As you may already know, lawmakers in Oklahoma City are considering a costly and dangerous permitless carry bill (SB 1212), which would make it legal for Oklahoma residents to carry a loaded handgun in public without getting a permit, passing a background check or completing gun safety training. As you cover this bill, here’s what you need to know:
- Permitless carry would cost Oklahoma nearly $5 million. SB 1212 comes with a whopping fiscal note, meaning it would cost the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation nearly $5 million, taking critical funds from law enforcement. This will only add to the negative impact this bill would have on public safety.
- Permitless carry would infringe on the rights of business owners. As Rhonda Hooper, chair of the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber, wrote in an op-ed recently, permitless carry “decimates the right of business and property owners to implement safeguards that prohibit untrained, unvetted people from carrying guns on their property.”
- States that have passed permitless carry have seen an increase in firearm crimes. Unsurprisingly, Arizona saw a 44 percent increase in the annual total of aggravated assaults with a firearm after the state passed permitless carry. In St. Louis alone, there were roughly 484 more gun related aggravated assaults in 2017 than there were in 2016, after Missouri implemented permitless carry.
More information about the dangers of permitless carry is available here. Please don’t hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
