(mostly stupid) New bills introduced in Oklahoma: 2016 edition

[cannon_fodder]

One more point on the open carry law...

It shall be unlawful for any person to carry upon or about
his or her person, or in a purse or other container belonging to the
person. . . . any dagger, bowie knife, dirk knife, sword cane,
blackjack, loaded cane, billy, hand chain, metal knuckles, or any
other offensive weapon, whether such weapon be concealed or
unconcealed

It is illegal to carry a big knife, brass knuckles, or cats eye... but an assault rifle, that's fine.

[swake]

One more point on the open carry law...

It is illegal to carry a big knife, brass knuckles, or cats eye... but an assault rifle, that's fine.

Don't forget it's illegal to carry a beer in public. Assault rifles good, beer bad, because Jebus and Freedom.

[Townsend]

Imagine what would happen if a large group of 21 year old practicing Sikhs walked around with open carry.

The size of the fecal matter hitting the fan would be mountainous.

[patric]

It eliminates any need for a permit to open carry

Sounds like it takes us back a few years to when there was no law forbidding open carry.  We seem to forget that having to license and register to open carry was actually not granting a privilege, but rather taking a right.

[cannon_fodder]

Sounds like it takes us back a few years to when there was no law forbidding open carry.  We seem to forget that having to license and register to open carry was actually not granting a privilege, but rather taking a right.

Shenanigans.

The very first authorized law in Oklahoma is the Oklahoma Constitution. Adopted the year of statehood, 1907, Article 2, section 26:

§ 26. Bearing arms - Carrying weapons.

The right of a citizen to keep and bear arms in defense of his home, person, or property, or in aid of the civil power, when thereunto legally summoned, shall never be prohibited; but nothing herein contained shall prevent the Legislature from regulating the carrying of weapons.

Emphasis added.

On the day of statehood we were already talking about regulating the carrying of weapons. It should come as no surprise that before being a state, there were restrictions on carrying weapons in town, and there were rules for and by the tribes on carrying weapons.

The first law after statehood concerning the carrying of a firearms hit the books in 1910, cleverly called "unlawful carry" and is the basis for the same law today ("A. It shall be unlawful for any person to carry upon or about his or her person, or in a purse or other container belonging to the person, any pistol, revolver, shotgun or rifle whether loaded or unloaded or any dagger, bowie knife, dirk knife, sword cane, blackjack, loaded cane, billy, hand chain, metal knuckles, or any other offensive weapon, whether such weapon be concealed or unconcealed....")  It was amended in 1957, and '69 (and after...). In 1971 Oklahoma passed the Firearms Act of 1971, which again spelled out when you CANT carry firearms:

A. A person shall be permitted to carry loaded and unloaded shotguns, rifles and pistols, open and not concealed [ later amended to include: and without a handgun license as authorized by the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act, Sections 1 through 25 of this act], pursuant to the following conditions:

1. When hunting animals or fowl;

2. During competition in or practicing in a safety or hunter safety class, target shooting, skeet, trap or other recognized sporting events;

3. During participation in or in preparation for a military function of the state military forces to be defined as the Oklahoma Army or Air National Guard, Federal Military Reserve and active military forces;

4. During participation in or in preparation for a recognized police function of either a municipal, county or state government as functioning police officials;

The Attorney General of Oklahoma interpreted that law very clearly in a 1981 opinion, specifying that even District Attorneys cannot conceal carry or open carry in Oklahoma. Only "Law Enforcement Officers," which means the actual police. Other than law enforcement, no one had a right to open or conceal carry in Oklahoma. 1981 OK AG 193.

That 1971 law was amended to conform with the 1993 Amendments to the Unlawful Carry statute, as well as significant alterations to conform to the  Self Defense Act of 1995 which authorized conceal carry in Oklahoma:

2. The carrying or use of weapons in a manner otherwise permitted by statute or authorized by the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act, Section 1290.1 et seq. of this title; or

You now could legally conceal carry if you had a permit.

In 2003 they added an exception for carrying a firearm in public for the purposes of reenactment --- 13 years ago in Oklahoma you couldn't legally carry a fake musket onto a fake battlefield.

In 2007 they added the bit about allowing Judges to carry in the Courthouse, with a permit.

In 2012, the word "concealed" was removed from the Oklahoma Self Defense act, authorizing open carry in Oklahoma if you had a permit. 2012 SB 1733.

2016 they remove the requirement for a permit.

So if you meant to say that it was adding back a right that we never really had since Statehood... sure. But if you were implying that there was some recent restriction on that right as it applies to any person who was alive when that "right" may have existed in the State of Oklahoma, you're wrong.

[Hoss]

I wonder if this passes, would that mean I could get the state to refund my damn $200 I spent on a 10 year firearm license?

My guess is no.  If it were to pass that way, it would never come to committee.

[patric]

Thanks for the citations.

In 2003 they added an exception for carrying a firearm in public for the purposes of reenactment --- 13 years ago in Oklahoma you couldn't legally carry a fake musket onto a fake battlefield.

Ha!  The Oklahoma Historical Society was encouraging me to do just that... even have an OHS "volunteer of the year" plaque.  Did the same for the National Parks Service as a "volunteer interpreter."   Then there were all the school programs.  Didnt seem to slow anyone down.

[AquaMan]

"After the 2012 elections, the Republican Party held more than two-thirds of the seats in the Oklahoma Senate and the Oklahoma House of Representatives."

36 to 12 in the Senate and 71 to 29 in the house. Not much gets done in the Oklahoma legislature without conservative Republican leadership.

Its not their fault. Its yours. If you voted republican for your state legislature in 2012 and 2014, and to return Fallin, this is your payback. Same thing happening in the Congress. Why blame them? They told you they were the most conservative.

I borrowed money to start a retirement business. I'm becoming very skeptical of opening it here.

[Vashta Nerada]

I wonder if this passes, would that mean I could get the state to refund my damn $200 I spent on a 10 year firearm license?

My guess is no.  If it were to pass that way, it would never come to committee.

Coody said he agreed to modify the bill because the original version would have cost the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, which issues gun licenses, 15 to 18 percent of its revenue.
http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/capitol_report/oklahoma-house-votes-to-eliminate-license-training-requirements-for-openly/article_e34c8be0-4adf-56ca-8424-3726304d6187.html

[Conan71]

I'm curious if that means that is why they decided not to include conceal carry from in the new law?

[heironymouspasparagus]

"After the 2012 elections, the Republican Party held more than two-thirds of the seats in the Oklahoma Senate and the Oklahoma House of Representatives."

36 to 12 in the Senate and 71 to 29 in the house. Not much gets done in the Oklahoma legislature without conservative Republican leadership.

Its not their fault. Its yours. If you voted republican for your state legislature in 2012 and 2014, and to return Fallin, this is your payback. Same thing happening in the Congress. Why blame them? They told you they were the most conservative.

I borrowed money to start a retirement business. I'm becoming very skeptical of opening it here.

We have just started to casually look around at other states to move our business - it's really gotten bad when I would even casually think about that!  We have stuck around, encouraged family to return, and tried to talk acquaintances and business associates into moving here!   Gets tougher every year to make a case, especially when they throw this sh$t back in my face.  Getting tired of shootburgers!   It is a huge pain since so much of it is tied to a real estate location, but I have started looking at how to go 'mobile' - I think about 3 or 4 shipping container trailers and a truck to pull them would just about do it.   Can load/unload into any modest warehouse facility anywhere.  It's just the pain of doing it...

[AquaMan]

There has always been a small cadre of dedicated, reality based, forward thinking people in Oklahoma, most notably in OKC, Norman, Bartlesville and Tulsa. They were outsiders who came here to work in health, oil, education and engineering, raised their families and stayed for the low cost of living, the moderate climate and the friendliness of the natives. That group, and their reasons for staying, have been overshadowed in the last two decades by radical evangelicals, drugs, moral crusaders and anti-government groups. Those groups took over the school boards, the local law enforcement, the republican party and the state legislature. They make no apologies as they secure their vision of what the world should look like.

I'm thinking Colorado, California, Nevada or New Mexico. Reality? I'll die here at the hands of some meth head being chased by the local gendarme.

[heironymouspasparagus]

Thanks for the citations.

Ha!  The Oklahoma Historical Society was encouraging me to do just that... even have an OHS "volunteer of the year" plaque.  Did the same for the National Parks Service as a "volunteer interpreter."   Then there were all the school programs.  Didnt seem to slow anyone down.

National Parks are a different situation - and you, as well as the rest of us, can thank Harry Reid for being the main driver to let us carry firearms in National Parks, etc now!

[patric]

Now, I thought this bill

SB1457 would define the term "motorcycle profiling" to mean the discriminatory use of the fact that a person rides a motorcycle or wears motorcycle-related paraphernalia as a factor in deciding to stop and question, take enforcement action, arrest or search a person or vehicle with or without a legal basis under the U.S. Constitution or Oklahoma Constitution.

...might have been aimed at the habit of routinely referring to motorcyclists as "gang members" but it could just as well address this


Police officer allegedly pepper-sprays passing motorcyclists
http://www.ajc.com/news/news/national/police-officer-allegedly-pepper-sprays-passing-mot/nqkdz/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCe9NJX3SqU

[Townsend]

Gay Rights Advocates Celebrate Demise of Anti-LGBT Bills

http://publicradiotulsa.org/post/gay-rights-advocates-celebrate-demise-anti-lgbt-bills

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Gay rights advocates in Oklahoma are celebrating the demise of more than two dozen bills in the Oklahoma Legislature this year that they say unfairly discriminate against members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender, or LGBT, community.

Freedom Oklahoma Director Troy Stevenson said Monday that all 27 bills they targeted as discriminating against the constitutional rights of LGBT people failed to advance after a key deadline passed last week.

Stevenson praised gay rights supporters who visited their lawmakers and urged them to vote against the bills. Stevenson also praised "fair-minded" legislators in both parties who opposed the measures.

Broken Bow Republican Sen. Joseph Silk sponsored two bills targeted by the group and says he expects to reintroduce both of his measures again next year.

Joseph Silk is a smile-for-brains