Alabama House approves liability shield for gun dealers, expands prison financing and approves dozens of bills

The Alabama House of Representatives on the floor session adopted a package of bills and resolutions, including a Senate-sponsored measure granting limited liability protection to participating gun dealers in voluntary firearm storage programs, and a bill authorizing additional bond authority to finance corrections construction. Members also approved a series of other bills affecting education, licensure and economic development and took up multiple resolutions recognizing organizations and events.

The House adopted the measure known in debate as the Houston Hunter Act (Senate Bill 40 as substituted), which provides liability protection for federally licensed firearm dealers who participate voluntarily in community storage programs that allow people to place firearms in secure lockers during periods of suicide ideation. Sponsors and supporters said the bill aims to reduce access to a firearm in a moment of crisis by enabling a dealer to accept and later return a firearm without creating a new civil-liability exposure for the dealer. Opponents raised questions about program design and whether the proposed liability protection would be effective without safeguards such as in-person intervention or on-site counseling at retrieval.

The corrections financing measure (Senate Bill 60) received extended floor discussion. Its sponsors described the vote as a precaution to raise the Alabama Corrections Institutions Finance Authority (ACIFA) bonding authority by $500 million to address cost increases and anticipated shortfalls for planned "mega" prisons. Supporters said the change would be a contingency and that project phasing and bidding steps would follow; several members urged caution and asked staff to return with bond-market and debt-service impacts before any borrowing. Members also pressed for clarity on cost estimates, the state general fund’s exposure and how the work would affect other programmatic priorities such as mental-health capacity.

Other debated items included a floor substitute to change seafood-dealer licensing and marketing funding (House Bill 1), which increases a dealer license fee and directs part of…