State Rep. Files Legislation To Overturn Permitless Carry Law

A democratic state representative is filing legislation to overturn the state’s recently enacted permitless carry law.  That’s the law that allows Oklahomans to carry a gun without a permit or training as long as they are legally allowed to own a gun. 

State Representative Jason Lowe (D) Oklahoma City has been a very vocal opponent of permitless carry in Oklahoma.  So he’s proposing two bills to have it overturned, and one bill to make it illegal to carry long guns into restaurants. Problem is, that’s not what his bill says.

It was the first bill Governor Kevin Stitt signed into law just hours after it passed overwhelmingly in the state senate. Representative Lowe said in light of recent shootings there’s an appetite for repealing it.

 “Yeah, but I believe that there’s a lot of pressure. The politics on this has changed as far as the shootings at Penn Square,” Lowe said.

Plan B he said is putting a repeal to a vote of the people. 

“If this law is not repealed through the legislature, we’re looking at an initiative petition as well and that would allow the people in the state of Oklahoma to make a determination on whether this bill is good for the citizens in this state,” Lowe said.

An attempt to gather enough signatures for a state question failed earlier this year. Lowe said this time around he will have more time to gather the necessary signatures.

“We want to make sure the citizens in this state are safe. We want to make sure that kids are in a safe environment.  And this law needs to go. This law is absolutely a ticking time bomb.  And we want to make sure and save lives.” Lowe said.

Lowe is also presenting legislation he said would make it illegal to carry a long gun into a restaurant. 

Lowe is naming House Bill 3897 the “Timothy Harper Bill” after the self-proclaimed second amendment auditor who was arrested after carrying an AR-15 into a local restaurant.

“They don’t want someone walking into their establishment while kids are around with a long firearm.  That’s unsafe. That’s not what Oklahoma is about,” Lowe said.

The problem with Lowe’s bill is that nowhere does it specify long guns can’t be carried into restaurants.  Lowe admits he isn’t sure why that language wasn’t included. 

“In the future we would think it would be quite good for Representative Lowe to actually read a bill before he submits it, because this bill has absolutely nothing to do with a restaurant. It actually bans guns in public parks and also wildlife management areas where people actually hunt. So, he may actually want to read that in the future,” said Don Spencer with the Oklahoma Second Amendment Association.