September 29, 2010

In these tough fiscal times, Alabama officials are targeting exports as a way to help boost the state's economy. But Alabama already is among the nation's leaders in one type of export that no one should want -- guns used in crimes.

A new report shows Alabama is the United States' fifth largest per capita supplier of guns used in crimes in other states, with Mississippi leading the pack. Other Southern states among the Top 10 are Kentucky, South Carolina, Virginia and Georgia.

According to the group Mayors Against Illegal Guns, 1,561 guns sold here were used in crimes in other states in 2009.

That works out to 33.2 Alabama guns used in crimes for every 100,000 Alabamians, far higher than the 14.1 guns per 100,000 population for the nation as a whole.

John Feinblatt, the group's chief policy adviser, told the Birmingham News that weak state gun control laws have turned Alabama into "a supermarket for guns."

The mayor's group suggests that the state enact several laws to prevent guns sold legally here from being used illegally elsewhere. Among those proposals are laws making it a crime to buy a gun for someone who can't buy one legally, requiring background checks for handgun sales at gun shows, requiring purchase permits for all handguns, requiring people to report lost or stolen guns to police, allowing cities to enact gun control ordinances, and allowing police to inspect gun dealerships.

But James Moses, president of the Alabama State Rifle and Pistol Association, told the News: "I don't think those measures have worked anywhere else."

However, the study's statistics suggests that at least some of the proposed laws might help.

One common-sense proposal that should be considered is to make it illegal for someone to purchase a gun for someone who cannot legally purchase it for themselves.

According to the report, Alabama has several positive gun laws, including those making it a crime to use false information to buy a gun and prohibiting violent misdemeanor criminals from owning guns.

Good gun laws are a balancing act that protects the public's constitutional right to own guns while addressing the need to keep them out of the hands of criminals. The Alabama Legislature should take a close look at the report by the mayors' group to see if the balance has not shifted too far in favor of criminals.