Huge Win for Gun Rights in Alabama Election

Alabama voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly
favored a revision to the state constitution which will provide
greater legal protections for the right to keep and bear arms. By a
vote of
73 percent to 27 percent, voters amended the state constitution
to include the following provision:

(a) Every citizen has a fundamental right to bear arms in
defense of himself or herself and the state. Any restriction on
this right shall be subject to strict scrutiny.

(b) No citizen shall be compelled by any international treaty or
international law to take an action that prohibits, limits, or
otherwise interferes with his or her fundamental right to keep and
bear arms in defense of himself or herself and the state, if such
treaty or law, or its adoption, violates the United States
Constitution.

Strict scrutiny is the most exacting level of judicial review
employed by the courts. For a gun control law to survive strict
scrutiny, the state must prove that it has a compelling interest
that both justifies and necessitates the regulation in question.
Among lawyers, strict scrutiny is frequently characterized as
“strict in theory, fatal in fact.” Lawmakers receive no deference
from the courts under this approach.

Put differently, this new constitutional provision is a huge win
for gun rights and a major defeat for gun control advocates in
Alabama.