Birmingham, Alabama Mayor Randall Woodfin is one of the gun control lobby’s favorite politicians, in large part because he’s been so eager to blame his city’s problems with violent crime on Alabama’s pro-Second Amendment gun laws. Woodfin was even given a White House platform to argue in favor of more gun control laws last fall, appearing beside Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as Biden signed an executive action directing federal agencies to combat the emerging threats of machinegun conversion devices and un-serialized, 3D-printed firearms.
Back at home, Woodfin has routinely blamed the record-high number of homicides in Birmingham last year on Alabama’s permitless carry law. In a video posted last November Woodfin complained that “everybody knows the state of Alabama doesn’t have a pistol permit anymore, so even if I get more officers on our streets people are still legally allowed to drive around with these types of guns you see”; referencing a table with several firearms seized by the local police.
The mayor has even called on lawmakers to weaken the state’s preemption law and allow for Birmingham residents to decide whether to require permits to carry inside the city limits. That particular push hasn’t gone anywhere, though lawmakers have acted to make machine gun conversion devices illegal under state law this session, which was another one of Woodfin’s demands.
While the mayor has been pointing the finger at permitless carry for the rise in homicides, the latest numbers out of Birmingham prove that Woodfin has been wildly off-target in his criticism.
Birmingham homicides are down 27 percent so far in 2025, fueled in part by a 23-day stretch with no homicides in the city.
As of Monday morning, the city had 16 homicides in the first 2 ½ months of 2025 compared to 22 for the same time period in 2024.
In late 2009 and early 2010, Birmingham went 39 days without a homicide. In 2014, the city went 31 days without a homicide.
“I think when criminals see that they will be held accountable and they won’t be able to commit a crime and go free to hang out that night or next weekend, I think it makes them think twice before they choose to commit a crime,’’ said Interim Police Chief Michael Pickett.
“I think that’s having an impact.”
Additionally, Pickett said, detectives have made arrests in 12 of the 16 homicides so far this year, for a 75 percent clearance rate.
Alabama hasn’t repealed its permitless carry law, and lawmakers haven’t scrapped the firearm preemption statute either. If the state’s strong protections for the Second Amendment were to blame for the historically high number of murders that have happened under Woodfin’s watch the city’s police chief wouldn’t be touting a 27% decline in murders this year. He couldn’t, because those numbers would still be at or near record highs.
Unlike Woodfin, the city’s interim police chief has placed the blame for violent crime on the individuals committing these offenses, and his strategy to “make life uncomfortable for criminals in Birmingham” seems to be paying off. The anti-gun mayor, on the other hand, wants to make life difficult for the state’s lawful gun owners and those who understand the fundamental importance of our right to keep and bear arms.
Woodfin, who just released his autobiography “Son of Birmingham” in January, clearly wants to be a mover and shaker in Democratic politics at a national level, and stumping for gun control at every opportunity certainly won’t hurt his brand among the anti-2A left. When it comes to making the city a safer place, it’s the police department’s strategy of focusing on violent offenders that’s paying dividends for Birmingham residents, while Woodfin’s myopic focus on more gun control laws has been a bust.
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