Oklahoma Constitutional Carry

[K.Mooneyham]

I find it odd that this topic hasn't come up on here yet. Oklahoma shares our entire northern border and Texas has a lot of interaction with Oklahoma each day. I believe it's inevitable that those traveling to or from will be impacted in some way by their Constitutional Carry Law, which went into effect on the 1st of November. I'm curious what folks on here think about this, potential ramifications for Texas/Texans, etc. At minimum, it sure would seem to exert more legislative pressure in our state, but then again, I live up by the border, so I'm kind of out-of-touch.

[K.Mooneyham]

My issue with CC is philosophical. It sounds great. It's the way things should work.

However. In the typical "wild west," if you were a dumb-butt with a gun, you either got dead or got beat, in fairly short order.

In communities where you have to wait for someone to kill someone else before "the right charge" can be levied, or the good guy can be red flagged by the fool, you have a social impasse, where the lowest common denominator becomes the ruling class, and stupidity the rule. For this reason, I have to support some marginal "buy in", some minimal investment that indicates that citizenship/right of citizenship is valued, not "owed."

But, tha's me...

I didn't really mean it to be a full open carry discussion, I guess I could have been clearer in my original post, and that's my fault. I'm looking more for thoughts on how the change in law up in Oklahoma might affect Texas and its citizens.

[warnmar10]

I didn't really mean it to be a full open carry discussion, ...

You're not from around here are you.

[K.Mooneyham]

I didn't really mean it to be a full open carry discussion, ...

You're not from around here are you.

I hardly think that comment warranted since I've had this account for over six years, with two thousand posts.

[Jusme]

I’m still not quite sure, I understand your question.
Are you asking if those from OK, who now carry in their State, without an LTC, crossing the border, having issues with LEO in Texas, or is there just general confusion for those folks?

I don’t understand why we can’t get Constitutional Carry passed here. I know what the problem was during the last Legislative session, but he is not running for re-election.

[Soccerdad1995]

I don't forsee any problems.

Oklahoma residents could always carry in their vehicles while in Texas (assuming they aren't felons, etc). So an Oklahoman who drives across the border won't have an issue unless he / she steps out of their vehicle with a gun. The odds of someone from Oklahoma doing that and just assuming that Texas also has CC is pretty darn small. I have to imagine that people aren't so ignorant to think that different states have different laws, especially since their own law literally JUST changed. Like the rest of us, they should research the local laws when they cross state / national borders. If someone really is dumb enough to think that other state's laws are the same as theirs, right after their own law changed, then they might have a problem. That person will probably have a lot of other problems in life as well.

On the other hand, a Texan who is carrying under vehicle carry and drives into OK may not know that they can put the gun in a holster and carry it on their person. But then again, if they don't know that OK has CC and they don't have an LTC, they might not own a holster in the first place. Worst case, they don't do something that they can legally do while visiting OK.

I'm struggling to see a scenario where this change in law could possibly cause a problem. Now if the law had changed the other way (CC went away), then it might cause problems for visitors who were aware of the old law and didn't know that it had changed.

[RicoTX]

I didn't really mean it to be a full open carry discussion, ...

You're not from around here are you.

I hardly think that comment warranted since I've had this account for over six years, with two thousand posts.

I took that as a joke, a tongue in cheek comment lol. I was going to post something similar and I would have meant no disrespect or anything questioning your time here or your post count.

Just thought I'd throw that in there.

[warnmar10]

I took that as a joke, a tongue in cheek comment lol. I was going to post something similar and I would have meant no disrespect or anything questioning your time here or your post count.

Just thought I'd throw that in there.

[twomillenium]

I didn't really mean it to be a full open carry discussion, ...

You're not from around here are you.

I hardly think that comment warranted since I've had this account for over six years, with two thousand posts.

I took that as a joke, a tongue in cheek comment lol. I was going to post something similar and I would have meant no disrespect or anything questioning your time here or your post count.

Just thought I'd throw that in there.

HUH???? Take a chill pill or get a snowflake shot. I realize when I post that I have no control over who, when or what someone else will post in the post. I almost thought someone had hi-jacked your account because you did not understand "You're not from around here are you." I laughed so hard, I almost pulled several muscles.

Oh and by the way I am not poking fun at you but poking fun with you. Take care.

[Syntyr]

I didn't really mean it to be a full open carry discussion, ...

You're not from around here are you.

I hardly think that comment warranted since I've had this account for over six years, with two thousand posts.

I took that as a joke, a tongue in cheek comment lol. I was going to post something similar and I would have meant no disrespect or anything questioning your time here or your post count.

Just thought I'd throw that in there.

This. Around here you say Whataburger and it turns into an OC discussion. I think it was meant tongue firmly in cheek.

[K.Mooneyham]

I didn't really mean it to be a full open carry discussion, ...

You're not from around here are you.

I hardly think that comment warranted since I've had this account for over six years, with two thousand posts.

I took that as a joke, a tongue in cheek comment lol. I was going to post something similar and I would have meant no disrespect or anything questioning your time here or your post count.

Just thought I'd throw that in there.

This. Around here you say Whataburger and it turns into an OC discussion. I think it was meant tongue firmly in cheek.

Hard to tell intent from words. Emojis help.

[DynamicDan]

Why would it be any different than any other state that has Constitutional Carry. They seem to be purfectly fine.

[chasfm11]

I've thought about Constitutional Carry in OK. I've also thought about it in Texas. Perhaps I just don't understand real day to day life but here are some of the areas that seem worthy of consideration.

1. Rules for carrying. Someone who just straps on a gun and has never had any education or done any reading about the limitations for carrying a gun might find themselves unexpectedly on the wrong side of the law. It seems hard to compare TX and OK in that regard. For example, OK has more Reservations were guns are likely prohibited. Places like Corps of Engineers property are probably more prevalent in TX, though I've never heard about a single incident of someone getting in trouble for carrying a pistol on COE land.
2. Interactions with police. One of the concerns that has been mentioned is gang-bangers being legal to carry guns with Constitutional Carry. I can see that a gang-banger without a felony record would not risk getting jail time in OK now for having a gun. But I'd guess that is is a "break-even" situation since gang-bangers were unlikely to follow the law without CC. In other States like IL, where gang-bangers in the big cities already operate outside the law, it wouldn't make much difference. I don't know if Tulsa or OK. City have similar issues, albeit on a smaller scale.

Other than that, I'd guess that life in OK after Constitutional Carry is pretty much like life was before it. A very small percentage of people who didn't want to take the trouble to get a license may be carrying guns now. But I'd bet that we have a small percentage of those in Texas, too. They are otherwise law-abiding people who either don't think that the government has a role in telling them about firearms or who just like more risk in their lives than the rest of us. And I think that is one of the biggest advantages of Constitutional Carry - it doesn't create a bunch of unnecessary "criminals". There is already a push to get large percentages of non-violent people out of jails. Someone whose only "mistake" was carrying a gun without a license should not be lumped in with those who infringe on the rights of their neighbors. JMHO.