Despite the US Supreme Court's striking down of the District of Columbia's handgun ownership ban in 2008, residents and visitors to the nation's Capital continued to be denied the fundamental right to carry handguns in public, either concealed, or openly. This issue is both under litigation and being scrutinized by a restless Congress.
But while DC fiddles for any right to carry, Oklahoma burns for open carry.
Oklahoma is one of only 7 states banning the open carry of properly holstered handguns in public. Last week the Republican dominated Oklahoma Senate passed SB 129, a bill to, like most states, allow open carry without the need for any permit.
And Governor Mary Falin (R) followed suit by expressing her support for open carry as she did during her campaign for Governor. “I think we will wait and see what gets to her desk, but she supports the concept of open carry in general,” Alex Weintz, a Fallin spokesman, said Friday.
But Oklahoma State Representative Sue Tibbs (R - Tulsa) and the rest of the Oklahoma House Republican Leadership has been working to block open carry reform by any means possible.
Tibbs bottled up a House version of the open carry bill by amending it to limit the right to open carry to people who have paid for permits to hide their guns - and - also require voters to approve the idea. The Oklahoma Second Amendment Association's Russ Cook says in a press release that Tibb's is offering the people of Oklahoma a Hobson's choice.
“This ballot question is phrased to fail – it’s a setup,” says Russ Cook, Vice-President of OK2A and also founder of the online Oklahoma open carry petition. “Voters who do not believe in the Second Amendment will vote no, and most gun owners will also vote no because of the licensing/registration requirement,” explains Cook. “What trick question will Tibbs ask voters to weigh in on next? Whether citizens should have the right to vote if they pay a poll tax?”
What will happen next is anyobody's guess, but national gun rights groups are starting to get concerned. For example, OpenCarry.org co-founder and spokesman John Pierce says that the Oklahoma House Republicans "must be drinking some strange Koolaid 'cause open carry reform is sailing through Florida right now, and recently introduced in Texas as well. It's almost like the Republicans are trying to burn their own house down."
OpenCarry.org has called on the Oklahoma House of Representatives to adopt Bartleville Republican Representative Steve Martin’s pre-filed floor amendment to strip out Tibb's "poison pill" ballot question.
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