On Friday, the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office announced it was terminating State Rep. Shane Stringer’s (R-Citronelle) employment as a captain within the agency, citing a “difference of opinion” with Mobile County Sheriff Sam Cochran on the so-called constitutional carry issue.
Stringer was the lead sponsor of HB618, which would allow Alabamians to carry or conceal a pistol without first obtaining a permit from their local sheriff’s office, an effort that the state’s sheriffs have vociferously opposed in the past. Shortly thereafter, the Alabama Republican Party declared on social media it was backing Stringer in the disagreement, even though both Stringer and Cochran were elected to their posts as Republicans.
During an appearance on Monday’s broadcast of FM Talk 106.5’s “The Jeff Poor Show,” Alabama Republican Party chairman John Wahl explained his party’s decision to side with Stringer. He called Stringer someone to be “proud” of.
“The erosion of our constitutional rights is one of the areas that is most dangerous to our country,” he said. “We feed this just classic disregard for people’s rights and people’s freedoms. And I think the Second Amendment is this area that is under attack right now. To have a state representative that is willing to stand up for people’s God-given rights and constitutional rights to a point he is willing to stand up and lose his job over it is incredibly impressive to me. I think we have a representative that we can all be proud of, and we have a representative that we should all be proud of and we should be excited about. This guy gave up his job to defend the people of Alabama. I hate he had to do it, but I am so impressed, and we are 100% behind him.”
Wahl called Cochran’s decision to terminate employment “disappointing,” and the move “cancel culture.”
“I think it’s disappointing,” Wahl replied. “But for me, there are two issues here. One, the party always has to stand on its party platform. We passed a resolution in support of constitutional carry as the state executive committee. The platform of the party is ‘we defend the Second Amendment. We are pro-gun.’ We want people to have their right to carry. That platform is our base. It is like our constitution. And so, we must remain true to that. It’s sad to me that Republican officials do not agree with that principle. But it is our duty to defend that and to support people who support the right to carry. That’s our top priority.”
“Another thing that I really hate that has come about with this situation is this whole cancel culture,” he continued. “I think if I’m going to challenge that with Democrats on the national level, I have to be consistent. And I think that’s unfortunate that we’re seeing a cancel culture that’s creeping up into every area in our life. But that’s just a reality of politics today.”
@Jeff_Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and the University of South Alabama, the editor of Breitbart TV, a columnist for Mobile’s Lagniappe Weekly, and host of Mobile’s “The Jeff Poor Show” from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. on FM Talk 106.5.
