Oklahoma: Some Pro-Gun Bills Moving, While Others Stalled in Senate Committee

Contact Committee Chairman Don Barrington Immediately and Request that Pro-Gun Measures Receive a Hearing!

In good news for Second Amendment supporters, the House Rules Committee passed House Joint Resolution 1009 by a 9-1 vote.  This measure makes a critical improvement to the current Right to Keep and Bear Arms Amendment in Oklahoma’s constitution.  If passed by both the House and Senate this year, HJR 1009 will be referred to the 2016 ballot and put to a vote of the people for adoption.  This is a critical measure that provides the strongest possible protection for your gun rights, guaranteeing in the state constitution your Right to Keep and Bear Arms against any infringements or restrictions for you and future generations of Oklahomans.  All proposed restrictions to any of your fundamental rights should be subject to a standard that ensures the strongest possible protection for that right, and your fundamental Right to Keep and Bear Arms is no exception.  HJR 1009 provides these protections by subjecting any restrictions to your firearms freedoms to strict scrutiny, which is a standard of judicial review.  Currently, the courts have found that the state constitution only provides for weak protections.

The Oklahoma Senate Public Safety Committee, however, has still not acted or scheduled a hearing on two important NRA-backed bills, Senate Bill 19 and Senate Bill 212.  It is critical that you contact members of the Committee immediately, as well as Chairman Don Barrington (R-31), and urge them to act before the February 26 deadline. 

Senate Bill 19, authored by Senator Kyle Loveless (R-45), would create an exception to the ban on concealed carrying of a handgun while on a public bus for those with a valid concealed carry permit.  Existing Oklahoma law prohibits any person, even law-abiding permit holders, from carrying a handgun concealed while utilizing public transportation, yet allows the same law-abiding permit holder to exercise their right to self-defense while using private conveyance.  This common sense legislation would allow those licensed to carry a firearm elsewhere in Oklahoma to do so on a public bus line.  By creating this new exception for law-abiding permit holders, SB 19 does away with a discriminatory provision that would force those to be unarmed who cannot own a vehicle to travel due to economic status.  

Senate Bill 212, authored by Senator AJ Griffin (R-20), would require institutions of higher education to provide public notice regarding the firearm policy of specific campuses, as well as provide information regarding the procedure for law-abiding adults with a permit to carry to request permission to carry on campus.  

Contact Chairman Don Barrington at (405) 521-5563 or barrington@oksenate.gov and politely urge him to give these two bills a fair hearing.  Please also use the contact information provided below to call and email members of the Senate Public Safety Committee.  Your action can and will make the difference. 

Senate Public Safety Committee:

Senator  Don Barrington (R-31), Chair
Email: barrington@oksenate.gov 
Phone: 405-521-5563

Senator Corey Brooks (R-43), Vice Chair
Email: brooks@oksenate.gov 
Phone: 405-521-5522

Senator Josh Brecheen (R-6)
Email: brecheen@oksenate.gov
Phone: 405-521-5586

Senator Kim David (R-18)
Email: david@oksenate.gov 
Phone: 405-521-5590

Senator John Ford (R-29)
Email: fordj@oksenate.gov 
Phone: 405-521-5634

Senator David Holt (R-30)
Email: holt@oksenate.gov 
Phone: 405-521-5636

Senator Susan Paddack (D-13)
Email: paddack@oksenate.gov  
Phone: 405-521-5541

Senator Wayne Shaw (R-3)
Email: shaw@oksenate.gov 
Phone: 405-521-5574

Senator Charles Wyrick (D-1)
Email: wyrick@oksenate.gov
Phone: 405-521-5561