7. Report on protest coming soon

• What started as a protest but ended with tear gas in downtown Huntsville last summer has been under review by the Huntsville Police Citizens Advisory Council, and now City Council President Jennie Robinson has announced that the report will be presented on April 22.
• The two protests under review happened on June 1 and June 3 last year, and as there were also protests and some riots taking place across the country. The use of tear gas at the Huntsville protests came under criticism.

6. The media’s fecklessness exposed as votes counted in Bessemer Amazon union vote

• Despite a concerted statewide and national media effort, activists pretending to be journalists, hours of phone-banking, and visits by politicians and D-list celebrities, the oft-touted attempted to unionize the Amazon fulfillment center in Bessemer looks to be on the way to a big loss for the Retail, Wholesale & Department Store Union after the first day of counting.
• The rout appears to be on after about half the ballots have been counted so far with the non-union vote leading 1,100 to 463. Because the union is losing, and they seem to acknowledge that, the complaints of “illegal” behavior by Amazon have begun with union president Stuart Appelbaum saying, “Our system is broken, Amazon took full advantage of that, and we will be calling on the labor board to hold Amazon accountable for its illegal and egregious behavior during the campaign. But make no mistake about it; this still represents an important moment for working people and their voices will be heard.”

5. Lifetime concealed carry permits passes

• Governor Kay Ivey is expected to sign legislation passed by the Alabama House of Representatives that would create the Alabama Uniform Concealed Carry Permit Act, which would allow people to receive a lifetime concealed carry permit.
• Under the legislation, permits would now be available in the forms of one year, three years, five years and lifetime, with a lifetime permit costing $300 while the others cost $25 per year. There would also be a statewide law enforcement database showing who is ineligible to carry a firearm.

4. First gun control action from Biden

• President Joe Biden has declared gun violence “a public health crisis” and announced executive action on gun control. He’s claimed that this action doesn’t violate the Second Amendment, adding, “These are phony arguments suggesting that these are Second Amendment rights at stake from what we’re talking about.”
• Within a month, Biden wants “ghost guns,” which are guns people can assemble themselves legally and don’t have a serial number, to stop being built. Biden is also asking that the Department of Justice suggest action on “community violence intervention,” look into gun trafficking and report, and suggest some legislation for “red flag” issues.

3. Alabama says “nah” to Biden’s gun control desires

• Alabama State House Speaker Mac McCutcheon (R-Monrovia) has responded to President Joe Biden’s administration plan  to use his executive authority to enact his desired gun control measures, saying, “[W]hen it comes to protecting the ability of Alabamians to buy, own and utilize firearms under the Second Amendment, Alabama House Republicans are working hard every day to do just that.”
• Alabama’s Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives made it pretty clear that they will resist the attempts by the Biden administration. U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt (R-Haleyville) said, “Extreme gun control legislation isn’t the answer to stopping gun violence. Look at the cities in America with the most severe gun laws and you’ll see that those same cities have the highest violent crime rates in the country.” Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Saks) warned that Democrats are ready to act on their desires to “dismantling the Second Amendment.”

2. Alabama won’t have vaccine passports

• State Senator Arthur Orr’s (R-Decatur) legislation that would ban coronavirus vaccine passports in Alabama has been approved by the State Senate in a 30-0 vote. This would ban the state or any local governments from requiring vaccine passports.
• Also, businesses would be prohibited from refusing service to citizens based only on whether they’re vaccinated. Orr stated, “The implementation of a mandatory vaccine passport is a direct infringement upon the freedoms we enjoy as Americans.”

1. Coronavirus cases are down by 94% in Alabama

• In the last seven days, Alabama has averaged 196 new coronavirus cases every day. When the state was at its peak the week of January 11, the average number of new cases every day was at 3,080. Overall, there has been a 94% decrease in daily cases.
• Hospitalizations are also down 90% since their peak on January 11, with 3,084 hospitalizations. Most recently, there were only 317 current hospitalizations due to the coronavirus. State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris advised that Alabama has fallen below 5% of tests coming back positive.