Oklahoma House Committee Passes Bill to End Concealed Permit Requirement

Oklahoma’s House Public Safety Committee passed legislation this week designed to end the concealed carry permit requirement in the state.

71 Republic reported that the legislation, HB 2579, would make Oklahoma the fifteenth permitless carry state. This would mean nearly a third of all states allow guns to be carried openly or concealed for self-defense based on the Second Amendment alone.

On May 12, 2018, Breitbart News reported that similar legislation passed the Oklahoma House on April 25, 2018, by a vote of 59-28. It passed the Senate on May 2, 2018, by a vote of  33 to 9. But then-Gov. Mary Fallin (R) vetoed it.

The Herald-Dispatch reported, however, that Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) “has said he will sign it.”

On January 31, 2019, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem (R) signed legislation removing her state’s concealed carry permit requirement. With Noem’s signature, South Dakota became the fourteenth state to do away with a permit requirement. The other 13 states are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Vermont.

Not everyone is pleased with this legislation. Christine Jackson of Oklahoma’s Moms Demand Action said it is “disheartening” that she and her fellow gun controllers have to fight against permitless carry again.

AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com. Sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.