason to fear injury to his or her person…and that he or she is a suitable person to be so licensed.”
According to the lawsuit, Curry interviewed Beaulieu in May and in June, denied the permit.
In a quote to our reporter, Donna Beaulieu said she would like her son to have the protection at 18 as a college student to go downtown at night and be able to carry a concealed weapon while doing so.
According to the Sheriff’s Office website, applicants for permits to carry pistols must be at least 21 years of age. At 19, with the expressed permission of a parent or legal guardian, the Sheriff will consider the issuance of a license.
Beaulieu’s complaint seems to center around the fact that Alabama law does not expressly issue an age limit on the issuance of pistol permits and the Curry’s policy in considering those for citizens 19 and older is arbitrary.
Shelby County Attorney Butch Ellis, who represents Curry, said Alabama law gives Curry considerable leeway in whether to approve a pistol permit for citizens under the age of 21.
In the end, we, the citizens of Shelby County, elected Curry to represent us and to enforce Alabama’s laws for the protection of all of its citizens. We trust and support his decision, and hope the lawsuit is dismissed without merit.
Our story about the lawsuit has generated a number of interesting comments on our website, many making good points on both sides of the equation.
Sometimes our readers say it best, as this reader did in a comment about the story: “Forty thousand people manage to visit, study and work at UAB daily and thousands more downtown without any problems.”
How can you say it’s safe when the statistics where posted for you???? Did you just choose to ignore them? Obviously you did. In your one article you destroyed the reputation of the Reporter and showed your liberal bias.
I don’t know one person in the world who thinks B’ham is safe. In case you forgot the facts here they are
From the FBI. Then come back here and tell me how safe it is.
All in 2011:A total of 57 homicides ..1,916 aggravated assaults, 1,011 robberies, and 182 forcible rapes, 17,841 property crimes reported in Birmingham in 2011. So yeah, doesn’t sound so safe to me. And UAB has had a 4 rapes in the last two years. Although UAB it not an issue in this case…I am not sure what your fixation is on the man being in college. You said he needs it at night time when he goes to B’ham?
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Quoting Papers Opinion:
“Sometimes our readers say it best, as this reader did in a comment about the story: “Forty thousand people manage to visit, study and work at UAB daily and thousands more downtown without any problems.”
Quoting Factual statements and events…
**Thousands of movie goers attend movies daily without any problems***
On July 20, 2012, a mass shooting occurred at a Century movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, during a midnight screening of the film The Dark Knight Rises. A gunman, dressed in tactical clothing, set off tear gas grenades and shot into the audience with multiple firearms, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others. The sole suspect is James Eagan Holmes, who was arrested outside the cinema minutes later.
Sometimes a tragic news story explains the reason for self protection the best…This theater did not think people needed to carry for self protection either…
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