Latest news with #Bedsole
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama House approves bill allowing participation in firearm surrender program
Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville (left) listens to Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 13, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The House Tuesday approved SB 40, sponsored by Sen. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, and carried by Bedsole, which creates a firearm surrender program for people experiencing suicidal thoughts. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill Tuesday that would allow people experiencing suicidal thoughts to surrender a firearm to a licensed gun dealer. SB 40, sponsored by Rep. Keith Kelley, R-Anniston, passed 93-1. Known as the Houston-Hunter Act, it would provide liability protection for federally-licensed firearms dealers who choose to participate in the Safer Together Program, where they may accept surrendered firearms from community members. 'They can place their weapon in there and they can walk away,' Bedsole, who carried the Senate bill in the House, said. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX He said any federally licensed firearm dealer or gun store can choose to participate in the program. Bedsole sponsors the House version of the bill, which passed the House 98-2 in February. Alabama has some of the highest rates of firearm death in the nation. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1,278 Alabamians died by gunfire in 2022, a rate of 25.5 per 100,000 people, the fourth highest in the nation and a larger total than New York States, which has almost four times the population of Alabama. The CDC said 840 Alabamians died by suicide in 2022. That ranks Alabama 26th for suicides per capita. In the United States, 54% of suicides were done by gunfire. Rep. Travis Hendrix, D-Birmingham, a former policeman, shared a story of a co-worker that almost committed suicide. 'If this program was available two years ago, he probably would've been in a better situation,' Hendrix said. Bedsole said the idea for the bill came from a crisis intervention conference he went to in Indiana. He said he met some people from Alabama that told him about the nonprofit program. 'Here's the heart and passion: If we can save just one person's life and prevent them from using their own weapon as an act of suicide, then this program is worth it,' he said. The bill passed with a House Judiciary Committee substitute that mirrored the language of the House bill in the Senate bill. It goes to the Senate for concurrence or a conference committee. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama House committee approves bill creating database on suspected gang members
A close-up of police lights. An Alabama House committee last week approved a bill that would create a database of people who law enforcement identifies as being part of a gang. (Getty) An Alabama House committee last week approved legislation to create a database that contains information on people suspected of belonging to a criminal enterprise or gang. The House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee approved HB 403, sponsored by Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster, at a March 19 meeting. It requires the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency to create and manage a database of people that law enforcement identify as part of a criminal enterprise or gang. 'The bill includes rolling out the database after five years of no activity so there is no collection of information that is dated and no longer timely and relevant,' Bedsole said during the committee meeting. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX The legislation authorizes ALEA to create and maintain the criminal enterprise database based on information by criminal justice agencies. The database would include information about people that law enforcement agencies believe are engaged in criminal conduct. People can be designated as part of a criminal enterprise or gang if they meet at least three criteria listed in statute. Some of the conditions include getting identified by an informant or family member, or if suspects admit to be part of a gang. Other criteria include adopting 'the style of dress of a criminal enterprise.' Law enforcement can also label someone as a member of a gang by adopting 'the use of a hand sign identified as used by a criminal enterprise,' or if a person has 'a tattoo identified as used by a criminal enterprise.' Chris Melde, professor of criminal justice at Michigan State University. said the criteria makes it possible for someone who is not part of a gang to be identified as such. 'You can get a tattoo in the heat of the moment, and they are everlasting unless you go in for a tattoo removal,' he said. 'There are some types of signs and signals that are characteristic of gangs, but they also make their way into popular media.' The association becomes especially problematic when law enforcement rely on one indicator. 'You want to be able to do what is called triangulation of information,' Melde said. 'Multiple sources of information are all identifying the person as a person who is gang involved.' He also said one aspect of the list is collection but there are other considerations. 'You have to have a mechanism in place that either automatically purges that information, or people on the list if there is no more intelligence coming in that they are continuing in gang activity, or people have to go in and manually purge those lists if they become stale,' Melde said. 'It has a list of parameters and safeguards, if you will, that are placed in there,' Bedsole said. The database would not be public, and ALEA may only grant criminal justice agencies access to the information contained in the database. People will be granted access only as part of a court order; for discovery in lawsuit, or if a subpoena is issued. The Alabama Legislature in 2023 approved a bill that created harsher penalties for people who commit specific crimes as part of a network, such as a criminal enterprise or member of a gang. SB 143, sponsored by Sen. Will Barfoot, R-Pike Road,made Class C felonies committed by gang members a Class B felony, raising the maximum punishment from 10 years in prison to 20 years in prison. Class B felonies are enhanced to Class A felonies, punishable by up to 99 years in prison. People convicted of a Class A felony and who are part of a criminal enterprise, face a minimum of 25 years in prison. Lists have consistently been challenged in court because membership in a criminal enterprise, such as a gang, is fluid. There are some core members, but others on the periphery may remove themselves or join over time. Melde said databases need to be purged to keep lists current. 'There have been cases in other states where people just linger on the list and might get caught up in the system where they have had no gang involvement for quite a while,' Melde said. Civil rights groups expressed reservations with the legislation, concerned that people who are not involved in a gang may be given harsher penalties because they are suspected to be associated with gang activity. 'As the Legislature now considers the companion bills HB403 and SB241, which would authorize ALEA to develop a database that would track and share these identifiers with agencies throughout the state, I'd like to see them include information relating to the statute's enforcement, such as how many times has it been utilized?' said Jerome Dees, policy director for the Southern Poverty Law Center. 'What was the disposition of the case? And what are the demographics of the folks being tracked and prosecuted by this statute? Of course, public safety and privacy of sensitive information is incredibly important. But we also want to make sure that enforcement is fair and just.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama House approves bill requiring panic buttons in public schools
Rep. Alan Baker, R-Brewton, applauds during a session of the Alabama House of Representatives on Tuesday, March 14, 2023. Baker sponsored legislation to require public schools to designate, equip and train staff members with mobile emergency rapid response systems, which passed on March 20, 2025. (Stew Milne for Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives passed a bill Thursday that requires all public schools to install an emergency rapid response system. HB 234, sponsored by Rep. Alan Baker, R-Brewton, requires all school districts in the state by 2030 to designate staff members to use mobile emergency rapid response systems, which instantly connect with law enforcement and first responders and give positions on a person's location, and to equip and train them on the devices. The bill passed 58-30 with 13 abstentions. Most of the votes against the legislation came from lawmakers concerned about funding. Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster, said he was supportive of the idea but said schools in his district could not afford to maintain the system. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX ''We would love to have one of those systems where we can just press a button, but we can't afford it,'' Bedsole said one of his schools told him. The Legislative Services Agency said there will be a $50,000 limit for the response system that local boards of education would choose. Baker said the proposed emergency response system includes the floor and room that the emergency happens in, such as in an active shooter emergency. Bedsole, who had a career in law enforcement before representing Shelby County, said law enforcement will follow the sound of gunshots. 'It's going to be helpful, maybe, to know where the room that the first alarm set off, but I'm going to be listening for gunshots,' Bedsole said. 'You can tell me it was coming from that room, and that's helpful, but that is not where I'm going to go.' Baker said the system could also be used for medical emergencies or an accident in a chemistry class. 'This is intended to get the most accurate and quickest response that we can to a location,' Baker said. 'It's not all about a gunshot or a shooter.' Rep. Rick Rehm, R-Dothan, proposed an amendment to make the requirement of the response system be subject to annual state school safety funds starting in 2030. 'If we are going to give them this mandate, we need to pay for it,' Rehm said Thursday. The amendment passed 102-0. Some lawmakers were concerned about schools that already have a similar system in place. Baker said those schools would not have to purchase a new, more expensive system under the legislation. There have been three school shootings so far in 2025, according to Education Week. In September 2024, a gunman opened fire on Apalachee High School in Georgia killing two people and injuring nine. Baker said the high school's emergency response system may have saved other lives. 'Because the emergency button that was pressed, they were able to save many more countless lives that might've been lost had they not been able to get that quick rapid response,' Baker said. The bill now goes to the Senate. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
20-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Bill to expand first responder death benefits to volunteer firefighters passes Alabama House
Rep. Rex Reynolds, R-Huntsville (left) listens to Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster on the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on Feb. 13, 2025 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. The House Thursday approved a bill sponsored by Bedsole that extends a cancer death benefit to volunteer firefighters. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) A bill that would extend first responder death benefit to volunteer firefighters passed the Alabama House 102-0 on Thursday. HB 35, sponsored by Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster, would allow survivors of volunteer firefighters who die of work-related cancer to claim a death benefit award. 'They are public servants in our communities, for everything that we need,' Bedsole said on the floor of the House. 'Fighting fires is a small part of it, so this is the least we can do to help them.' Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville, expressed support for the bill and said volunteer firefighters make a difference in Alabama communities. 'Last week we had a tornado in my district … Volunteer firemen went in and pulled an 89-year-old female out … alive,' he said. Rep. Mary Moore, D-Birmingham, said she wants to give volunteer firefighters more stability, but this bill is a good start. 'Not only are they volunteer firemen, but a lot of them have a job somewhere else,' Moore said. According to the Alabama Forestry Commission, there are 983 volunteer fire stations across the state. The bill goes to the Alabama Senate.
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Alabama House approves bill allowing voluntary firearm surrender
Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster, walks across the floor of the Alabama House of Representatives on April 25, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. Bedsole sponsors HB 216 that would create a firearm surrender program for individuals experiencing suicidal thoughts. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector) The Alabama House of Representatives Tuesday approved a bill that would allow people experiencing suicidal thoughts surrender a firearm to a licensed gun dealer. HB 216, sponsored by Rep. Russell Bedsole, R-Alabaster, passed the chamber on a 98-2 vote. Bedsole said the bill is named for Houston Lee Tumlin and Hunter Chase Whitley, two veterans who died by suicide shortly after returning from active duty. Bedsole mentioned the over 6,000 veteran suicides nationwide within a year of returning from deployment. 'In the state of Alabama, 85% of the veterans who took their life did so by gunfire,' Bedsole said. The Houston-Hunter Act provides liability protection for any gun dealer that chooses to participate in the Safer Together Program, where community members can surrender firearms. A substitution from the House Judiciary Committee limits the places where a firearm can be surrendered to the Federal Firearms License dealers. It was adopted 100-0. According to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, 840 Alabamians died by suicide in 2022. That ranks Alabama 26th for suicides per capita. In the United States, 54% of suicides were done by gunfire, according to the CDC. 'And I would dare say that each of us in this chamber have a personal account of knowing someone that has made a similar choice to take their own life,' Bedsole said. The bill goes to the Alabama Senate.
