Point of View: Oklahoma doesn't need constitutional carry
Oklahoma has a rich history of cultivating good guys with a gun. Many of our gun-owning citizenry have been granted an open or concealed carry license. Often professionally-trained via military or law enforcement, these citizens are often dedicated to safe responsible gun ownership and consider themselves preemptive first responders. Oklahoma supports them in this venture with a strong permitting system: a background check by the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, safety training, and requirements for live-fire practice. Your Legislature is attempting to eradicate all of this.
Senate Bill 12 and House Bill 2597 are under consideration during the 2019 legislative session. These bills would essentially repeal the Oklahoma Self Defense Act (OSDA), the set of statutes that govern the Oklahoma open- and concealed-carry permitting process. These bills, commonly referred to as “constitutional carry”, would allow adult gun owners to carry their firearm in public without background check, required safety-training course, or proof that they have ever fired a gun before.
Oklahoma is not a radical state. Instead, the typical Oklahoman is well described in the words of National Review founder William F. Buckley as a prudent individual who “stands athwart history yelling Stop, at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it.”
When polled, 81 percent of Oklahomans expressed support for our current permitting system. Prominent law enforcement organizations, the Oklahoma City Thunder and even the Oklahoma Rifle Association have come out against constitutional carry. Nevertheless, our Legislature is attempting to rush these bills through to Gov. Kevin Stitt’s desk.
The first nationally recognized school shooting was Columbine in 1999. The OSDA, which these bills would practically repeal, passed in 1994. True to form, Oklahomans methodically pieced together gun permitting measures that have stood strong for a quarter century despite two decades of a raging national gun debate.
If you live in Oklahoma, you have encountered the gun culture here. Ask any gun-owning friend and the third word out of their mouth will be safety-related. Gun safety is synonymous with gun culture in Oklahoma. It's not the majority of reserved, responsible gun owners who want to gut 24 years of tradition, law and order; it's a small minority of radical enthusiasts.
Passing these laws would be would be a sudden, dramatic change to our society and our traditions with little concern for the consequences. Constitutional carry replaces the OSDA, eliminating the requirement for people to earn permits through a background check and safety training process. One cannot be a responsible gun owner and delight in the idea of our fellow Oklahomans carrying guns with zero training or practice. That is antithetical to Oklahoman gun culture.
A reserved, responsible leader “stands athwart history yelling Stop.” It’s time we ask our governing leaders where they stand.
McNeal, of Oklahoma City, has participated in activities with VOICE, Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, the Oklahoma Conference of Churches and other faith and community organizations.