Alabama legislators elevate guns over children. Again.

  The leading cause of preventable death for Alabama children is guns.

  Let me say that again in active voice.

  Guns kill Alabama kids more than anything else we can prevent.

  And we refuse to act.

Guns and our endless lockdown

  We had just stepped into the makeup store when people began running. You could see them through the entrance, in groups of five and six, passing by every second, racing from the mall walkways into a nearby Nordstrom.

  I couldn’t tell what was happening. Was the mall closing? Was there some flash sale taking place?

  Then the metal gate crashed over the Nordstrom entrance. Then the employees in our store ordered everyone to stay put as they pulled gates across the front of the entrance.

Montgomery is trying to do something about guns that the state hasn’t

  Back in July, I wrote about a prefiled bill that would allow the governor and attorney general to appoint interim police chiefs for cities,  effectively allowing the state to take over their police departments.

  The bill from Sen. Will Barfoot (R-Pike Road) doesn’t name Montgomery explicitly. But lawmakers have signaled that’s who they have in mind.

The great Goat Hill stampede of 2024

  The Alabama Legislature crammed 40% of this year’s session into February.

  That’s light speed for the body. At this rate, lawmakers could finish the session in mid- to late April, over a month before the state Constitution would require them to depart.

  You might approve. The less time the legislature sits, the less time they have to pass bad laws. In recent years, the Republican supermajority has turned legislative sessions into bonfires of civil rights and voting access. If it could stop our lawmakers from throwing other freedoms into the flames, I’d end the sacrificial ritual early.