By Barnett Wright | The Birmingham Times
Surrounded by nearly 150 firearms confiscated by police and each representing a homicide committed in 2024, Mayor Randall Woodfin on Wednesday called on state lawmakers to help reduce the numbers of guns in the city by allowing Birmingham voters to decide whether permits are needed for people to carry weapons.
With well over a month left in the year, Birmingham has already surpassed 2023’s homicide total. And the Magic City is on track to break the all-time homicide record of 148, set nearly a century ago in 1933.
With the city reeling under historic highs in murders, Woodfin on Wednesday took a different approach to his messaging of crime reduction. Instead of a press conference or a Tuesday morning Mayor’s Report to the City Council, he put out a 36-minute video message recorded at the city’s Real Time Crime Center where he was seated behind a table filled with 145 weapons that had cost as many lives in 2024, he said.
The video was billed as “an honest conversation” to the community regarding the homicide numbers and the city’s culture of gun violence and ways to address it.
While portions of his message were intended for residents, others were for state lawmakers.
“ … everybody knows the state of Alabama doesn’t have a pistol permit anymore,” he said in the video, “So even if I get more [police] officers on our streets people are still legally allowed to drive around with these types of guns you see … “ he said, gesturing to the table.
On Jan. 1, 2023, Alabama’s permitless carry law went into effect and states that anyone 19 years of age or older, who is not prohibited by state or federal law, may carry a concealed firearm in the state of Alabama without a permit, background check or safety training.
In the video, Woodfin said lawmakers should “empower” Birmingham residents to have a say, “ … allow a constitutional vote. If by vote from a majority of the residents of the City of Birmingham think that people either need a permit or these types of weapons should not be allowed to be driven around with, give it to the voters, … I believe the residents of Birmingham have had enough of this and want to see more gun safety laws in place that protect people in Birmingham, but that has to come from a level higher than me.”
His actions are limited, Woodfin said, because the city doesn’t have home rule which would give local governments the legal authority to make decisions without state interference.
“I live in a state where there is no home rule so I’m not allowed to say that you can’t drive around with these [guns] – I wish I could, because if I could, I would – and let me define that. I am a staunch advocate for the Second Amendment and I am also pragmatic and realistic enough to know that we need more gun safety – I am not talking about gun restrictions — I’m talking about gun safety …“
The mayor said he will continue “to work with the state to give Birmingham some kind of exception to the rules … without placing blame, wanting to work with people above me, because we all have to be in the solutions end of solving this issue.”
He also acknowledged that the city could surpass the murder total of 90 years ago, “The city is coming up on a unfortunate milestone this year in 2024 of having homicides at the highest rate since 1933,” he said in the video. “So as I back out of that and think, this is not just numbers these are lives, these are family members, these are brothers, siblings, sisters. These are parents, some of them grandparents, and these are children. These are victims, and family members who will not get the chance to see their family member, their loved one on Thanksgiving.”
