Alabama Carry Laws: Prohibited Persons, Restricted Places, and Self-Defense

Alabama’s carry laws let any qualifying adult carry a handgun — openly or concealed — without a permit, as long as they are not legally barred from possessing a firearm. The minimum age is 19, dropping to 18 for active-duty military, honorably discharged veterans, and law enforcement officers. This “permitless carry” framework took effect on January 1, 2023.¹ Carrying inside your vehicle is included, whether the handgun is on you or stored within reach. But permitless carry has real limits: certain people can’t possess a firearm at all, certain places remain off-limits, and a voluntary permit still unlocks a few things that permitless carry does not.

Who Is Prohibited From Having a Firearm

Alabama Code 13A-11-72 lists the people who cannot legally possess a firearm in the state, and the list reaches further than many people assume:²

Anyone convicted of a felony (any felony, not just violent ones) within the past five years.
Anyone with three or more felony convictions from separate charges — a permanent bar.
Anyone convicted of a crime of violence, such as murder, robbery, or rape, or a violent offense under Section 12-25-32 — a lifetime bar.
Anyone convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense.
Anyone subject to a valid domestic abuse protection order, for as long as it is in effect.
Anyone a court has found to be of unsound mind.
Minors under 18 (with narrow exceptions for supervised hunting, target practice, and self-defense in the home).
Habitual drunkards and drug addicts.
People unlawfully in the United States, or those on a nonimmigrant visa without an applicable exception.

Violating these restrictions is a Class C felony — one year and one day to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.³⁴

Federal law layers its own prohibitions on top. Under 18 U.S.C. 922(g), you cannot possess a firearm if you have been convicted of any crime punishable by more than one year in prison, are a fugitive from justice, are an unlawful user of controlled substances, have been adjudicated mentally defective or committed to a mental institution, were dishonorably discharged from the military, have renounced U.S. citizenship, or are currently under indictment for a crime punishable by more than one year in prison.⁵ Federal penalties can be stiffer than state penalties, and nothing stops a state and federal prosecution from running at the same time.

Where You Cannot Carry

Permitless carry does not get you into every building. Alabama Code 13A-11-61.2 lists places where firearms are banned regardless of whether you hold a permit, unless the person in charge gives express permission:⁶

Police stations, sheriff’s offices, and highway patrol stations.
Prisons, jails, halfway houses, and community corrections facilities.
Any facility providing inpatient or custodial psychiatric care.
Courthouses and courthouse annexes, district attorney offices, buildings where a county commission or city council is in session, and the primary office of any elected official.
Any building that controls access during normal hours using guards, magnetometers, key cards, biometric devices, or physical barriers.

Two more location categories are off-limits to permitless carriers but open to people with a valid concealed pistol permit:

Facilities hosting K-12 or college athletic events, as long as the event is not firearm-related.
Facilities hosting professional sporting events that don’t involve firearms.

If you carry only under permitless authority, you have no legal right to be armed at a high school football game or a professional basketball arena.

Schools

Knowingly carrying a deadly weapon on K-12 school premises — including school buses — with intent to do bodily harm is a Class C felony, carrying the same up-to-10-years and $15,000-fine exposure described above.² Permit holders, law enforcement officers, and authorized school security personnel are exempt. Permitless carriers are not.

Private Property

Property owners can prohibit firearms on their premises. Under Section 13A-11-52, carrying a handgun on someone else’s private property without their consent generally requires a concealed pistol permit. If a business or property owner has posted visible signage banning firearms, walking in armed after seeing the notice can bring a criminal trespass charge — a Class A misdemeanor, up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $6,000.⁷

Federal Property

State law stops at the federal doorstep. Bringing a firearm into any federal facility — a building owned or leased by the federal government where federal employees regularly work — is a federal crime punishable by up to one year in prison, and up to five years if you entered intending to commit a crime.⁸ That covers federal courthouses, Social Security offices, and VA buildings.

Post offices are a common tripwire. Federal regulations ban firearms on all postal property, carried openly or concealed, without exception.⁹ National parks within Alabama follow state carry rules on trails and in open areas, but the buildings inside those parks — visitor centers, ranger stations, administrative offices — are federal facilities where firearms stay prohibited.

Self-Defense and the Castle Doctrine

Alabama Code 13A-3-23 lets you use physical force when you reasonably believe another person is about to use unlawful force against you or someone else. You can escalate to deadly force when you reasonably believe the other person is using or about to use deadly force, committing a burglary, kidnapping, robbery, assault in the first or second degree, forcible rape, or forcible sodomy.¹⁰ Alabama is a stand-your-ground state: if you are somewhere you have a legal right to be and you are not engaged in unlawful activity, you have no duty to retreat before using force in self-defense, including in public.

Inside your home, business, or occupied vehicle, the castle doctrine goes further. If someone unlawfully and forcefully enters, or is in the process of entering, the law presumes your use of deadly force was justified. A prosecutor would have to overcome that presumption rather than you having to prove you acted reasonably. The presumption drops away in a few situations: when the other person had a legal right to be in the dwelling or vehicle (such as a co-owner without a protective order against them), when the person being removed is a child in lawful custody, when you were engaged in illegal activity, or when the entrant was a law enforcement officer performing official duties. Someone found justified under Alabama’s self-defense law is immune from criminal prosecution and can raise that immunity through a pretrial hearing by showing justification by a preponderance of the evidence.

Why Some People Still Get a Permit

A permit is no longer required to carry, but it still does three useful things. It lets you carry at K-12, college, and professional athletic events where permitless carriers are banned. It satisfies the consent-style requirement for carrying on other people’s private property under Section 13A-11-52. And it gives you reciprocity in other states that recognize an Alabama permit but do not honor permitless carry from Alabama.

You apply through the sheriff’s office in your county of residence. The sheriff runs your information through local, state, and federal criminal databases, including the National Instant Criminal Background Check System, and has 30 days from a complete application to issue or deny the permit.¹¹ Permits run from one year to five years, and many counties also offer lifetime permits.

Fees are set locally and vary. One-year permits typically run $20 to $25, five-year permits $100 to $125, and lifetime permits $150 to $300. Where no local fee has been set, the default is $25 for one year and $125 for five years. Some counties reduce the fee for applicants over 60.

On reciprocity, Alabama recognizes concealed carry permits from every other state.¹² Going the other direction, roughly 32 states currently honor an Alabama permit. Many northeastern states and some West Coast states do not. The Attorney General periodically publishes an updated list, worth checking before any trip where you plan to carry.

Traffic Stops and Police Encounters

HB 272 included language telling someone carrying a concealed handgun to disclose it to a law enforcement officer during an encounter, but the legislature attached no penalty for failing to do so. The Alabama Attorney General’s office has taken the position that a requirement without a penalty is effectively unenforceable. In practice, there is no legal consequence for not volunteering that you are armed during a traffic stop.

If an officer asks directly whether you have a weapon, answer truthfully. Lying to law enforcement during an investigation creates its own criminal exposure. During a lawful stop, an officer can temporarily secure your firearm for everyone’s safety and return it when the encounter ends, assuming you are legally allowed to possess it. Keep your hands visible — on the steering wheel during a traffic stop — and stay calm. Physically interfering with an officer or refusing to comply with lawful instructions about the firearm can bring an obstructing governmental operations charge, a Class A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine of up to $6,000.¹³⁷

1
Office of the Governor of Alabama. Governor Ivey Defends Alabamians’ Second Amendment Rights, Signs Constitutional Carry Bill into Law
2
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-11-72 – Certain Persons Forbidden to Possess Firearm
3
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-11 – Fines for Felonies
4
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-6 – Sentences of Imprisonment for Felonies
5
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Identify Prohibited Persons
6
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-11-61.2 – Possession of Firearms in Certain Places
7
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-5-12 – Fines for Misdemeanors and Violations
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 930 – Possession of Firearms and Dangerous Weapons in Federal Facilities
9
eCFR. 39 CFR 232.1 – Conduct on Postal Property
10
Alabama Judicial System. Alabama Code 13A-3-23 – Use of Force in Defense of a Person
11
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-11-75 – Permit to Carry Pistol in Vehicle or Concealed on Person
12
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-11-85 – Reciprocity for Licenses Issued by Other States
13
Alabama Legislature. Alabama Code 13A-10-2 – Obstructing Governmental Operations