OK2A: SB129 May Be Heard Again

OK2A writes that Rep. Sue Tibbs is considering allowing SB129 to be heard again in the House Public Safety Committee on Wednesday. Apparently, committee members thought there were a few problems with the bill that they supported last year.

First, they were voting on an amended version that was identical to last year's open carry bill. One problem they had was the lack of an LEO notification requirement when carrying openly. However, the bill retained the same requirement that applies to concealed carry applied it to however you choose to carry your firearm (page 41).

It shall be unlawful for any person to fail or refuse to identify the fact that the person is in actual possession of a concealed or unconcealed handgun pursuant to the authority of the Oklahoma Self-Defense Act when the person first comes into contact with any law enforcement officer of this state or its political subdivisions or a federal law enforcement officer during the course of any arrest, detainment, or routine traffic stop.

The other two issues involved weapon retention. First, they seemed a bit uncomfortable with the lack of weapon retention training in the bill. Personally, I don't think there should be any legal requirement for training to exercise my Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms, especially for my defense. However, such training could easily be added into the existing SDA curriculum (which already teaches things that are not actually the law).

The other issue is a holster that provides weapon retention. This is something I have a problem with. It's not the retention part, it's defining what kind of retention. Thumb break holster? Fine with me. Blackhawk Serpa or other holsters of similar design? Not okay with me for various safety issues. So this could end up being a very difficult thing to balance in legalese. You don't want the wording so vague to leave it open to officer discretion, yet you don't want to require holsters that have you go through 3 steps to draw your weapon in an emergency defensive situation. I'll take some time this weekend to look into what other states with open carry have. If it's good enough for other states, it's good enough for us. If there were many incidents involving a lack of weapon retention, we'd hear a lot about it from those states.